most strikeouts by a pitcher on opening day prior to 2002

Before 2002, Nolan Ryan fanned the most batters, with 5,714 strikeouts.

	NAME	SO	G	W	L	W%	GS	ERA	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	R	HR	BB	HBP	GF	IBB	TBF	WP	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	K%	BB%	WHIP	BABIP	RA	ERA-	FIP	FIP-	H/9	PRAA
1	Nolan Ryan N. Ryan	5,714	807	324	292	.526	773	3.19	222	61	3	5386.0	3,923	1,911	2,178	321	2,795	158	13	78	22,575	277	9.55	4.67	2.04	0.54	25.3	12.4	1.25	.265	3.64	90	2.96	83	6.56	370.2
2	Steve Carlton S. Carlton	4,136	741	329	244	.574	709	3.22	254	55	2	5217.2	4,672	1,864	2,130	414	1,833	53	13	150	21,683	183	7.13	3.16	2.26	0.71	19.1	8.5	1.25	.279	3.67	87	3.14	86	8.06	271.5
3	Roger Clemens R. Clemens	3,717	545	280	145	.659	544	3.10	116	45	0	3887.0	3,306	1,338	1,479	279	1,258	129	0	45	16,007	106	8.61	2.91	2.95	0.65	23.2	7.9	1.17	.285	3.42	69	3.03	70	7.65	550.8
4	Bert Blyleven B. Blyleven	3,701	692	287	250	.534	685	3.31	242	60	0	4970.0	4,632	1,830	2,029	430	1,322	155	3	71	20,491	114	6.70	2.39	2.80	0.78	18.1	6.5	1.20	.282	3.67	85	3.18	82	8.39	368.6
5	Tom Seaver T. Seaver	3,640	656	311	205	.603	647	2.86	231	61	1	4783.0	3,971	1,521	1,674	380	1,390	76	6	116	19,369	126	6.85	2.62	2.62	0.72	18.8	7.2	1.12	.259	3.15	79	3.03	85	7.47	286.1
6	Don Sutton D. Sutton	3,574	774	324	256	.559	756	3.26	178	58	5	5282.1	4,692	1,914	2,104	472	1,343	82	12	102	21,631	112	6.09	2.29	2.66	0.80	16.5	6.2	1.14	.261	3.58	92	3.23	90	7.99	181.2
7	Gaylord Perry G. Perry	3,534	777	314	265	.542	690	3.11	303	53	10	5350.0	4,938	1,846	2,128	399	1,379	108	33	164	21,953	160	5.95	2.32	2.56	0.67	16.1	6.3	1.18	.275	3.58	85	3.06	85	8.31	312.9
8	Walter Johnson W. Johnson	3,509	802	417	279	.599	666	2.17	531	110	34	5914.1	4,913	1,424	1,902	97	1,363	205	127		23,405	154	5.34	2.07	2.57	0.15	15.0	5.8	1.06	.264	2.89	68	2.42	76	7.48	472.8
9	Randy Johnson R. Johnson	3,412	401	200	101	.664	391	3.13	79	30	2	2748.1	2,113	956	1,076	241	1,160	125	5	18	11,376	88	11.17	3.80	2.94	0.79	30.0	10.2	1.19	.291	3.52	72	3.06	71	6.92	404
10	Phil Niekro P. Niekro	3,342	864	318	274	.537	716	3.35	245	45	29	5404.0	5,044	2,012	2,337	482	1,809	123	83	86	22,677	226	5.57	3.01	1.85	0.80	14.7	8.0	1.27	.270	3.89	87	3.61	95	8.40	116.1
11	Fergie Jenkins F. Jenkins	3,192	664	284	226	.557	594	3.34	267	49	7	4500.2	4,142	1,669	1,853	484	997	84	37	116	18,400	62	6.38	1.99	3.20	0.97	17.3	5.4	1.14	.268	3.71	87	3.27	88	8.28	222.9
12	Bob Gibson B. Gibson	3,117	528	251	174	.591	482	2.91	255	56	6	3884.1	3,279	1,258	1,420	257	1,336	102	21	118	16,068	108	7.22	3.10	2.33	0.60	19.4	8.3	1.19	.268	3.29	78	2.89	81	7.60	290.5
13	Jim Bunning J. Bunning	2,855	591	224	184	.549	519	3.27	151	40	16	3760.1	3,433	1,366	1,527	372	1,000	160	39	98	15,618	47	6.83	2.39	2.86	0.89	18.3	6.4	1.18	.273	3.65	88	3.22	88	8.22	195.2
14	Mickey Lolich M. Lolich	2,832	586	217	191	.532	496	3.44	195	41	10	3638.1	3,366	1,390	1,537	347	1,099	92	40	67	15,140	124	7.01	2.72	2.58	0.86	18.7	7.3	1.23	.280	3.80	96	3.19	87	8.33	188.5
15	Cy Young C. Young	2,803	906	511	316	.618	815	2.63	749	76	17	7356.0	7,092	2,147	3,167	138	1,217	161	84		29,565	156	3.43	1.49	2.30	0.17	9.5	4.1	1.13	.275	3.87	74	2.84	79	8.68	620
16	Frank Tanana F. Tanana	2,773	638	240	236	.504	616	3.66	143	34	1	4188.1	4,063	1,704	1,910	448	1,255	129	10	116	17,641	119	5.96	2.70	2.21	0.96	15.7	7.1	1.27	.277	4.10	94	3.78	96	8.73	66.4
17	David Cone D. Cone	2,655	445	193	123	.611	415	3.44	56	22	1	2880.2	2,484	1,102	1,209	254	1,124	106	9	41	12,099	149	8.29	3.51	2.36	0.79	21.9	9.3	1.25	.280	3.78	83	3.54	85	7.76	195.8
18	Warren Spahn W. Spahn	2,583	750	363	245	.597	665	3.09	382	63	28	5243.2	4,830	1,798	2,016	434	1,434	42	67	60	21,547	81	4.43	2.46	1.80	0.74	12.0	6.7	1.19	.258	3.46	84	3.44	94	8.29	124.4
19	Bob Feller B. Feller	2,581	570	266	162	.621	484	3.25	279	44	22	3827.0	3,271	1,384	1,557	224	1,764	60	52	6	16,180	69	6.07	4.15	1.46	0.53	16.0	10.9	1.32	.264	3.66	82	3.48	89	7.69	184.6
20	Tim Keefe T. Keefe	2,564	600	342	225	.603	594	2.63	554	39	2	5049.2	4,438	1,474	2,470	75	1,233	83	7		20,941	240	4.57	2.20	2.08	0.13	12.2	5.9	1.12	.257	4.40	79	2.92	87	7.91	239.2
21	Jerry Koosman J. Koosman	2,556	612	222	209	.515	527	3.36	140	33	17	3839.1	3,635	1,433	1,608	290	1,198	71	43	121	15,996	89	5.99	2.81	2.13	0.68	16.0	7.5	1.26	.282	3.77	92	3.25	90	8.52	152.5
22	Greg Maddux G. Maddux	2,523	505	257	146	.638	501	2.84	102	34	0	3551.0	3,206	1,121	1,281	196	760	97	3	140	14,396	49	6.39	1.93	3.32	0.50	17.5	5.3	1.12	.278	3.25	70	2.99	73	8.13	444.9
23	Christy Mathewson C. Mathewson	2,507	636	373	188	.665	552	2.13	435	79	30	4788.2	4,219	1,135	1,620	89	848	59	73		18,913	115	4.71	1.59	2.96	0.17	13.3	4.5	1.06	.268	3.04	75	2.26	76	7.93	363
24	Don Drysdale D. Drysdale	2,486	518	209	166	.557	465	2.95	167	49	6	3432.0	3,084	1,124	1,292	280	855	154	34	123	14,097	82	6.52	2.24	2.91	0.73	17.6	6.1	1.15	.272	3.39	83	3.02	88	8.09	162.2
25	Jack Morris J. Morris	2,478	549	254	186	.577	527	3.90	175	28	0	3824.0	3,567	1,657	1,815	389	1,390	58	10	99	16,120	206	5.83	3.27	1.78	0.92	15.4	8.6	1.30	.269	4.27	96	3.93	95	8.40	93