Before 1972, Walter Johnson struck out the most batters, with 3,509 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	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
2	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
3	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
4	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
5	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
6	Bob Gibson B. Gibson	2,578	414	206	130	.613	376	2.82	209	50	4	3062.1	2,538	959	1,089	197	1,025	87	17	81	12,619	84	7.58	3.01	2.52	0.58	20.4	8.1	1.16	.268	3.20	75	2.77	77	7.46	277.8
7	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
8	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
9	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
10	Sandy Koufax S. Koufax	2,396	397	165	87	.655	314	2.76	137	40	9	2324.1	1,754	713	806	204	817	18	44	48	9,497	87	9.28	3.16	2.93	0.79	25.2	8.6	1.11	.256	3.12	75	2.69	75	6.79	226.6
11	Robin Roberts R. Roberts	2,357	676	286	245	.539	609	3.41	305	45	25	4688.2	4,582	1,774	1,962	505	902	54	49	69	19,174	33	4.52	1.73	2.61	0.97	12.3	4.7	1.17	.265	3.77	89	3.50	91	8.80	179.6
12	Early Wynn E. Wynn	2,334	691	300	244	.551	611	3.54	289	49	16	4564.0	4,291	1,796	2,037	338	1,775	64	67	36	19,408	51	4.60	3.50	1.31	0.67	12.0	9.1	1.33	.265	4.02	94	3.64	97	8.46	56.4
13	Rube Waddell R. Waddell	2,316	407	193	143	.574	340	2.16	261	50	5	2961.1	2,460	711	1,063	37	803	115	54		11,717	74	7.04	2.44	2.88	0.11	19.8	6.9	1.10	.287	3.23	75	2.03	71	7.48	262
14	Lefty Grove L. Grove	2,266	616	300	141	.680	457	3.06	298	35	54	3940.2	3,849	1,339	1,594	162	1,187	42	123		16,622	51	5.18	2.71	1.91	0.37	13.6	7.1	1.28	.284	3.64	68	3.36	76	8.79	462.8
15	Eddie Plank E. Plank	2,246	623	326	194	.627	529	2.35	410	69	23	4495.2	3,958	1,174	1,566	42	1,072	190	77		17,803	88	4.50	2.15	2.10	0.08	12.6	6.0	1.12	.275	3.14	81	2.45	86	7.92	195.2
16	Grover Alexander G. Alexander	2,198	696	373	208	.642	600	2.56	436	90	32	5190.0	4,868	1,476	1,852	165	951	70	81		20,893	38	3.81	1.65	2.31	0.29	10.5	4.6	1.12	.269	3.21	73	2.88	81	8.44	359.1
17	Camilo Pascual C. Pascual	2,167	529	174	170	.506	404	3.63	132	36	10	2930.2	2,703	1,183	1,334	256	1,069	61	67	51	12,415	86	6.65	3.28	2.03	0.79	17.5	8.6	1.29	.276	4.10	97	3.32	88	8.30	160.1
18	Sam McDowell S. McDowell	2,159	336	122	109	.528	295	2.99	97	22	11	2109.2	1,603	702	805	138	1,072	53	24	61	8,889	114	9.21	4.57	2.01	0.59	24.3	12.1	1.27	.268	3.43	85	2.93	80	6.84	169.8
19	Juan Marichal J. Marichal	2,122	399	221	109	.670	390	2.73	229	50	2	3071.1	2,674	930	1,102	278	607	34	8	66	12,371	47	6.22	1.78	3.50	0.81	17.2	4.9	1.07	.257	3.23	77	2.95	86	7.84	155.8
20	Bobo Newsom B. Newsom	2,082	600	211	222	.487	483	3.98	246	31	21	3759.1	3,769	1,664	1,908	206	1,732	61	71		16,467	60	4.98	4.15	1.20	0.49	12.6	10.5	1.46	.288	4.57	95	3.81	92	9.02	144.5
21	Dazzy Vance D. Vance	2,045	442	197	140	.585	349	3.24	217	29	12	2966.2	2,809	1,068	1,246	132	840	77	52		12,366	37	6.20	2.55	2.43	0.40	16.5	6.8	1.23	.289	3.78	81	3.18	79	8.52	288.3
22	Billy Pierce B. Pierce	1,999	585	211	169	.555	433	3.27	193	38	33	3306.2	2,989	1,201	1,325	284	1,178	30	85	35	13,853	48	5.44	3.21	1.70	0.77	14.4	8.5	1.26	.261	3.61	84	3.50	90	8.14	138.6
23	Red Ruffing R. Ruffing	1,987	624	273	225	.548	538	3.80	335	45	18	4344.0	4,284	1,833	2,115	254	1,541	58	69		18,546	46	4.12	3.19	1.29	0.53	10.7	8.3	1.34	.274	4.38	91	3.93	95	8.88	82.3
24	John Clarkson J. Clarkson	1,978	531	328	178	.648	518	2.81	485	37	5	4536.1	4,295	1,417	2,384	159	1,191	80	12		19,146	182	3.92	2.36	1.66	0.32	10.3	6.2	1.21	.263	4.73	75	3.35	88	8.52	289.8
25	Whitey Ford W. Ford	1,956	498	236	106	.690	438	2.75	156	45	11	3170.1	2,766	967	1,107	228	1,086	28	35	44	13,036	75	5.55	3.08	1.80	0.65	15.0	8.3	1.22	.261	3.14	75	3.26	88	7.85	156.9