Before 1978, Walter Johnson struck out the most hitters, 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	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
3	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
4	Gaylord Perry G. Perry	2,847	589	246	200	.552	504	2.93	270	48	10	4097.1	3,607	1,336	1,540	304	1,055	82	31	134	16,673	120	6.25	2.32	2.70	0.67	17.1	6.3	1.14	.267	3.38	82	2.95	84	7.92	255.5
5	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
6	Mickey Lolich M. Lolich	2,799	539	215	188	.533	489	3.44	195	41	9	3554.1	3,277	1,358	1,498	343	1,066	91	26	61	14,777	120	7.09	2.70	2.63	0.87	18.9	7.2	1.22	.280	3.79	96	3.18	87	8.30	190.3
7	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
8	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
9	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
10	Tom Seaver T. Seaver	2,530	387	203	113	.642	381	2.48	180	46	1	2980.0	2,350	822	894	206	799	48	5	68	11,870	75	7.64	2.41	3.17	0.62	21.3	6.7	1.06	.259	2.70	71	2.59	76	7.10	278.6
11	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
12	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
13	Sam McDowell S. McDowell	2,453	425	141	134	.513	346	3.17	103	23	14	2492.1	1,948	879	999	164	1,312	59	39	74	10,587	140	8.86	4.74	1.87	0.59	23.2	12.4	1.31	.270	3.61	90	3.06	84	7.03	160.4
14	Fergie Jenkins F. Jenkins	2,449	478	213	160	.571	419	3.20	223	40	7	3304.0	2,953	1,176	1,308	349	669	63	31	89	13,390	44	6.67	1.82	3.66	0.95	18.3	5.0	1.10	.264	3.56	84	3.09	84	8.04	215.3
15	Nolan Ryan N. Ryan	2,426	331	141	132	.516	297	3.06	138	34	3	2234.0	1,537	760	867	122	1,384	71	13	32	9,459	103	9.77	5.58	1.75	0.49	25.6	14.6	1.31	.259	3.49	89	3.05	88	6.19	106.7
16	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
17	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
18	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
19	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
20	Steve Carlton S. Carlton	2,309	418	191	136	.584	400	3.06	175	35	1	2987.0	2,638	1,015	1,153	224	1,050	33	7	82	12,377	94	6.96	3.16	2.20	0.67	18.7	8.5	1.23	.276	3.47	85	3.06	86	7.95	160.8
21	Juan Marichal J. Marichal	2,303	471	243	142	.631	457	2.89	244	52	2	3507.0	3,153	1,126	1,329	320	709	40	11	82	14,236	51	5.91	1.82	3.25	0.82	16.2	5.0	1.10	.261	3.41	81	3.04	88	8.09	154.8
22	Jim Kaat J. Kaat	2,289	649	253	212	.544	582	3.39	172	29	5	4026.0	4,062	1,517	1,788	362	945	113	25	73	16,866	113	5.12	2.11	2.42	0.81	13.6	5.6	1.24	.281	4.00	92	3.37	90	9.08	171.5
23	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
24	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
25	Don Sutton D. Sutton	2,224	435	190	144	.569	420	3.04	134	47	3	3052.1	2,608	1,031	1,132	232	804	53	10	67	12,437	74	6.56	2.37	2.77	0.68	17.9	6.5	1.12	.260	3.34	90	2.92	87	7.69	146.4