Before 1980, 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	Gaylord Perry G. Perry	3,141	658	279	217	.563	573	2.93	285	50	10	4590.2	4,073	1,494	1,726	325	1,188	88	31	152	18,691	130	6.16	2.33	2.64	0.64	16.8	6.4	1.15	.269	3.38	82	2.94	84	7.99	292.4
3	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
4	Nolan Ryan N. Ryan	2,909	396	167	159	.512	362	3.16	169	42	3	2691.1	1,889	946	1,077	149	1,646	80	13	42	11,404	125	9.73	5.50	1.77	0.50	25.5	14.4	1.31	.263	3.60	90	3.05	87	6.32	149.2
5	Tom Seaver T. Seaver	2,887	455	235	133	.639	449	2.55	197	52	1	3454.2	2,755	980	1,076	248	949	48	5	85	13,813	85	7.52	2.47	3.04	0.65	20.9	6.9	1.07	.259	2.80	73	2.68	78	7.18	301.8
6	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
7	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
8	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
9	Fergie Jenkins F. Jenkins	2,770	549	247	182	.576	486	3.25	249	47	7	3812.0	3,433	1,377	1,527	410	791	69	34	97	15,469	50	6.54	1.87	3.50	0.97	17.9	5.1	1.11	.265	3.61	85	3.17	85	8.11	225.6
10	Steve Carlton S. Carlton	2,683	487	225	160	.584	469	3.08	200	42	1	3485.1	3,068	1,194	1,356	279	1,202	41	7	100	14,412	107	6.93	3.10	2.23	0.72	18.6	8.3	1.23	.273	3.50	85	3.13	87	7.92	171.1
11	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
12	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
13	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
14	Don Sutton D. Sutton	2,524	502	217	170	.561	486	3.12	152	50	4	3516.2	3,037	1,221	1,350	282	919	59	11	80	14,354	84	6.46	2.35	2.75	0.72	17.6	6.4	1.12	.261	3.45	92	3.00	88	7.77	154.3
15	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
16	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
17	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
18	Phil Niekro P. Niekro	2,402	608	218	191	.533	466	3.10	206	35	28	3769.0	3,405	1,298	1,542	315	1,133	99	79	74	15,646	179	5.74	2.71	2.12	0.75	15.4	7.2	1.20	.264	3.68	81	3.36	90	8.13	157.1
19	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
20	Jim Kaat J. Kaat	2,362	718	264	220	.545	608	3.42	174	30	7	4233.0	4,285	1,610	1,888	376	996	120	40	83	17,738	120	5.02	2.12	2.37	0.80	13.3	5.6	1.25	.282	4.01	93	3.38	90	9.11	174.6
21	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
22	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
23	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
24	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
25	Luis Tiant L. Tiant	2,270	533	217	156	.582	445	3.21	183	49	15	3263.0	2,843	1,162	1,270	330	1,027	48	51	48	13,400	25	6.26	2.83	2.21	0.91	16.9	7.7	1.19	.258	3.50	85	3.47	92	7.84	104.7