Before 1981, 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	3,276	692	289	230	.557	605	2.96	291	52	10	4796.1	4,297	1,578	1,833	339	1,252	96	33	155	19,575	139	6.15	2.35	2.62	0.64	16.7	6.4	1.16	.271	3.44	83	2.96	84	8.06	305.3
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	3,109	431	178	169	.513	397	3.18	173	44	3	2925.0	2,094	1,033	1,177	159	1,744	83	13	43	12,386	135	9.57	5.37	1.78	0.49	25.1	14.1	1.31	.265	3.62	91	3.04	86	6.44	164.4
5	Tom Seaver T. Seaver	2,988	481	245	141	.635	475	2.60	202	53	1	3622.2	2,895	1,048	1,150	272	1,008	49	5	88	14,505	89	7.42	2.50	2.96	0.68	20.6	6.9	1.08	.257	2.86	74	2.77	80	7.19	286.7
6	Steve Carlton S. Carlton	2,969	525	249	169	.596	507	3.02	213	45	1	3789.1	3,311	1,273	1,443	294	1,292	43	7	112	15,640	124	7.05	3.07	2.30	0.70	19.0	8.3	1.21	.273	3.43	83	3.07	86	7.86	213.4
7	Fergie Jenkins F. Jenkins	2,899	578	259	194	.572	515	3.28	261	47	7	4010.0	3,623	1,460	1,617	432	843	73	34	105	16,296	55	6.51	1.89	3.44	0.97	17.8	5.2	1.11	.265	3.63	85	3.20	86	8.13	229.2
8	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
9	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
10	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
11	Don Sutton D. Sutton	2,652	534	230	175	.568	517	3.07	156	52	5	3729.0	3,200	1,273	1,406	302	966	61	12	85	15,187	84	6.40	2.33	2.75	0.73	17.5	6.4	1.12	.259	3.39	90	3.02	88	7.72	157.9
12	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
13	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
14	Phil Niekro P. Niekro	2,578	648	233	209	.527	504	3.14	217	38	29	4044.0	3,661	1,409	1,661	345	1,218	102	81	77	16,783	188	5.74	2.71	2.12	0.77	15.4	7.3	1.21	.264	3.70	82	3.39	90	8.15	159.6
15	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
16	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
17	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
18	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
19	Jim Kaat J. Kaat	2,399	771	272	228	.544	622	3.44	180	31	11	4367.2	4,433	1,669	1,954	382	1,033	120	65	96	18,311	124	4.94	2.13	2.32	0.79	13.1	5.6	1.25	.282	4.03	93	3.39	90	9.13	173.8
20	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
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	Luis Tiant L. Tiant	2,354	558	225	165	.577	470	3.27	186	49	15	3399.1	2,982	1,236	1,349	340	1,077	49	51	51	13,988	27	6.23	2.85	2.19	0.90	16.8	7.7	1.19	.260	3.57	87	3.47	92	7.90	110.7
23	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
24	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
25	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