Before 1987, Nolan Ryan fanned the most hitters, with 4,277 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	4,277	611	253	226	.528	577	3.15	203	54	3	4114.1	2,990	1,440	1,643	228	2,268	113	13	65	17,317	209	9.36	4.96	1.89	0.50	24.7	13.1	1.28	.265	3.59	91	3.00	86	6.54	232
2	Steve Carlton S. Carlton	4,040	705	323	229	.585	687	3.11	251	55	1	5056.0	4,487	1,749	2,000	385	1,742	49	7	145	20,936	176	7.19	3.10	2.32	0.69	19.3	8.3	1.23	.279	3.56	85	3.06	85	7.99	295.4
3	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
4	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
5	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
6	Don Sutton D. Sutton	3,431	723	310	239	.565	706	3.19	177	58	5	5003.1	4,402	1,776	1,959	427	1,272	74	12	96	20,456	103	6.17	2.29	2.70	0.77	16.8	6.2	1.13	.261	3.52	91	3.15	89	7.92	199.6
7	Phil Niekro P. Niekro	3,278	838	311	261	.544	690	3.27	243	45	29	5265.1	4,881	1,915	2,238	460	1,743	119	83	85	22,040	216	5.60	2.98	1.88	0.79	14.9	7.9	1.26	.269	3.83	85	3.56	94	8.34	132.5
8	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
9	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
10	Bert Blyleven B. Blyleven	3,090	541	229	197	.538	535	3.08	216	54	0	3987.2	3,605	1,365	1,532	317	1,072	110	3	62	16,355	85	6.97	2.42	2.88	0.72	18.9	6.6	1.17	.279	3.46	81	3.00	79	8.14	354.1
11	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
12	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
13	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
14	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
15	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
16	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
17	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
18	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
19	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
20	Jim Kaat J. Kaat	2,461	898	283	237	.544	625	3.45	180	31	17	4530.1	4,620	1,738	2,038	395	1,083	122	102	116	19,023	128	4.89	2.15	2.27	0.78	12.9	5.7	1.26	.282	4.05	93	3.41	91	9.18	165.8
21	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
22	Luis Tiant L. Tiant	2,416	573	229	172	.571	484	3.30	187	49	15	3486.1	3,075	1,280	1,400	346	1,104	49	51	53	14,365	27	6.24	2.85	2.19	0.89	16.8	7.7	1.20	.261	3.61	87	3.46	92	7.94	117.1
23	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
24	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
25	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