B-Ref Top Ten: Swing-and-a-Miss
One of the best ways to waste time online is by digging around on Baseball-Reference. This series explores the top ten Baseball-Reference pages in a given category for the purpose of gawking in amazement, curiosity, and wonder. These are not necessarily the ten best ever, but they are the ten most fascinating.Other installments can be found here, here, and here.
Strikeouts represent one of the greatest imbalances in modern baseball. They are the best possible outcome for a pitcher in any given plate appearance (excusing double and triple plays). In fact, it’s almost impossible to be an above-average pitcher without generating tons of Ks. On the contrary, batters can still be great even with high strikeout totals. As a result, MLB breaks its own record for strikeout rate every season. The last season that didn’t set a new record was 2007.
Like it or not, strikeouts are an ever-increasing part of baseball. Today’s B-Ref Top Ten celebrates some of the more interesting player pages in baseball history with respect to strikeouts- both hitters and pitchers.
10. Lloyd Waner
Perhaps unfairly, Lloyd Waner catches a lot of flak from students of baseball history. He was a perfectly fine player for 18 years, leading the league in hits, runs, and triples, accumulating 27.9 bWAR, and batting .316 for his career. It’s not his fault the dunderheaded Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1967, mostly to be cute and enshrine him with his brother, Paul.
In 1941, Joe DiMaggio recorded his 56-game hitting streak and Ted Williams batted .406, but Waner set a record that may outlast either of these accomplishments. In 234 plate appearances, he didn’t strike out even once! Sure, he failed to hit any home runs, posted an 85 OPS+, and was traded twice, but no one in baseball history has ever batted more times in a season without fanning. He may be one of the weakest Hall of Famers, but this achievement will likely stand forever.
9. Walter Johnson
The league average strikeout rate was 23% in 2019, but it was roughly 10% in Walter Johnson‘s era. Adjusting for this, his strikeout totals were herculean. His 313 in 1910 and career total of 3,509 were both records until Sandy Koufax and Steve Carlton came along.
The black ink truly tells the story. He led the AL in Ks eight consecutive seasons from 1912-1919, and 12 times overall. Additionally, he led in K/9 seven times and K/BB nine times. From 1910-1924, he was solely responsible for 4.5% of all strikeouts in the AL. His ability to excel so far above his peers is the reason he was the greatest pitcher in pre-expansion MLB.
8. Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson is one of many examples proving that strikeout-prone hitters can still be great. The Hall of Famer bashed 563 home runs in his career, leading the league four times with three different teams. His 292 bombs in the 1970s were more than any other AL player, just four short of Willie Stargell for the MLB lead for the decade. But… that’s not why we’re here.
Reggie led the AL in strikeouts in each of his first four seasons and is one of only five players to earn such dubious black ink four times in a row. He played 18 full seasons over 21 years, and his lowest strikeout total in any of them was 105. In spite of the many prodigious swing-and-miss artists that succeeded him, he still retains the all-time record with 2,597.
7. Pedro Martínez
Anyone who witnessed Pedro Martínez in action will proclaim that he was one of the greatest who ever took the mound. His 2.20 ERA from 1997-2003 would have been remarkable even in Walter Johnson’s era, let alone the steroid-pumped, homer-happy time in which he played. It’s confounding that he only paced the league in strikeouts three times, especially since he finished his career with 3,154.
In 1999, Pedro fanned 313 of the 835 batters he faced, which is an astounding 37.5%. That’s no longer a record; Gerrit Cole struck out 39.9% of opposing batters last year. Still, it’s a much more strikeout-prone environment these days. In context, it’s incredible that his record withstood assaults from every great pitcher over the last 20 years. Randy Johnson, Chris Sale, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer came close, but none except Cole could induce whiffs at a higher rate.
6. George Bechtel
While the four previously listed players are all Hall of Famers, George Bechtel is decidedly not. No one even knows if he threw left or right-handed. As an outfielder/pitcher from 1871-1876, he is a reminder of the zany alienness of nineteenth-century baseball. 1874 was the first season in which the batter was required to stay in the batter’s box. Pitchers were allowed to throw sidearm for the first time instead of underhanded. Even though only three balls equaled a walk, the first pitch of each plate appearance was neither called a strike nor a ball.
Under these conditions, Bechtel recorded one of the strangest stat lines ever. Over 39 innings and 193 batters faced, he didn’t strike a single batter out. He managed to walk only one opponent, and he allowed 57 hits and 42 runs- though only seven were earned! This is still the record for most batters faced in a season without a strikeout. Honestly, it shouldn’t even count, and the record keeping was probably riddled with inaccuracies, but it’s fun to think about what those games must have looked like.
5. Lefty Grove
It was highly unusual in the 1920s for an elite prospect to delay his debut until age 25. In the days before minor league teams were affiliated, MLB clubs had to purchase players’ contracts. Lefty Grove was a star for the Baltimore Orioles from 1920-1924. The Philadelphia Athletics repeatedly tried to acquire him, but couldn’t agree on a price of sale. In 1925 they finally succeeded, and Grove hit the ground running.
Despite a league-leading 131 walks, Grove flashed immense potential with an AL-best 116 strikeouts. The following season, he toned down the wildness and ramped up the strikeouts to 194. He would lead the AL in each of his first seven seasons, collecting the first-ever AL MVP award along the way in 1931.
4. Aroldis Chapman and Craig Kimbrel
Aroldis Champan and Craig Kimbrel were the two greatest relievers of the past decade. Both debuted in 2010 and have struck out opposing batters a rate heretofore thought impossible. They are tied for the career record with a 41.1% strikeout rate (minimum 500 innings). Other than Dellin Betances (40.1%) and Kenley Jansen (37.6%), no one else in history is within seven percentage points.
Naturally, they have each posted some ridiculous single seasons. In 2012, Kimbrel became the first qualified reliever ever to strike out at least 50% of opponents, sending 116 of 231 batters back to the bench shaking their heads. The only player to match this feat has been Chapman, who fanned 106 of 185 batters in 2014. That 52.5% mark is currently the record to beat.
3. Mark Reynolds
Bobby Bonds was the Roger Maris of striking out, setting the single season high with 189 in 1970. Many approached this record over the ensuing decades, but it wasn’t surpassed until Adam Dunn‘s 195 in 2004. However, much like a .400 batting average, the elusive 200 K plateau remained unattainable. Ryan Howard came achingly close in 2007 but finished with 199.
That’s when Mark Reynolds became the champion of the times. In 2008, his first full season, he reached the mountain top with 204 strikeouts, but he didn’t stop there! The following year, he whiffed 223 times, which still stands as the MLB record. With 211 in 2010 and 196 in 2011, he fanned 834 times over a four-year span. Truly, it is an athletic achievement worthy of our admiration.
2. Joe Sewell
There can be no hero without a villain. Between Joe Sewell and Mark Reynolds, it’s tough to discern which is which, but they are surely opposites. The Hall of Fame infielder played from 1920-1933, striking out 114 times- not in a season, but in his entire career. (Reynolds struck out more than 114 times in just the first half of 2009!)
In 1922- Sewell’s highest strikeout season- he fanned 20 times. This was unacceptable to him, and he wouldn’t hit double digits again from 1925-1933. He fanned less than five times in seven different seasons, all but one of which featured at least 571 plate appearances. He struck out in only 1.4% of his career plate appearances, which is surely a record that will never break.
1. Nolan Ryan
Reggie Jackson had the misfortune of facing Nolan Ryan 81 times in his career, striking out in 22 of them. In 1976, he was asked why he had so much trouble against Ryan’s blistering 100 mph fastball. He replied, “Every hitter likes fastballs just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don’t like it when someone’s stuffing it into you by the gallon. That’s how you feel when Ryan’s throwing balls by you.”
Take your pick of what most impresses you on Ryan’s stat page. It could be his all-time record of 5,714 strikeouts or single season record of 383. He eclipsed 300 Ks six times, the last of which occurred in 1989 at age 42. He’s the all-time leader for both the Angels and the Astros franchises. He’s fifth on the Rangers leaderboard, for whom he pitched from ages 42-46. He led the league in strikeouts 11 times and K/9 12 times. His rate of blowing away opponents is surpassed only by his longevity, which is why he reigns as the king of Ks.
