Nolan Ryan 1973 Strike Out King.

Nolan Ryan broke the modern (since 1901) Strike Out (SO) record by one: in 1965 Sandy Koufax had 382 SO. 1973 was the first year of the designated hitter (DH) in the American League (AL), so Ryan did not pitch to other pitchers as Koufax had done. Inter-league play began in 1997.

Ryan led MLB in Strike Outs (SO) AND K% (SO/BF): 28.3%, 67% above #12 in K%.

BF: Batters Faced

Top 24, the number of teams, in SO sorted by K%:

Rk	Player	K%	SO	BB	BB%	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GS	CG	SHO	GF	W	L	W-L%	SV	IP	H	R	ER	ERA	FIP	ERA+	BAbip	HR	BF	AB	2B	3B	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	PO	BK	WP	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	Pit	Str
1	Nolan Ryan	28.3%	383	162	12.0%	1973	26	CAL	AL	41	39	26	4	2	21	16	.568	1	326.0	238	113	104	2.87	2.49	123	.283	18	1355	1172	53	5	2	7	7	7	24	37	10	4	0	15	.203	.302	.303	.605	78
2	Tom Seaver	21.9%	251	64	5.6%	1973	28	NYM	NL	36	36	18	3	0	19	10	.655	0	290.0	219	74	67	2.08	2.57	175	.247	23	1147	1064	35	5	5	4	10	5	17	5	3	0	0	5	.206	.252	.313	.565	62
3	Jon Matlack	20.3%	205	99	9.8%	1973	23	NYM	NL	34	34	14	3	0	14	16	.467	0	242.0	210	93	86	3.20	2.98	114	.287	16	1011	891	35	1	14	2	14	5	18	23	13	5	0	6	.236	.312	.331	.643	85
4	Jim Bibby	20.0%	167	123	14.7%	1973	28	TOT	ML	32	26	11	2	1	9	12	.429	1	196.1	140	90	82	3.76	3.93	99	.241	16	836	692	25	3	6	8	7	6	15	23	7	0	2	15	.202	.327	.316	.643	86
5	Don Sutton	19.9%	200	56	5.6%	1973	28	LAD	NL	33	33	14	3	0	18	10	.643	0	256.1	196	78	69	2.42	2.63	144	.247	18	1006	937	29	3	4	5	5	3	23	17	4	2	0	10	.209	.257	.304	.561	63
6	Bert Blyleven	19.5%	258	67	5.1%	1973	22	MIN	AL	40	40	25	9	0	20	17	.541	0	325.0	296	109	91	2.52	2.32	156	.292	16	1321	1221	42	11	4	9	11	13	15	18	11	1	2	7	.242	.284	.334	.618	71
7	Luis Tiant	18.8%	206	78	7.1%	1973	32	BOS	AL	35	35	23	0	0	20	13	.606	0	272.0	217	105	101	3.34	3.52	120	.243	32	1096	991	45	4	3	7	11	9	13	13	8	3	0	2	.219	.278	.369	.648	76
8	Wayne Twitchell	18.4%	169	99	10.8%	1973	25	PHI	NL	34	28	10	5	0	13	9	.591	0	223.1	172	71	62	2.50	3.45	152	.257	16	921	787	26	6	9	10	20	4	18	14	13	0	0	13	.219	.312	.328	.640	81
9	Bill Singer	17.9%	241	130	9.6%	1973	29	CAL	AL	40	40	19	2	0	20	14	.588	0	315.2	280	124	113	3.22	2.98	109	.282	15	1348	1194	40	8	5	9	13	2	22	22	7	3	1	7	.235	.314	.319	.633	86
10	Steve Carlton	17.7%	223	113	9.0%	1973	28	PHI	NL	40	40	18	3	0	13	20	.394	0	293.1	293	146	127	3.90	3.52	97	.301	29	1262	1125	46	14	12	3	17	3	29	12	9	7	0	7	.260	.329	.404	.732	106
11	Andy Messersmith	17.4%	177	77	7.6%	1973	27	LAD	NL	33	33	10	3	0	14	10	.583	0	249.2	196	90	75	2.70	3.40	129	.239	24	1015	918	40	1	3	6	10	4	14	14	8	1	1	6	.214	.278	.338	.615	78
12	Gaylord Perry	16.9%	238	115	8.2%	1973	34	CLE	AL	41	41	29	7	0	19	19	.500	0	344.0	315	143	129	3.38	3.51	117	.278	34	1410	1279	45	6	9	5	8	3	47	20	16	2	0	17	.246	.310	.371	.681	90
13	Steve Busby	16.8%	174	105	10.1%	1973	23	KCR	AL	37	37	7	1	0	16	15	.516	0	238.1	246	125	112	4.23	3.48	96	.315	18	1037	909	32	5	7	6	9	7	21	16	10	11	0	9	.271	.348	.376	.724	99
14	Rick Reuschel	16.8%	168	62	6.2%	1973	24	CHC	NL	36	36	7	3	0	14	15	.483	0	237.0	244	95	79	3.00	2.82	131	.306	15	1003	929	36	4	6	5	5	2	18	16	11	3	1	10	.263	.312	.358	.670	86
15	Mickey Lolich	16.6%	214	79	6.1%	1973	32	DET	AL	42	42	17	3	0	16	15	.516	0	308.2	315	143	131	3.82	3.47	106	.298	35	1286	1183	56	8	7	5	14	5	25	19	19	10	0	12	.266	.314	.416	.730	99
16	Joe Coleman	16.6%	202	93	7.6%	1973	26	DET	AL	40	40	13	2	0	23	15	.605	0	288.1	283	125	113	3.53	3.68	115	.290	32	1219	1096	36	10	2	10	16	4	14	34	15	3	0	6	.258	.321	.397	.718	96
17	Fred Norman	16.0%	161	101	10.0%	1973	30	TOT	NL	36	35	8	3	1	13	13	.500	0	240.1	208	102	96	3.60	3.97	96	.257	27	1008	883	30	4	11	2	14	8	20	13	6	5	1	10	.236	.313	.370	.683	100
18	Steve Renko	15.7%	164	108	10.3%	1973	28	MON	NL	36	34	9	0	1	15	11	.577	1	249.2	201	94	78	2.81	3.92	135	.237	26	1044	923	28	4	12	1	7	5	19	15	9	1	0	9	.218	.299	.341	.640	81
19	Fergie Jenkins	15.2%	170	57	5.1%	1973	30	CHC	NL	38	38	7	2	0	14	16	.467	0	271.0	267	133	117	3.89	3.67	101	.278	35	1119	1030	36	6	10	4	17	11	22	16	11	0	0	1	.259	.298	.408	.705	94
20	Jerry Reuss	14.8%	177	117	9.8%	1973	24	HOU	NL	41	40	12	3	1	16	13	.552	0	279.1	271	123	116	3.74	3.38	96	.292	17	1198	1057	45	7	6	3	13	8	27	15	10	5	1	10	.256	.330	.360	.690	98
21	Vida Blue	14.6%	158	105	9.7%	1973	23	OAK	AL	37	37	13	4	0	20	9	.690	0	263.2	214	108	96	3.28	3.89	109	.240	26	1083	956	29	6	2	4	8	10	28	14	7	2	2	15	.224	.300	.348	.649	86
22	Jim Palmer	13.3%	158	113	9.5%	1973	27	BAL	AL	38	37	19	6	1	22	9	.710	1	296.1	225	86	79	2.40	3.38	155	.234	16	1190	1064	36	9	5	3	5	5	22	16	10	0	0	7	.211	.288	.307	.595	69
23	Ken Holtzman	13.0%	157	66	5.5%	1973	27	OAK	AL	40	40	16	4	0	21	13	.618	0	297.1	275	109	98	2.97	3.18	120	.265	22	1210	1131	31	10	5	4	5	4	28	6	11	1	0	12	.243	.286	.347	.633	82
24	Wilbur Wood	13.0%	199	91	5.9%	1973	31	CHW	AL	49	48	21	4	1	24	20	.545	0	359.1	381	166	138	3.46	3.18	116	.297	25	1531	1410	55	11	3	7	12	11	32	31	12	8	0	7	.270	.315	.378	.693	91