Strike one. Strike two. Strike three, you're out!
With certain Major League Baseball pitchers able to hurl fastballs at upwards of 100 miles per hour, connecting the bat with the ball consistently has arguably never been harder.
Having already counted down the game's greatest home run hitters, we now turn our attention to the kings of the punchouts.
From Texan royalty to a well-travelled spitballer, here are the ten pitchers with more strikeouts than anyone in Major League Baseball history.
- Nolan Ryan (1966-93) โ New York Mets/California Angels/Houston Astros/Texas Rangers โ 5,714 strikeouts
- Randy Johnson (1988-2009) โ Montreal Expos/ Seattle Mariners/Houston Astros/Arizona Diamondbacks/New York Yankees/San Francisco Giants โ 4,875
- Roger Clemens (1984-2007) โ Boston Red Sox/Toronto Blue Jays/New York Yankees/Houston Astros โ 4,672
- Steve Carlton (1965-88) โ St Louis Cardinals/Philadelphia Phillies/San Francisco Giants/Chicago White Sox/Cleveland Indians/Minnesota Twins โ 4,136
- Bert Blyleven (1970-92) โ Minnesota Twins/Texas Rangers/Pittsburgh Pirates/Cleveland Indians/California Angels โ 3,701
- Tom Seaver (1967-86) โ New York Mets/Cincinnati Reds/Chicago White Sox/Boston Red Sox โ 3,640
- Don Sutton (1966-88) โ Los Angeles Dodgers/Houston Astros/Milwaukee Brewers/Oakland Athletics/California Angels โ 3,574
- Gaylord Perry (1962-83) โ San Francisco Giants/Cleveland Indians/Texas Rangers/San Diego Padres/New York Yankees/Atlanta Braves/Seattle Mariners/Kansas City Royals โ 3,534
- Walter Johnson (1907-27) โ Washington Senators โ 3,509
- Greg Maddux (1986-2008) โ Chicago Cubs/Atlanta Braves/Los Angeles Dodgers/San Diego Padres โ 3,371
