What Is A Strikeout In Baseball? Rules, History And MLB Records!

Whether you’re just a fan of baseball or an aspiring player you may come up with this query sooner or later “what is a strikeout in baseball.” 

Strikeouts are basically a play where the batter is announced out of the game. To consider it a legal strikeout, a batter should at least have 3 separate strikes in a single game. 

The strikeout game is governed by the rules mentioned in MLB 9.15 section. Strikeouts first came into the scene in 1858. However, over time there have been some changes in 1880, 1887, and 1888.

Nolan Ryan got the maximum number of strikeouts (5,714) in the history of Major League baseball. 

Just like these, there are lots of interesting insights regarding strikeout rules, history, and records. In this post, I’m gonna share all my findings to feed your knowledge cravings. 

What Is A Strikeout Meaning In Baseball?

The term “Strikeout” means the batter is out as he missed hitting 3 successful pitches. These 3 missed shots don’t need to be in a row. 

As a result, the hitter is considered out of the game. The strikeout will count for both the pitcher and the hitter. 

You may have heard about the strikeout K signs. On the scoreboard, it’s represented by the capital “K.” There’s also another term for the strikeout called “Strikeout Looking.” It means the hitter didn’t swing his bat at the time of the 3rd strike.

This is denoted by the flipped capital “ꓘ.” It’s also considered a strikeout but writing the score this way allows people to understand how the third strike happened.

In addition, both foul and fair balls are counted for a strikeout pitch. However, in terms of foul balls, it’s counted only if it’s 1st or 2nd pitch of 3 pitches, meaning they aren’t counted for the strikeout at the last pitch. 

“The career strikeout record is achieved by Nolan Ryan. His total number of strikeouts is 5,714.”

Types of Strikeouts in Baseball 

In baseball, you’ll witness 2 types of strikeouts – Swinging strikeouts and Called strikeouts. The core difference between both strikeouts is the hitter’s batting action during the play. In brief,

• Swinging strikeouts occur if the hitter swings his bat but fails to hit the ball and gets out of the game due to 3rd strike.
• Called strikeouts occur when the hitter doesn’t swing his bat, as expected, fails to hit the ball, and gets out of the game because of the 3rd strike confirmation. In CS contexts, the umpire calls and confirms the strike. Thus, it’s named the Called strikeout. 

However, there’s another type of swinging strikeout called “Uncaught Third Strike.” To consider a swing strikeout an uncaught 3rd strike, it should meet the below conditions. 

1. The hitter swings but can’t hit the ball
2. Umpire calls the pitch a strike (3rd strike)
3. The catcher is unable to catch the ball or it touches the ground before he catches it

“The interesting fact is in this situation, the hitter can run toward first base and the catcher can try to tag him to get him out of the game. However, if the hitter successfully reaches the base, he won’t be considered out. “

7 Strikeout Rules Beginner Baseball Players Should Know

Hopefully, the above information gave you an idea of the baseball strikeout. But apply it to the game, you should get a thorough idea about the rules of strikeouts given below:

1. Criteria of Strikeouts 

If the hitter swings at the pitch and doesn’t make contact with the ball, it’s a strike. Occurring this 3 times results in the batter going out. 

In the situation where the hitter swings and fails to contact the ball through the bat and crosses the home plate, it’s considered a strike. If this happens three times, the batter is out.

The umpire calls it a fair ball if the hitter is unable to swing a strike ball. 

2. Strike Counts Can Be Affected If It’s a Foul Ball

If a batter has 2 strikes against them and hits a foul ball, the strike count doesn’t increase. However, if there are fewer than 2 strikes against the hitter and they hit a foul ball, the count does increase.

3. Bunting vs. Strikeout

The strikeout is counted in terms of bunting also. So, if a hitter attempts to bunt (both into fair and foul territory), it counts as a strikeout. 

“Bunting is a technique in baseball batting where the hitter holds the bat in a still position and tries to lightly tap the ball.”

4. Pitchers Always Get the Strikeout Score 

A hitter may not be out if the conditions save them. But all 3rd strikes are counted in the scoresheet of the pitcher even though the hitter isn’t out in the below scenes:

• If the 3rd strike is a foul tip (the ball that’s caught by the catcher after being hit by the hitter.)
• If during the 3rd strike, there’s a first baseman and there is less than 1 out.
• If hitters bunt the 3rd strike pitch and no offensive players are able to catch it.

5. Hitter Can Advance in a Strikeout

At the 3rd strike, the hitter can run for the next base to advance the score if he’s safe from the tag-out or force-out.

6. 3rd Strike Can Turn Into a Fielder’s Choice

It’s possible to occur a Fielder’s Choice during the 3rd strikeout. For example, if the 3rd base runner tries to advance to home plate, the catcher can force him out while the pitch is already considered a strikeout. 

7. Abbreviation Rules 

“K” and “K-S” is used to denote a swinging strikeout. Henry Chadwick first discovered the abbreviation. 

First-timers often get confused and ask themselves why is strikeout K backward sometimes. Backward K or “ꓘ” or “K-L” is used to denote a strikeout looking (called strikeout).

History of Strikeout – Changes in Rule From 1793 to 1887

Johann Christoph Friedrich GutsMuths first mentioned strikeout in his book, Gymnastics for Youth (originally named Gymnastik für die Jugend.)

He mentioned the general rule as a whole, stating if a hitter gets 3 strikes, he’s out. However, the catcher should be able to catch the 3rd strike. Dropping the catch counts the ball in play and allows the hitter to advance to the next base.

In addition to that, the catcher can still try to force out the runner-hitter by throwing the ball to the first baseman before the hitter tags the base.  

There was a further addition to the rule in 1858. The rule update states that if the 3rd strike gets caught, it’s a fair ball. Therefore, the hitter can run to score. Called Strikes were introduced this year also.  

At last, in 1880, the final changes came – what we see in the modern baseball strikeout rule. The changes are given below:

• 3rd strike should be caught by any offensive player 
• If there are fewer than 2 outs or the first base runner is alive, even though it’s a dropped 3rd strike, the hitter will be out

“In a slight rule update in 1887, the total number of strikes was set to 4. But it was again set to 3 in 1888.”

Strikeout Records of Pitchers in Major League Baseball

In this section, I’m gonna share all the MLB strikeout records based on a single season, per 9-innings and all-time leaders. 

10 Single-Season All-Time Strikeout Leaders in MLB

With a total of 513 strikeouts in 1886, Matt Kilroy holds the title of all-time strikeout leader in Major League Baseball (AA – American Association of Baseball Clubs.) At that time, he was playing for the Baltimore Orioles.

Rank	Pitchers’ Names	Team	Scores	League	Year
1	Matt Kilroy	Baltimore Orioles	513	AA	1886
2	Toad Ramsey	Louisville Colonels	499	AA	1886
3	Hugh Daily	Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies/Washington Nationals	483	UA	1884
4	Dupee Shaw	Detroit Wolverines/Boston Reds	451	NL/UA	1884
5	Old Hoss Radbourn	Providence Grays	441	NL	1884
6	Charlie Buffington	Boston Beaneaters	417	Da	1884
7	Guy Hecker	Louisville Eclipse	385	AA	1884
8	Nolan Ryan	California Angels	383	AL	1973
9	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers	382	NL	1965
10	Bill Sweeney	Baltimore Monumentals	374	UA	1884

Top 10 Single-Season Strikeout Players

The below ranking chart represents the best strikeout scorers in a single season. The top guy was Nolan Ryan because of his incredible performance in the 1973 season. 

However, the ranking will change if you consider overall top scorers in Major League Baseball history.  

Rank	Pitchers’ Names	Team	Scores	League	Year
1	Nolan Ryan	California Angels	383	AL	1973
2	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers	382	NL	1965
3	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	372	NL	2001
4	Nolan Ryan	California Angels	367	AL	1974
5	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	364	NL	1999
6	Rube Waddell	Philadelphia Athletics	349	AL	1904
7	Bob Feller	Cleveland Indians	348	AL	1946
8	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	347	NL	2000
9	Nolan Ryan	California Angels	341	AL	1977
10	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	334	NL	2002

Top 20 Career Strikeout Leaders in MLB

The ranking is based on the performance of baseball players from 1901 to 2022. Among these 20 players only Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Zack Greinke are currently active in their professional baseball careers. To help you differentiate the active players, I’ve made them bold. 

Rank	Players’ Names	Strikeout Scores
1	Nolan Ryan	5,714
2	Randy Johnson	4,875
3	Roger Clemens	4,672
4	Steve Carlton	4,136
5	Bert Blyleven	3,701
6	Tom Seaver	3,640
7	Don Sutton	3,574
8	Gaylord Perry	3,534
9	Walter Johnson	3,509
10	Greg Maddux	3,371
11	Phil Niekro	3,342
12	Max Scherzer	3,193
13	Ferguson Jenkins	3,192
14	Justin Verlander	3,188
15	Pedro Martínez	3,154
16	Bob Gibson	3,117
17	Curt Schilling	3,116
18	CC Sabathia	3,093
19	John Smoltz	3,084
20	Zack Greinke	2,882

8 Pitchers with 2,000+ Strikeouts

Among the current active players, only eight baseball pitchers scored more than 2000 strikeouts. The ranking was updated on 3rd October 2022. 

Rank	Pitchers’ Names	Strikeout Scores
1	Max Scherzer	3,193
2	Justin Verlander	3,188
3	Zack Greinke	2,882
4	Clayton Kershaw	2,798
5	Adam Wainwright	2,147
6	David Price	2,076
7	Chris Sale	2,064
8	Madison Bumgarner	2,060

Top 10 Career Strikeouts Leaders Per 9 Innings

If considering the last century MLB record book, Chris Sale is the strikeout leader with an 11.7 score in his pocket. There are 9 more players following his score who’ve pitched in more than 1000 innings.

Rank	Pitchers’ Names	Strikeout Scores
1	Chris Sale	11.07
2	Robbie Ray	11.03
3	Jacob deGrom	10.90
4	Yu Darvish	10.81
5	Max Scherzer	10.71
6	Randy Johnson	10.60
7	Stephen Strasburg	10.54
8	Gerrit Cole	10.51
9	Kerry Wood	10.31
10	Aaron Nola	10.11

Top 5 Single-Season Strikeout Leaders Per 9 Innings 

From 1900 to 2022 Major League Baseball seasons, Shane Bieber is the only player to reach 14 strikeouts (in 9 innings). He reached this milestone in 2020. 

To make this ranking a little less competitive, MLB allowed any player who pitched at least 1 inning. 

Rank	Pitchers’ Names	Scores	Year
1	Shane Bieber	14.19	2020
2	Gerrit Cole	13.81	2019
3	Jacob deGrom	13.76	2020
4	Randy Johnson	13.40	2001
5	Pedro Martínez	13.20	1999

Strikeout Records of Batter in Major League Baseball

As mentioned in the strikeout rule section, some strikeouts are counted on the batter’s side. Let’s take a quick look at them one by one. 

Top 15 Career Strikeout Leaders in MLB

With 2,597 throughout his career, Reggie Jackson got the maximum strikeouts as a batter in the history of Major League Baseball. The ranking is based on the last updated data on 2nd October 2022.

Rank	Batters’ Names	Scores
1	Reggie Jackson	2,597
2	Jim Thome	2,548
3	Adam Dunn	2,379
4	Sammy Sosa	2,306
5	Alex Rodriguez	2,287
6	Miguel Cabrera	2,030
7	Andrés Galarraga	2,003
8	Justin Upton	1,971
9	José Canseco	1,942
10	Willie Stargell	1,937
11	Mark Reynolds	1,927
12	Curtis Granderson	1,916
13	Mike Cameron	1,901
14	Mike Schmidt	1,883
15	Fred McGriff	1,882

10 Active Hitters with 1,300+ Strikeouts

The below chart consists of the 10 currently active batters (as of the 2022 season) who got more than 1300 strikeouts in their career. 

Miguel Cabrera holds the first rank in this chart. Right now, the most valuable baseball card is also of Miguel. You can check out more information about his autographed card in the most valuable baseball cards of the 2000s. 

Rank	Batters’ Names	Scores
1	Miguel Cabrera	2,030
2	Justin Upton	1,971
3	Nelson Cruz	1,870
4	Giancarlo Stanton	1,694
5	Evan Longoria	1,623
6	Joey Votto	1,578
7	Paul Goldschmidt	1,544
8	Andrew McCutchen	1,542
9	J.D. Martinez	1,422
10	Freddie Freeman	1,414

Frequently Asked Questions 

What are 3 strikeouts in a game called?

3 strikeouts in a game are called a “Hat Trick”. This slang is used to dishonor the batter. There are some more like if there are 4 strikeouts, it’s called “Golden Sombrero.” For 5 strikes, people use “Platinum Sombrero” or “Olympic Rings” as slang. 

Is it OK to strike out in baseball?

Well, it’s an integral part of baseball. Whether it’s an MLB pro or a Little League fellow, everyone experiences strike-outs in their career. So, it’s fine to strike out in baseball. 

Who has the most MLB strikeout?

Nolan Ryan has the most strikeouts in the history of baseball with 5,714 Ks. Among the active players, Justin Verlander has the maximum MLB strikeouts of 3,198 Ks. 

What is the meaning of strikeout swinging figurative?

A strike out swinging figurative means there have been 3 strikes for a hitter who tried to swing the bat but missed hit.  This is just another way of referring to the baseball strikeout. 

What is meant by swing for the fences in baseball?

Basically, this idiom is used for say the batter’s gonna make a big shot. More specially, by using swing for the fences, people refer to the batter swinging his bat to make a home run. 

Wrapping Up

Hopefully, that gave you all the answers about what is a strikeout in baseball. A strikeout is a common and integral part of baseball. The play itself is a bit cumbersome. But for any aspiring baseball learners, it’s vital to get friendly with this term and the related rules whether it’s a pitcher or batter. 

If you find this informative article helpful, please give me a shout-out on your social media. It may guide other novices regarding baseball strikeouts. 

Check out more interesting baseball terminologies:

What Is A Double Play In Baseball?

Can Baseball Bats Be Used For Softball – Ending the Debate