3,000 strikeout club

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 3,000 strikeout club is a term applied to the group of pitchers who have struck out 3,000 or more batters in their careers. Walter Johnson was the first to reach 3,000, doing so in 1923, and was the only pitcher at this milestone for 50 years until Bob Gibson recorded his 3,000th strikeout in 1974. In total, 16 pitchers have reached 3,000 strikeouts with John Smoltz, the most recent club member, joining in 2008.^[1] Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson are the only left-handed pitchers in this group.^[2][3] Randy Johnson was also the pitcher quickest to 3,000 strikeouts, taking fewer games pitched or innings pitched than any other pitcher.^[4] César Gerónimo is the only player struck out by two different pitchers for their 3,000th strikeout, first by Gibson in 1974 and then Nolan Ryan in 1980.^[5] The Chicago Cubs are one of two franchises to see multiple pitchers record their 3,000th strikeout on their roster, first Ferguson Jenkins in 1982 and then Greg Maddux in 2005. The Minnesota Twins also had two pitchers reach the milestone with their team. Walter Johnson was the first, joining the club while the franchise was called the Washington Senators, then Bert Blyleven joined in 1986 with the team in Minnesota. Ten 3,000 strikeout pitchers are also members of the 300 win club.^[6]

Membership in the 3,000 strikeout club is often described as a guarantee of eventual entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.^[7][8] All ten of the eligible members of the 3,000 strikeout club have been elected to the Hall. Eligibility requires that a player has "been retired five seasons" or deceased for at least 6 months,^[9] disqualifying six living players who have been active within the past five seasons. Bert Blyleven is the most recently elected member, voted in during 2011 balloting. Seven pitchers from this club were named amongst the one hundred greatest players in MLB history as part of the All-Century Team, four of whom were eventually voted as starters for the team by fan vote.^[10][11]

Contents 1 Key 2 Club members 2.1 Notes 3 See also 4 References

Key

Player	Name of the player
Strikeouts	Career strikeouts
IP	Career innings pitched
Date	Date of the pitcher's 3,000th strikeout
Batter	The batter struck out for the pitcher's 3,000th strikeout
Team	The pitcher's team for his 3,000th strikeout
Seasons	The seasons this player played in the major leagues
†	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
*	Denotes player who is still active

Club members

Player	Strikeouts	IP	Date	Batter	Team	Seasons	Ref
Ryan, NolanNolan Ryan†	5,714	5,386	01980-07-04July 4, 1980[5]	Gerónimo, CésarCésar Gerónimo[5]	Houston Astros	1966–1993	[12]
Johnson, RandyRandy Johnson	4,875	4,135 1⁄3	02000-09-10September 10, 2000[5]	Lowell, MikeMike Lowell[5]	Arizona Diamondbacks	1988–2009	[3]
Clemens, RogerRoger Clemens	4,672	4,916 2⁄3	01998-07-05July 5, 1998[5]	Winn, RandyRandy Winn[5]	Toronto Blue Jays	1984–2007	[13]
Carlton, SteveSteve Carlton†	4,136	5,217 1⁄3	01981-04-29April 29, 1981[5]	Wallach, TimTim Wallach[5]	Philadelphia Phillies	1965–1988	[2]
Blyleven, BertBert Blyleven†	3,701	4,970	01986-08-01August 1, 1986[5]	Davis, MikeMike Davis[5]	Minnesota Twins	1970–1992	[14]
Seaver, TomTom Seaver†	3,640	4,782 2⁄3	01981-04-18April 18, 1981[5]	Hernandez, KeithKeith Hernandez[5]	Cincinnati Reds	1967–1986	[15]
Sutton, DonDon Sutton†	3,574	5,282 1⁄3	01983-06-24June 24, 1983[5]	Bannister, AlanAlan Bannister[5]	Milwaukee Brewers	1966–1988	[16]
Perry, GaylordGaylord Perry†	3,534	5,350 1⁄3	01978-10-01October 1, 1978[5]	Simpson, JoeJoe Simpson[5]	Cleveland Indians	1962–1983	[17]
Johnson, WalterWalter Johnson†	3,509	5,914 2⁄3	01923-07-22July 22, 1923[5]	aaaaa !Unclear[U]	Washington Senators	1907–1927	[18]
Maddux, GregGreg Maddux	3,371	5,008 1⁄3	02005-07-26July 26, 2005[19]	Vizquel, OmarOmar Vizquel[19]	Chicago Cubs	1986–2008	[20]
Niekro, PhilPhil Niekro†	3,342	5,404 1⁄3	01984-07-04July 4, 1984[5]	Parrish, LarryLarry Parrish[5]	New York Yankees	1964–1987	[21]
Jenkins, FergusonFerguson Jenkins†	3,192	4,500 2⁄3	01982-07-25July 25, 1982[5]	Templeton, GarryGarry Templeton[5]	Chicago Cubs	1965–1983	[22]
Martínez, PedroPedro Martínez	3,154	2,827 1⁄3	02007-09-03September 3, 2007[7]	Harang, AaronAaron Harang[7]	New York Mets	1992–2009	[23]
Gibson, BobBob Gibson†	3,117	3,884 1⁄3	01974-07-17July 17, 1974[5]	Gerónimo, CésarCésar Gerónimo[5]	St. Louis Cardinals	1959–1975	[24]
Schilling, CurtCurt Schilling	3,116	3,261	02006-08-30August 30, 2006[25]	Swisher, NickNick Swisher[25]	Boston Red Sox	1988–2007	[26]
Smoltz, JohnJohn Smoltz	3,084	3,473	02008-04-22April 22, 2008[1]	López, FelipeFelipe López[1]	Atlanta Braves	1988–2009	[27]

Notes

• ^U The batter Walter Johnson struck out for his 3,000th strikeout was either Charlie Jamieson, Steve O'Neill, or Stan Coveleski.^[5]

See also

• Top 100 Major League Baseball strikeout pitchers

References

General

• "Career Leaders & Records for Strikeouts". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SO_p_career.shtml. Retrieved January 18, 2010. 

Specific

3,000 strikeout club Nolan Ryan Randy Johnson Roger Clemens Steve Carlton Bert Blyleven Tom Seaver Don Sutton Gaylord Perry Walter Johnson Greg Maddux Phil Niekro Ferguson Jenkins Pedro Martínez Bob Gibson Curt Schilling John Smoltz

Major League Baseball records Baseball statistics (types of records) General Record holders Single-game records Single-season records Career records Record breakers by season Records considered unbreakable Batting leaders Career Batting average (.330+) On-base% (.400+) Slugging% (.500+) On-base plus slugging (.900+) OPS/OPS+ 3,000 hit club Hits (2,000+) Doubles (400+) Triples (100+) Home runs (career) Home runs (top 300) 500 home run club RBIs (1,000+) Total bases (4,000+) Walks drawn (top 100) Strikeouts (Top 16 / 1,400+) Hit records Home run records Doubles records Triples records RBI records Consecutive games played 2,500 games played 10,000 at-bats Single season Triples (20+) Home runs (by year) 50 home run club RBI (by year) Batting average (by year) Single-season home run record Baserunning leaders Career Runs (1,000+) Stolen bases Stolen base records Runs records Single season Stolen bases (by year) Pitching leaders Career Wins 300 win club Games started Games finished Innings pitched Strikeouts (top 100) 3,000 strikeout club 300 save club Shutouts ERA (top 200) WHIP (top 100) Walks allowed (top 100) Hit batsmen (top 100) Wins records Single season Wins (by year) Saves (by year) Shutouts (by year) Strikeouts (by year) Earned run average (by year) Managing records Wins and winning percentage Single-game records Four home runs Hitting for the cycle No-hitter Perfect game Strikeouts Unassisted triple play Three strikeouts on nine pitches Multiple stat clubs Triple Crown 20–20–20 club 30–30 club 40–40 club