List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders
American League

List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders

Section Title: American League
Table Section Text: None

Year	Leader	K	Team	Runner-up	K	Ref

1901	Cy Young	158	Boston Americans	Roy Patterson	127

1902	Rube Waddell	210	Philadelphia Athletics	Cy Young	160

1903	Rube Waddell	302	Philadelphia Athletics	Bill Donovan	187

1904	Rube Waddell	349	Philadelphia Athletics	Jack Chesbro	239

1905	Rube Waddell	287	Philadelphia Athletics	Eddie Plank Cy Young	210

1906	Rube Waddell	196	Philadelphia Athletics	Cy Falkenberg	178

1907	Rube Waddell	232	Philadelphia Athletics	Ed Walsh	206

1908	Ed Walsh	269	Chicago White Sox	Rube Waddell	232

1909	Frank Smith	177	Chicago White Sox	Walter Johnson	164

1910	Walter Johnson	313	Washington Senators	Ed Walsh	258

1911	Ed Walsh	255	Chicago White Sox	Joe Wood	231

1912	Walter Johnson	303	Washington Senators	Joe Wood	258

1913	Walter Johnson	243	Washington Senators	Cy Falkenberg Vean Gregg	166

1914	Walter Johnson	225	Washington Senators	Willie Mitchell	179

1915	Walter Johnson	203	Washington Senators	Red Faber	182

1916	Walter Johnson	228	Washington Senators	Elmer Myers	182

1917	Walter Johnson	188	Washington Senators	Eddie Cicotte	150

1918	Walter Johnson	162	Washington Senators	Jim Shaw	129

1919	Walter Johnson	147	Washington Senators	Jim Shaw	128

1920	Stan Coveleski	133	Cleveland Indians	Lefty Williams	128

1921	Walter Johnson	143	Washington Senators	Urban Shocker	132

1922	Urban Shocker	149	St. Louis Browns	Red Faber	148

1923	Walter Johnson	130	Washington Senators	Joe Bush Bob Shawkey	125

1924	Walter Johnson	158	Washington Senators	Howard Ehmke	119

1925	Lefty Grove	116	Philadelphia Athletics	Walter Johnson	108

1926	Lefty Grove	194	Philadelphia Athletics	George Uhle	159

1927	Lefty Grove	174	Philadelphia Athletics	Rube Walberg	136

1928	Lefty Grove	183	Philadelphia Athletics	George Pipgras	139

1929	Lefty Grove	170	Philadelphia Athletics	George Earnshaw	149

1930	Lefty Grove	209	Philadelphia Athletics	George Earnshaw	193

1931	Lefty Grove	175	Philadelphia Athletics	George Earnshaw	152

1932	Red Ruffing	190	New York Yankees	Lefty Grove	188

1933	Lefty Gomez	163	New York Yankees	Bump Hadley	149

1934	Lefty Gomez	158	New York Yankees	Tommy Bridges	151

1935	Tommy Bridges	163	Detroit Tigers	Schoolboy Rowe	140

1936	Tommy Bridges	175	Detroit Tigers	Johnny Allen	165

1937	Lefty Gomez	194	New York Yankees	Bobo Newsom	166

1938	Bob Feller	240	Cleveland Indians	Bobo Newsom	226

1939	Bob Feller	246	Cleveland Indians	Bobo Newsom	192

1940	Bob Feller	261	Cleveland Indians	Bobo Newsom	164

1941	Bob Feller	260	Cleveland Indians	Bobo Newsom	175

1942	Tex Hughson Bobo Newsom	113	Boston Red Sox Washington Senators	Al Benton Phil Marchildon	110

1943	Allie Reynolds	151	Cleveland Indians	Hal Newhouser	144

1944	Hal Newhouser	187	Detroit Tigers	Dizzy Trout	144

1945	Hal Newhouser	212	Detroit Tigers	Nels Potter	129

1946	Bob Feller	348	Cleveland Indians	Hal Newhouser	275

1947	Bob Feller	196	Cleveland Indians	Hal Newhouser	176

1948	Bob Feller	164	Cleveland Indians	Bob Lemon	147

1949	Virgil Trucks	153	Detroit Tigers	Hal Newhouser	144

1950	Bob Lemon	170	Cleveland Indians	Allie Reynolds	160

1951	Vic Raschi	164	New York Yankees	Early Wynn	133

1952	Allie Reynolds	160	New York Yankees	Early Wynn	153

1953	Billy Pierce	186	Chicago White Sox	Virgil Trucks	149

1954	Bob Turley	185	Baltimore Orioles	Early Wynn	155

1955	Herb Score	245	Cleveland Indians	Bob Turley	210

1956	Herb Score	263	Cleveland Indians	Billy Pierce	192

1957	Early Wynn	184	Cleveland Indians	Jim Bunning	182

1958	Early Wynn	179	Chicago White Sox	Jim Bunning	177

1959	Jim Bunning	201	Detroit Tigers	Camilo Pascual	185

1960	Jim Bunning	201	Detroit Tigers	Pedro Ramos	160

1961	Camilo Pascual	221	Minnesota Twins	Whitey Ford	209

1962	Camilo Pascual	206	Minnesota Twins	Jim Bunning	184

1963	Camilo Pascual	202	Minnesota Twins	Jim Bunning	196

1964	Al Downing	217	New York Yankees	Camilo Pascual	213

1965	Sam McDowell	325	Cleveland Indians	Mickey Lolich	226

1966	Sam McDowell	225	Cleveland Indians	Jim Kaat	205

1967	Jim Lonborg	246	Boston Red Sox	Sam McDowell	236

1968	Sam McDowell	283	Cleveland Indians	Denny McLain	280

1969	Sam McDowell	279	Cleveland Indians	Mickey Lolich	271

1970	Sam McDowell	304	Cleveland Indians	Mickey Lolich	230

1971	Mickey Lolich	308	Detroit Tigers	Vida Blue	301

1972	Nolan Ryan	329	California Angels	Mickey Lolich	250

1973	Nolan Ryan	383	California Angels	Bert Blyleven	258

1974	Nolan Ryan	367	California Angels	Bert Blyleven	249

1975	Frank Tanana	269	California Angels	Bert Blyleven Gaylord Perry	233

1976	Nolan Ryan	327	California Angels	Frank Tanana	261

1977	Nolan Ryan	341	California Angels	Dennis Leonard	244

1978	Nolan Ryan	260	California Angels	Ron Guidry	248

1979	Nolan Ryan	223	California Angels	Ron Guidry	201

1980	Len Barker	187	Cleveland Indians	Mike Norris	180

1981	Len Barker	127	Cleveland Indians	Britt Burns	108

1982	Floyd Bannister	209	Seattle Mariners	Len Barker	187

1983	Jack Morris	232	Detroit Tigers	Floyd Bannister	193

1984	Mark Langston	204	Seattle Mariners	Dave Stieb	198

1985	Bert Blyleven	206	Cleveland Indians Minnesota Twins	Floyd Bannister	198

1986	Mark Langston	245	Seattle Mariners	Roger Clemens	238

1987	Mark Langston	262	Seattle Mariners	Roger Clemens	256

1988	Roger Clemens	291	Boston Red Sox	Mark Langston	235

1989	Nolan Ryan	301	Texas Rangers	Roger Clemens	230

1990	Nolan Ryan	232	Texas Rangers	Bobby Witt	221

1991	Roger Clemens	241	Boston Red Sox	Randy Johnson†	228

1992	Randy Johnson†	241	Seattle Mariners	Mélido Pérez	218

1993	Randy Johnson†	308	Seattle Mariners	Mark Langston	196

1994	Randy Johnson†	204	Seattle Mariners	Roger Clemens	168

1995	Randy Johnson†	294	Seattle Mariners	Todd Stottlemyre	205

1996	Roger Clemens	257	Boston Red Sox	Chuck Finley	215

1997	Roger Clemens	292	Toronto Blue Jays	Randy Johnson†	291

1998	Roger Clemens	271	Toronto Blue Jays	Pedro Martínez†	251

1999	Pedro Martínez†	313	Boston Red Sox	Chuck Finley	200

2000	Pedro Martínez†	284	Boston Red Sox	Bartolo Colón	212

2001	Hideo Nomo	220	Boston Red Sox	Mike Mussina	214

2002	Pedro Martínez†	239	Boston Red Sox	Roger Clemens	192

2003	Esteban Loaiza	207	Chicago White Sox	Pedro Martínez†	206

2004	Johan Santana	265	Minnesota Twins	Pedro Martínez†	227

2005	Johan Santana	238	Minnesota Twins	Randy Johnson†	211

2006	Johan Santana	245	Minnesota Twins	Jeremy Bonderman	202

2007	Scott Kazmir	239	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Johan Santana	235

2008	A. J. Burnett	231	Toronto Blue Jays	Ervin Santana	214

2009	Justin Verlander	269	Detroit Tigers	Zack Greinke	242

2010	Jered Weaver	233	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Félix Hernández	232

2011	Justin Verlander	250	Detroit Tigers	CC Sabathia	230

2012	Justin Verlander	239	Detroit Tigers	Max Scherzer	231

2013	Yu Darvish	277	Texas Rangers	Max Scherzer	240

2014	David Price	271	Tampa Bay Rays Detroit Tigers	Corey Kluber	269

2015	Chris Sale	274	Chicago White Sox	Chris Archer	252

2016	Justin Verlander	254	Detroit Tigers	Chris Archer Chris Sale	233

2017	Chris Sale	308	Boston Red Sox	Corey Kluber	265

2018	Justin Verlander	290	Houston Astros	Gerrit Cole	276

Sentence(s)

Ryan's 1973 margin of 125 strikeouts, over Bert Blyleven, is the best American League victory.

final_sentence: Ryan's 1973 margin of 125 strikeouts, over Bert Blyleven, is the best American League victory.