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==Alfonso Soriano==

I removed his name from the active list of strikeout leaders, as he has announced his retirement.  <small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/69.145.140.220|69.145.140.220]] ([[User talk:69.145.140.220|talk]]) 21:46, 14 January 2015 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->


==Three K's==
Dropped:

:In older times, a batter who struck out three times in a game was given a [[Ku Klux Klan|white hood]] (as the three strikeouts would be recorded "K K K"), but this died out after the [[Civil Rights]] movement of the 1960s.

This is suspicious for a number of reasons. One in particular is that a baseball scoresheet is in a graph format and there would be many blanks or even filled spaces between the three "K"'s. Even if a player struck out in three consecutive at bats it would not readily scan as "K K K". Another reason is that the team would need to keep a supply of white hoods handy, both at home and on the road, for the sole purpose of teasing its players.

Needs sourcing if this is going to go back in the article. [[User:Ellsworth|Ellsworth]] 16:44, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

:Certainly sounds like an [[urban legend]] to me.  --[[User:UsaSatsui|UsaSatsui]] 07:52, 24 May 2005 (UTC)

We should include why the letter 'k' was chosen to represent a strikeout.  I heard b/c of the three slashes.  And also why the k's get turned around. [[User:72.254.42.74|72.254.42.74]]

==Missing leaders==
Also missing leaders in most strikeouts in a single game.[[User:Gidge|Gidge]] 22:15, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

== Striking out a side in nine innings ==

While I was researching some on [[Nolan Ryan]], I found out that he struck out a side in nine innings twice, and did it once in each league, the only pitcher ever to do that.  I was wondering if somebody could compile a list of ALL the [[Baseball pitchers that have struck out a side in nine pitches]]. --[[User:Kitch|Kitch]] 16:53, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
*See [[List of rare baseball events]].[[User:Vidor|Vidor]] 05:29, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

==Kerry Wood?==
Just glancing at this page, I was wondering if someone could verify that the current leaders in strikeouts per nine innings [since 1900] is still accurate? With all the struggles and injury problems he's had I can't imagine he's still up there.
[[User:Mientkiewicz5508|Mientkiewicz5508]] 05:10, 27 July 2006 (UTC)
:Verified at [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5982 ESPN.com].  Remember that time on the DL doesn't affect things like "strikeouts per innings", because innings just aren't being played.  This is, however, a reason that stats are often given some minimum threshold (for instance, a pinch-hitter who goes 1-for-1 on the season isn't eligible for the batting title). &mdash; [[User:Lomn|Lomn]] | [[User talk:Lomn|Talk]] 13:28, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

== K/9 ==

I think there needs to be a clarification on this stat in terms of what qualifies for the list.  There is obviously some sort of minimum number of IP or some other thing that is limiting this list.  It would be nice to know what that qualification is. [[User:Cjosefy|Cjosefy]] 21:02, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Wagner on the mets has career k/9 11.78, and 1026 career strikeouts, and the single season record for k/9 at 14.55 but doesn't appear in this article. If there is a minimum number of innings pitched required it should say so[[Special:Contributions/66.65.102.49|66.65.102.49]] ([[User talk:66.65.102.49|talk]]) 16:47, 25 May 2008 (UTC)Whiteknight
== RBI strike out ==

If there were a runner at third and the batter swung and missed and the ball got completely passed the catcher (either a passed ball of a wild pitch) and the runner were to score from third, I assume the batter would not get an RBI.

I've also seen a two base strike out, when the player swings and missed and runs to third before the catcher gets hold of the ball. [[User:Mglovesfun|Mglovesfun]] 02:15, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

:(1) The passed ball is the same as an error with regard to runs batted in. No RBI in this case.  (2) A few times in major history, a team left the field after a third strike in the dirt, and the batter got two or more bases before they caught on.  In one case the batter reached third but was out trying to score. [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 13:25, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

== Current records ==

The list of active players in the top 50 is a mess.  It says "as of January 4" but Smoltz's total is accurate as of today.  Except that he is now 17th, not 19th, and that hasn't changed.  Either this needs to be set back to the beginning of the year for everybody, or updated for everybody, or tagged accordingly. [[User:Matchups|Matchups]] 15:01, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

The headers that say "Strikeouts per inning" should probably be "per game". I've never heard of someone getting 10 strikeouts in an inning.

== Strikeouts per 9 IP ==

I've updated the K/9 stats as follows:
#Reduced career stats list to 5 entries.  7 and/or 8 seemed unnecessarily arbitrary
#Updated career stats inclusion criteria to that used at MLB.com (2000 IP career).  Note that this removes an active player.
I've commented further on this stat at [[Talk:Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched]].  While I expect change #1 to be fairly uncontroversial, #2 may not be.  I encourage those who disagree with the change to find another equally-if-not-more reliable standard for inclusion.  Note also that we're already ''de facto'' using the MLB standard for single-season K/9 records. &mdash; [[User talk:Lomn|Lomn]] 15:08, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

== Less than / Fewer than ==

Just FYI, the rules book tends to say "before two are out". [[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]] 23:11, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

== Five strikeouts in one innings (sic) ==

Do we really need all this?  To begin with, it's wrong: After two are out, whether first base is occupied is irrelevant to the "dropped" third strike, and batters can still get on base.  Even were it not, it should be pretty obvious that when a strikeout isn't an out, they can keep occurring ad infiniutm.  [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 16:39, 17 May 2011 (UTC)
:I looked into this, and you were entirely right. The whole section about multiple strikeouts in an inning, aside from being somewhat poorly-written, was written under the mistaken apprehension that for a dropped third strike to be in play, there must be two outs AND no runner on first (in fact, it's either-or). The rambling and unnecessary explanation that you identified was the result of that misapprehension.

:I cleaned up the text a little, and deleted a lot of the extraneous bits, including the section you pointed out. Thanks! [[User:JudahH|JudahH]] ([[User talk:JudahH|talk]]) 03:26, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

::Nice job of cleaning up.  Those multiple triple steals were giving me a headache.
::I tried without success to identify the spring-training game in which Joe Niekro had a five-strikeout inning, but it remains just one step freom hearsay.  No mention in the mainstream papers.  I even checked a local Cocoa small-press paper from the period.  I begin to suspect that, to remain this obscure, it may have been against a "B" team or a college team, or maybe in an intersquad game. [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 13:56, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

=== قثغثقغثغفغقف ===

ث5غثقفغثقف  <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/92.253.11.223|92.253.11.223]] ([[User talk:92.253.11.223|talk]]) 17:44, 23 June 2011 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

:Are those hieroglyphics a clue as to where we can find the elusive 5K inning?  Please clarify! [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 13:16, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

::You never know about Google Translate, but when I posted the writing, it returned random letters. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 05:21, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

:::I googled [joe niekro 5 strikeouts in one inning], and while a lot of the entries parroted the wikipedia reference, this one[http://captnsblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/refusing-to-knuckle-under-was-niekro%E2%80%99s-five-strikeout-inning-a-turning-point-in-his-career/] has some pretty specific information. It is claimed to have occurred in the first inning of an Astros-Twins exhibition game on April 7, 1976, at the New Orleans Superdome, the day before the season opener. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 05:30, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
::::Retrosheet verifies that the 1976 season started on Thursday, April 8th:[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1976/04081976.htm] ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 05:36, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
:::::Googling [astros twins exhibition game 1976] yields a scorecard from 1976 on eBay, which suggests the game was at the Astrodome rather than the Superdome, although it's possible they played more than one game that spring. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 05:45, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
::::::That google also led to the wikipedia article on the Superdome and to this reference[http://www.sportsmogul.com/vbulletin2/attachment.php?attachmentid=30795&d=1275411938] to the 1976 game (from April 6th, a Tuesday, and saying they played on "Monday night", which would have been the 5th). Looks like some scanning of newspapers from that week would be needed to answer the question. ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 05:49, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
:::::::So it was Monday or Tuesday in some dome or other.  I'll see if I can find anything.  (I'm beginning to think that the Arabic squiggle above may translate to "Get a life, you people!") [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 12:41, 10 April 2012 (UTC)
<br />
Shift margin left!
<br /><br />
Well, using ProQuest, that was almost easy! I can give you three complete accounts, plus line score and batteries!  But none of them name the batters, nor give the play-by-play!  We do have the date and place, so please keep looking … especially those of you in Houston, New Orleans and the Twin Cities.<br />
I had to OCR and type to get them, but I did proofread. Feel free to include as much in the article as you can live with. The fact that it was the final exhibition suggests that most of the participants were genuine major leaguers, more or less. [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 00:49, 11 April 2012 (UTC)<br />
- - -<br />
''Chicago Tribune''; Apr 8, 1976; p. C2.<br />
'''Joe Niekro fans 5 in 1st'''<br />
NEW ORLEANS -- An unusual first inning marked Wednesday's exhibition baseball game in which the Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 10-3 in the Louisiana Superdome.<br />
Houston pitcher Joe Niekro struck out five Minnesota batters in the first, but the Twins scored two runs in the inning. Contributing to the situation were five passed balls charged to catcher Cliff Johnson.<br />
Niekro, who has apparently refined a knuckleball pitch similar to that of his brother Phil, gave up only a leadoff double to Rod Carew in the wild first inning.<br />
- - -<br />
''The Hartford Courant'', Apr 8, 1976; p. 68.<br />
'''Twins Triumph Although Five Fan in 1 Inning'''<br />
NEW ORLEANS (UPI) --The Minnesota Twins concluded spring exhibition play Wednesday by beating the Houston Astros 10-3 in the final of a three-game series.<br />
The win brought the Twins’  final preseason record to 10-5.<br />
In an unusual first inning, the Twins jumped off to a two-run lead although five Twin batters struck out in the inning. Five passed balls, however, that occurred when Houston catcher Cliff Johnson was unable to contain the knuckle ball offerings of pitcher Joe Niekro, contributed to the unusual nature of the inning.<br />
The Twins. upped their lead to 5-0 in the third in a rally that featured four hits and that was capped by Jerry Terrell's double down the rightfield line. Houston got a run back in the fourth on a homer off the facing of the second deck in left field by first baseman Bob Watson.<br />
Houston scored single runs in the seventh and eighth but the Twins jumped on Gil Rondon for four more in the seventh. Again a double capped the the [sic] rally, this time a two-run blow by Dave McKay.<br />
- - - <br />
''The Washington Post'', Apr. 8, 1976, p. 96.<br />
NEW ORLEANS, April 7 (AP)—Houston pitcher Joe Niekro struck out five men in the first inning, but catcher Cliff Johnson committed five passed balls to let in two Minnesota runs, which helped the Twins to a 10-3 exhibition victory over the Astros in the Superdome today.<br />
Houston   . . . 000 100 110 – 3 13 2<br />
Minnesota . . . 203 010 40x – 10 11 0<br />
Niekro, Rondon (5), Barlow (8), and Johnson, Humphrey (7), Goltz, Luebber (8), Pazik (8), Campbell (9) and Wynegar, Roof (9).  W—Goltz, L—Niekro.  HR—Watson.<br />
- - - <br />
[[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 00:49, 11 April 2012 (UTC)
<br><br>
I felt it was time to add this detail. Some may find it too trivial due to the exhibition nature, but it remains our only major league example.  It was the final spring training game of the year, which suggests that the rosters had been trimmed to mostly legitimate big leaguers. [[User:WHPratt|WHPratt]] ([[User talk:WHPratt|talk]]) 13:20, 6 June 2012 (UTC)

== Pitchers want to strike out as many as possible? ==

I am not sure this is universally true: some pitchers get outs by inducing batters to hit ground balls. If you can get a batter to ground out on the first or second pitch, you can keep your pitch count down and perhaps remain effective longer than a strikeout pitcher, who of necessity must pitch at least three pitches to a batter. [[User:Wschart|Wschart]] ([[User talk:Wschart|talk]]) 05:01, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
:Depends on the pitcher and the game situation. It does remind me of what Crash Davis told Nuke LaLoosh in ''Bull Durham'': "Strikeouts are fascist. Throw ground balls, they're more democratic." ←[[User:Baseball Bugs|Baseball Bugs]] <sup>''[[User talk:Baseball Bugs|What's up, Doc?]]''</sup> [[Special:Contributions/Baseball_Bugs|carrots]]→ 05:22, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

Pitches thrown for contact may be more strenuous than fastball pitches for strikeouts. Strikeouts are the safest ways to get outs for almost any pitcher. Nolan Ryan, an extreme strikeout pitcher, had one of the longest careers ever for a pitcher. See also Walter Johnson and Randy Johnson.  

Of course it is true that strikeouts often involve knuckleball and sinker pitches. Knuckleball pitches are difficult to hit, which explains Phil Niekro. Sinkerball pitches usually result in groundouts if hit, and they get many swings-and-misses because they look like the non-descript pitch that batters love to hit for long fly balls (especially home runs) before they sink low into the strike zone or completely out of it. 

Most pitchers would rather get a double play than a strikeout should the situation arise.[[User:Pbrower2a|Pbrower2a]] ([[User talk:Pbrower2a|talk]]) 18:07, 1 October 2017 (UTC)

== I'm confused... ==

It seems every time I try to read anything about baseball I am instantly confused. As far as I can gather, "strikeout" is a bad thing for the batter, meaning that he is dismissed without scoring (I suppose). However, the article does not seem to explain what happens if, on the third strike, the batter hits the ball properly, or smashes it out of the ground, or does whatever the batter is "supposed" to do. According to what the article says, that would still be a "strikeout", which doesn't seem to make sense to me. [[Special:Contributions/86.160.220.139|86.160.220.139]] ([[User talk:86.160.220.139|talk]]) 13:50, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

:A strikeout means that the batter fails, and records an [[Out (baseball)|out]]. The batter does not reach base, and so cannot score (but see the rules section of the article for special circumstances). A strike is any pitched ball which is not successfully struck or is not a ball (see [[strike zone]]), except for the third strike of an at bat, in which a strike is any ball that is either missed if swung at, or in the strike zone but not swung at by the batter (that is, a foul ball does not count as a strike or a ball if the batter already has two strikes). <font color="#8b4513">[[User:Mindmatrix|Mind]]</font><font color="#ee8811">[[User_talk:Mindmatrix|matrix]]</font> 14:33, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

::Thank you very much for your reply. Would it be possible to make it clear in the article that a "strike" is a ball that is <u>not</u> successfully struck? It is very unobvious to people who don't understand baseball because one naturally associates "striking" with "hitting". As far as I can see, this article does not mention this vital piece of information at all, and the link to "strike zone" is also unhelpful in this regard. (If "strike" is to be redirected to "strike zone" then the latter article needs a clear definition of "strike" pretty near the top.) [[Special:Contributions/86.160.222.57|86.160.222.57]] ([[User talk:86.160.222.57|talk]]) 17:06, 20 May 2013 (UTC)

:::I'll try to address this issue in the next few days, and clarify the concept in general while I'm at it. <font color="#8b4513">[[User:Mindmatrix|Mind]]</font><font color="#ee8811">[[User_talk:Mindmatrix|matrix]]</font> 00:49, 21 May 2013 (UTC)
::::I tweaked the lead to distinguish the difference between a pitcher throwing a strike from a batter being charged with one.  Agree that a strike requires more explanation still.—[[User:Bagumba|Bagumba]] ([[User talk:Bagumba|talk]]) 02:58, 21 May 2013 (UTC)

:I've updated the text. Is the concept clearer with my recent addition? Are clarifications or elucidations needed? <font color="#8b4513">[[User:Mindmatrix|Mind]]</font><font color="#ee8811">[[User_talk:Mindmatrix|matrix]]</font> 17:59, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

:: The lead is a little better now, but words like "charged" and "strike" aren't entirely clear to readers missing the cultural reference (which, as a [[United Kingdom|Brit]], I certainly am :-)
:: I ''think'' I understand -- that you get pitched at three times and, if you fail to hit the ball on any of those the times, you're out -- but I'm basing that on having seen American films with baseball in, not what the article says to me.
:: -- <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[:en:User:OwenBlacker|OwenBlacker]]</span> ([[:en:User talk:OwenBlacker|Talk]])</span> 17:49, 10 September 2013 (UTC)
*"charged with three strikes" means nothing to anyone who doesn't already understand what it means. Why can't it be explained in language that everyone can understand that a strikeout occurs when the batter fails to hit the ball three times in a row? Maybe that wording could be improved, but almost anything that gives the general idea is better than "charged with three strikes". [[Special:Contributions/31.53.244.242|31.53.244.242]] ([[User talk:31.53.244.242|talk]]) 19:30, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

:::I had forgotten to change the introduction. I've modified it to "accumulates three strikes during an [[at bat]]". Is this better? <font color="#8b4513">[[User:Mindmatrix|Mind]]</font><font color="#ee8811">[[User_talk:Mindmatrix|matrix]]</font> 22:37, 29 September 2013 (UTC)
::::The trouble still is that the meaning of "strike" is completely unobvious to people who are not familiar with the game. "accumulates three strikes" sounds as if they hit the ball three times, whereas I believe it actually means they <u>failed</u> to hit the ball three times? Is it not possible to say this? [[Special:Contributions/31.53.244.242|31.53.244.242]] ([[User talk:31.53.244.242|talk]]) 23:54, 29 September 2013 (UTC)

== destigmatization of the stikeout ==

I have seen some references on this already, but over the past 10 years, there has been a huge reduction in the stigma of a strikeout as managers and sabermatricians have discovered that a strike out is no worse than any other out that fails to advance a better.  This is notable because it coincides with the rise in power hitting as more batters are willing to risk a strike out to hit a home run.  Will post references as I collect them.
[[User:Eric the fever|Eric the fever]] ([[User talk:Eric the fever|talk]]) 02:21, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

An extreme power hitter can get away with a high number of strikeouts. A singles hitter can't. Three singles, or two singles and a walk preceding them or sandwiched between the singles is good for scoring a run. A home run is an instant run. 

This is worth remembering in post-season play. Against the bad pitching staffs that never reach post-season play, it's fairly easy to get a combination of three walks and singles to score a run, and add two more singles in the inning to get two more runs. Against the sorts of pitchers who end up in most post-season games it is much more difficult to put multiple hits and walks (at least three of them) together to score one run. Although such pitchers are less likely to throw home run pitches, they are more likely to give up runs as solo home runs. [[User:Pbrower2a|Pbrower2a]] ([[User talk:Pbrower2a|talk]]) 22:25, 1 October 2017 (UTC)

==Baseball assessment comment==
{{Substituted comment|page=Talk:Strikeout/Comments (baseball)|length=586|lastedit=20080624022625|comment=In the section about 4 strike outs per inning, the author claims "In addition, individual strikeouts are simply far more common, now generally occurring in about one out of eight plate appearances, rather than in about one out of six as in the 1950's,". Perhaps I'm missing something, but one out of eight is less than one out of six, not more, thus the sentence makes no sense. Striking out one of eight batters out of 27 (a perfect game assuming all others flew out or were forced out at first) would result in 3.375 strikeouts. Striking out one of six would result in 4.5 strikeouts.}}
Substituted at 14:24, 10 October 2016 (UTC)