YEAR: 1921
SIGNIFICANCE: Walter Johnson reached 2,287 career SO, breaking Cy Young‘s all-time record
On this day 99 years ago, Washington Senators SP Walter Johnson recorded his 2,287th career punch out, officially surpassing Cy Young as the all-time career strike out leader. In his career, Johnson led the league in strikeouts 12 of his 21 seasons, and led all of the major leagues in seven. Compared to starters today, Johnson’s K/9 numbers are very low; 7.6 K/9 being his career high. The reason his total strikeout numbers are so high is because of the incredible amount of innings he threw. The Hall of Famer and all-time leader in shutouts pitched 5,914.1 career innings and had 17 seasons with at least 250 IP. The Big Train finished his career with 3,509 career strikeouts, good for ninth most all-time.