Tuesday Trivia: MLB consecutive season strikeout leaders

[cgjackson222]

Name the pitcher(s) who led all of MLB (not just their League) in strikeouts for the most consecutive seasons.

[jayshum]

I'll go with Walter Johnson.

[Aug06]

Gonna Guess Randy Johnson

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by jayshum

I'll go with Walter Johnson.

Great guess, but while Walter Johnson led MLB in strikeouts in 7 different seasons, his longest streak was only 2, which he accomplished twice.

Originally Posted by Aug06

Gonna Guess Randy Johnson

Yes! Randy Johnson is one of two players to lead MLB in strikeouts for 5 consecutive years, which he did from 1998-2002. Oddly, he only led his League in strikeouts for 4 consecutive years during that stretch, because he was traded from Seattle (AL) to Houston (NL) midway through the 1998 season.

Who is the other pitcher to lead all of MLB in strikeouts for 5 consecutive years?

[Seven]

I'm going to throw out a dark horse

Lefty Grove?

[Peter_Spaeth]

I thought Dazzy Vance had even a longer streak.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Seven

I'm going to throw out a dark horse

Lefty Grove?

Grove is a fine guess! Lefty Grove led the American League in strikeouts his first 7 years, but only led all of MLB the last 3 years of that stretch.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I thought Dazzy Vance had even a longer streak.

Dazzy Vance is another excellent guess! Like Lefty Grove, he led the league (in this case the National League) in strikeouts 7 years in a row, but also only led all of MLB for 3 consecutive years (Grove ended Vance's streak in 1926).

[Carter08]

Nolan?

[bnorth]

The heater from Van Meter, Bob Feller?

[clydepepper]

Rube Waddell?

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Carter08

Nolan?

Great guess! Nolan Ryan led the League in strikeouts 11 times (the record is 12 by WaJo), but because of injuries in 1975, he only led MLB in strikeouts 3x in a row ('72-'74). If he were healthy in '75, he likely would have led the 6 years from '72 through '76.

Originally Posted by bnorth

The heater from Van Meter, Bob Feller?

Another fine guess! Bob Feller led the American League (and all of MLB) in the 4 seasons leading up to WWII as well as 3 years after he got back. So he could have potentially led the Majors a mind boggling 11 straight years if not for his involvement in the War.

Originally Posted by clydepepper

Rube Waddell?

Yes!!! Rube Waddell led the American League in strikeouts 6 straight years, including 5 in a row leading the Majors from 1903 through 1907.

In 4 of those 5 years, the National League leader was Christy Mathewson, but Waddell bested him each time, sometimes handily, such as in 1904 when Waddell had 349 strikeouts and Mathewson had 212 (Jack Chesbro had the 2nd most in the AL with 239 for the Yankees).