Walter Johnson was baseball royalty, one of the Immortal Five to make up the first Hall of Fame class. On this day in 1983, Nolan Ryan, then with the Houston Astros, surpassed Johnson as the all time strikeout leader.
Nolan Ryan finished his career with 5716 strikeouts, 839 more than second place Randy Johnson. That mark may well be untouchable, just due to the sheer longevity and dominance required to even approach that total. Ryan, whose mound exploits are legendary, is one of the true greats of the game.
However, just as his strikeout record is considered untouchable, the same thought applied to Walter Johnson. He ended his brilliant career with 3508 strikeouts, a mark that stood for 56 years. A mark that stood until Ryan, pitching for the Houston Astros, passed Johnson on this day in 1983.
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Pitching for the Astros against the Montreal Expos in Olympic Stadium, Ryan entered the eighth inning one strikeout behind Johnson. He struck out Tim Blackwell to begin the frame, tying the legendary hurler for the all time lead. Johnson’s place as baseball’s strikeout king would only last a couple of minutes longer, as Ryan struck out pinch hitter Brad Mills to take the all time lead.
Interestingly, this was not one of Ryan’s more dominant strikeout performances. He earned the victory, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk in eight innings, striking out five. It was that final strikeout, where he victimized Mills, that placed Ryan atop the strikeout list.
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Walter Johnson’s strikeout total had once been considered an unbreakable record, and for 56 years, that proved to be the case. Now, Nolan Ryan’s total, 2208 strikeouts more than what Johnson had achieved, appears to be just as unbreakable as what the Big Train had accomplished during his career.