Talk:List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders

share and tell time

I was at the Nats game where Max Scherzer had his 20 strikeouts vs. the Tigers' Jordan Zimmermann, and it was absolutely amazing to witness history! BandForever (talk) 21:56, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

That's nice for you but what does that have to do with improving the article? --Jameboy (talk) 23:49, 18 August 2018 (UTC)

Others

I have seen references on the Internet to Charlie Sweeney and Hugh Daily both striking out 19 batters in a game in 1884. Researching.Vidor 23:01, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Chased down the Hugh Daily game, as well as a couple of other games, which are listed in the Sporting News record book listed in the footnotes. Vidor 21:20, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

It does say baseball game not MLB game so technically, the minor leagues, japanese leagues and virtually any league would count, right? Mglovesfun 21:57, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

No. This is a list of MLB games. We can change the title if deemed necessary. Vidor 02:06, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Strike out his age

Is the whole "strike out his age" tidbit really necessary for this article? -- Mount Molehill (talk) 10:06, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Extra Innings

Shouldn't the extra innings strikeouts label how many innings the game went? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.132.62.198 (talk) 20:56, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Re: Notes

Quote: "The record for most strikeouts in a nine-inning game by a minor league pitcher was set by Ron Necciai, who struck out all 27 batters in a Class-D game between the Appalachian League Bristol Twins and the Welsh Miners (May 13, 1952).[7]"

"All 27 batters" is misleading. Necciai got one out on a groundball. He also had a four strikeout inning due to an error or passed ball to get to 27. WHPratt (talk) 13:32, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Randy Johnson

Does anyopne else feel that Randy Johnson should be removed from the list of "20" section and moved to the "Extra Innings" section? While Johnson did strike out 20 in nine innings pitched, it was not in a nine-inning game, as the title of the article suggests. The game went into extra innings. HidyHoTim (talk) 03:22, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

And just as a note, I know it says on the page (Pitched 9 innings of an 11-inning game). However, the title of this page is "List of pitchers who have struck out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning MLB game, and it technically was not a nine-inning game.HidyHoTim (talk) 03:32, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Pictures

The image of Kerry Wood really should be of him in a Cubs uniform. He spent little time with the Indians, and had his 20 K game as a Cub. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.112.19.46 (talk) 19:37, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

Done. Replaced previous pic with one that shows him as a Cub. —Bloom6132 (talk) 23:45, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Two comments

1) I think there needs to be an explanation as to why 18 games is meaningful? I know that the 3K strikeout club is a regularly trouted number, but is 18K's in a game similarly paraded about? I mean, why not 19 or why not 17? Without such reasoning, the cut off seems arbitrary/random---which could be seen as grounds for deletion. (I'm not advocating for its deletion, but think there needs to be something in there as to why 18 is being used.)

2) I found it disconcerting to see Nolan Ryan's name listed with a cross. On most pages I visit, the cross is used to designate somebody who is dead; so my first thought was "Did Ryan die and I didn't know about it?" Is the cross used unifromally accross baseball articles? If not, then another symbol might be considered.74.124.47.11 (talk) 16:13, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

If you look at the chronology, you'll see that 18 was the record for several decades, so many of us grew up with it as some kind of landmark. Being 2/3 of 27, and hence an average of 2 per inning probably helped. WHPratt (talk) 17:04, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

The "cross" is more properly a "dagger," and it's commonly used for footnotes, second in popularity only to the asterisk. I don't know that it's commonly used to indicate "deceased" in this encyclopedia. In baseball, the asterisk has come to mean a qualified record, due to its supposed use on Roger Maris' 61 home run season. WHPratt (talk) 17:07, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Thank you WHPratt. You hit the nail on the head. I had a similar discussion a few days ago. Basically, 18 Ks is equivalent to approx. 6 innings worth of Ks (i.e. 2⁄3 of a complete game) (approximately because a pitcher can get 4 Ks in one inning with the uncaught third strike rule). As for the dagger, that is used along with the pale yellow background to designate a player who has been elected to the baseball Hall of Fame (see the key for info regarding symbols). A double-dagger with a light-blue background is used for active players. —Bloom6132 (talk) 18:34, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Bob Feller's then-"modern" record of 18 had stood for over 20 years. When Sandy Koufax tied the record, it was considered quite a feat. But, as hitters were beginning to run up big strikeout totals without embarassment, it should have been obvious that the record would fall before long.

I didn't realize that the other tags were standardized, but that's probably a good idea. WHPratt (talk) 18:51, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

The use of a dagger in a listing to represent death is widespread, and finds its way into Wikipedia as well. Look at the infobox for any battle in which one of the commanders was killed, e.g., the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. However, it seems more important to keep consistency in the baseball world...--Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 21:46, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Okay, they aren't presumed dead any more, but someone will wonder why you get to be a Lieutenant General just for having 18 strikeouts. ;) WHPratt (talk) 16:19, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

My last comment is now outdated, but for a bit they were using multiple stars in a square to avoid the dreaded dagger! WHPratt (talk) 04:48, 9 January 2016 (UTC)

expand table?

Should the table of "18 or more in extra-inning games" be expanded to include a mention of the number of innings played (or pitched)? It seems an important bit of information. --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 21:41, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

Agreed. I haven't done much with that table other than add scope rows. I'll get to it as soon as I can. Cheers! —Bloom6132 (talk) 19:24, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

Error in the table...or perhaps in the intro paragraph?

In the lede:

Charlie Sweeney was the first player to strike out 18 batters in a single game, doing so for the Providence Grays against the Boston Beaneaters on June 7, 1884.

Then when I scroll down to the table, I see Charlie Sweeney listed as having pitched for the Providence Grays against the Boston Beaneaters in a game taking place on June 7, 1884. However, it lists him as getting 19 strikeouts. Is the table wrong, or is the sentence in the introductory paragraph wrong? Or is the sentence just confusing and/or misleading? It may be attempting to indicate that Charlie Sweeney was the first player to strike out at least 18 batters in a single game (thus linking it to the idea of only listing performances that meet this minimum metric), but its wording and structure seem to at least somewhat imply that he struck out precisely 18 batters in said game. While it is not technically incorrect in either case, I'm thinking this sentence needs to be re-worded to be slightly less ambiguous.

Also: There is a mysterious " " character in between "18" and "batters" in the aforementioned sentence, as opposed to a literal space, and I have no clue why.
--Cogniac (talk) 02:24, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

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18 strikeouts emphasis

I fail to see why so much emphasis is placed on 18 strikeouts. The article leads with this, when in fact it should start with the record, and end on 18 (if it all). --That man from Nantucket (talk) 21:08, 7 May 2020 (UTC)

18 strikeouts typically represents two-thirds of a game (assuming all 18 Ks result in outs, resulting in 6 IP). Two-thirds of a game is also required for a quality start. Hence, why 18 Ks is used as the cutoff point. —Bloom6132 (talk) 21:12, 7 May 2020 (UTC)