How the Dodgers Quietly Harnessed Baseball’s Strikeout King to Dominate the Game
Incidentally — and incredibly — Johnson was only halfway through his career. He retired in 2009 after 22 seasons with 4,135.1 innings and 303 wins.
Granted, Johnson was an anomaly, the only hurler ever to amass more than 200 innings and 300 strikeouts in multiple seasons well into his 30s. At ages 35-38 from 1999-2002, he averaged a staggering 354 strikeouts and 258 innings a season.
The only comparable hurler was Ryan (record strikeout total: 5,714), who also reached No. 2,500 in his 11th season, the milestone whiff coming in inning No. 2,287 when he struck out Andre Thornton of Cleveland while pitching for the Angels in 1978.
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