Strikeouts : 1940 National League Top 25

Finding the American or National League leader in virtually every hitting & pitching statistic is easy-to-do. Finding the top 25 players during any given season is far more challenging. Baseball Almanac has taken away that difficult problem and is pleased to present the data you requested:

"The guys who made up this schedule must have been in a room with a bottle of Wild Turkey and 40 straws." - Dave Bergman
 

1940 Strikeouts Leaders

Top 25 in the National League

Kirby Higbe 137 Philadelphia Phillies 1
Claude Passeau 124 Chicago Cubs 2
Whit Wyatt 124 Brooklyn Dodgers  
Hal Schumacher 123 New York Giants 4
Paul Derringer 115 Cincinnati Reds 5
Bucky Walters 115 Cincinnati Reds  
Larry French 107 Chicago Cubs 7
Junior Thompson 103 Cincinnati Reds 8
Mort Cooper 95 St. Louis Cardinals 9
Luke Hamlin 91 Brooklyn Dodgers 10
Cliff Melton 91 New York Giants  
Tex Carleton 88 Brooklyn Dodgers 12
Carl Hubbell 86 New York Giants 13
Bill Posedel 86 Boston Bees  
Lon Warneke 85 St. Louis Cardinals 15
Hugh Mulcahy 82 Philadelphia Phillies 16
Clyde Shoun 82 St. Louis Cardinals  
Bill McGee 78 St. Louis Cardinals 18
Harry Gumbert 77 New York Giants 19
Mace Brown 73 Pittsburgh Pirates 20
Bill Lohrman 73 New York Giants  
Ken Heintzelman 71 Pittsburgh Pirates 22
Vern Olsen 71 Chicago Cubs  
Bill Lee 70 Chicago Cubs 24
Joe Sullivan 64 Boston Bees 25



The first player from the Angels franchise (they were the California Angels at the time) to wear the number twenty-five was Bob Perry.

Jose Cruz of the Houston Astros had his number twenty-five retired on October 3, 1992, and became the first Major League player with that particular retired number.

The most recognizable Detroit Tiger to wear the number twenty-five was probably Norm Cash (who wore it from 1960 through 1974), but did you know that Hall of Famer Larry Doby also wore it during his single season with Detroit?