No Ranger, Astro or Angel will ever wear number 34 again and it’s quite possible that no pitcher will ever have a career like Nolan Ryan, strike out wise or no-hitter wise, as well as many other records he holds that may never be broken.

Ryan holds numerous major league pitching records, including most strikeouts (5,714), most no-hitters (7), most games with 15 or more strikeouts (26), and most strikeouts in a single season (383).

With the Rangers from 1989-1993, Ryan threw his sixth and seventh no-hitters (June 11, 1990 and May 1, 1991) along with recording his 5,000th strikeout. Ryan was the only pitcher to strike out 16 or more batters after the age of 40, accomplishing the feat three times.

He was the first American League pitcher to strike out nineteen men in a nine-inning game (August 12, 1974). His 27 major league seasons are the most played by anyone in baseball history.

Over his career, he struck out an average of 9.55 batters per nine innings pitched, while allowing opposing batters a .204 batting average. Ryan had his numbered retired by the Texas Rangers on Sept. 15, 1996. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

He is the only Major League player to have his number retired by three teams. The Houston Astros retired the number 34 on Sept. 29, 1996 and the California Angels retired the number 30 on June 16, 1992. Here are is a link to see Nolan Ryan’s 7th No-Hitter from May 1, 1991 Nolan's Seventh Heaven Baseball's all-time strikeout king, Nolan Ryan, still going strong at age 44, took the hill against the Blue Jays and made history by notching the seventh no-hit game of his illustrious career.

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THE STRIKEOUT KING and his Court Baseball’s Strikeout History and who’s close to Nolan Ryan’s Amazing Record of 5,714 K’s… Anyone? Most of these men are now retired or at the ends of their careers, but maybe Pedro? We wish ALL the active players a terrific career and we KNOW for a fact that Nolan would WANT someone to top his record! Yes, he would be fine with that, I know. He’d shake his hand and take pictures and go back to his cattle ranch or his office at the Ballpark in Arlington. Mr. Ryan would be fine with it… After all, there are lots of great 300 Game winners, but NO ONE is EVER going to top SEVEN No Hitters!! (and Mr Ryan smiles as he remembers the final pitch of his 7th No Hitter at home in Arlington, TX.)

Rank /	Pitcher	Strikeouts	Teams Played For	Seasons Played
1	Nolan Ryan	5,714	New York (NL), California, Houston, Texas	1966, 1968–93
2	Randy Johnson	4,828	Montreal, Seattle, Houston, Arizona, New York (AL), Arizona, San Francisco	1988–
3	Roger Clemens	4,672	Boston (AL), Toronto, New York (AL), Houston	1984–2007
4	Steve Carlton	4,136	Louis (NL), Philadelphia (NL), Chicago (AL), San Francisco, Cleveland (AL), Minnesota St	1965–88
5	Bert Blyleven	3,701	Minnesota , Texas, Pittsburgh, Cleveland (AL), California	1970–92
6	Tom Seaver	3,640	New York (NL), Cincinnati (NL), Chicago (AL), Boston (AL)	1967–86
7	Don Sutton	3,574	Los Angeles (NL), Houston, Milwaukee (AL), California, Oakland	1966–88
8	Gaylord Perry	3,534	San Francisco, Cleveland (AL), Texas, San Diego, New York (AL), Atlanta, Seattle, Kansas City	1962–83
9	Walter Johnson	3,508	Washington (AL)	1907–27
10	Greg Maddux	3,371	Chicago (NL), Atlanta, Chicago (NL), Los Angeles (NL), San Diego, Los Angeles (NL)	1986–2008
11	Phil Niekro	3,342	Milwaukee/Atlanta, New York (AL), Cleveland (AL), Toronto	1964–1987
12	Fergie Jenkins	3,192	Philadelphia (NL), Chicago (NL), Texas, Boston (AL)	1965–83
13	Bob Gibson	3,117	St. Louis (NL)	1959–75
14	(tie) Pedro Martínez	3,117	Los Angeles (NL), Montreal, Boston (AL), New York (NL)	1992–
15	Curt Schilling	3,116	Baltimore (AL), Houston, Philadelphia (NL), Arizona, Boston (AL)	1988–2007
16	John Smoltz	3,011	Atlanta, Boston (AL)	1988–
17	Jim Bunning	2,855	Detroit (AL), Philadelphia (NL), Pittsburgh, Los Angeles (NL)	1955–71
18	Mickey Lolich	2,832	Detroit (AL), New York (NL), San Diego (NL)	1963–79
19	Mike Mussina	2,813	Baltimore (AL), New York (AL)	1991–2008
20	Cy Young	2,803	Cleveland (NL), St. Louis (NL), Boston (AL), Cleveland (AL), Boston (NL)	1890–1911
21	Frank Tanana	2,773	California, Boston (AL), Texas, Detroit, Baltimore/New York (AL), New York (NL)	1973–93
22	David Cone	2,668	Kansas City, New York (NL), Toronto, New York (AL), Boston (AL)	1986–2003
23	Chuck Finley	2,610	California/Anaheim, Cleveland (AL), St. Louis (NL)	1986–2002
24	Tom Glavine	2,607	Atlanta, New York (NL), Atlanta	1987–
25	Warren Spahn	2,583	Boston/Milwaukee, New York (NL), San Francisco	1942–65

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