FanNation - The Republic of Sport

By Kerry Whisnant April showers bring May flowers ??? and strikeout records? In this age of the strikeout, several teams are approaching a record number of consecutive games with various strikeout totals by their pitching staff. The average number of strikeouts per game in the National League has increased from a low of 2.72 in 1926 to an all-time high of 6.97 in 2008. In the American League the numbers are similar, rising from 2.62 in 1924 to 6.54 last year. Mark Reynolds set the single season strikeout record for a batter last year, topping 200 for the first time with 204 K???s. It therefore should not be surprising that teams are more likely to have a string of many games with high strikeout totals, both for pitching and for batting. Boston is on course to set the record for the most number of consecutive games in the Retrosheet era in which their pitchers strike out at least nine batters. (The Retrosheet era is defined as 1954 to the present, the seasons for which complete play-by-play data exists. Data for this article came from www.baseball-reference.com.) Wednesday night against Cleveland the Red Sox K streak can reach eight, tying the record set by Houston (2004), Florida (2003) and Boston (2001). They can then set the record of nine consecutive games throwing at least nine strikeouts the following night, also against the Indians. The Red Sox pitchers also have a streak of three games with at least 10 K???s, three short of the record set by the Chicago Cubs (2006 and 2008) and the New York Mets (1990). They can break this record on Friday at home against the Rays. Records involving longer streaks with fewer K???s per game are also in jeopardy this month: The Chicago Cubs currently have a streak of 208 regular season games throwing at least three strikeouts per game, just six shy of the record they set in 2002-2003. That streak started in September 2007, and, if it continues, they can reach 215 on May 12 at home against San Diego. San Francisco currently has a streak of 36 games throwing at least five strikeouts, just 12 off the record of 48 set by the Chicago Cubs in 2001. They can break the record on May 17 at home against the Mets. The Cubs also have a streak of 113 consecutive regular season games in which their pitchers have recorded four or more strikeouts, just 11 short of the record they set in 2003-2004. They can reach 125 games in a row on May 17 at home against the Astros. The Cubs also hold the consecutive game records for throwing at least six, seven and eight K???s in a game, all within the last five years, but there are no current streaks challenging those marks. As you might suspect, team consecutive game strikeout records for batting have also been under assault, although no record is in immediate danger of being broken. Florida tied the record of six consecutive games with at least ten K???s by its batters earlier this year, previously set by Cincinnati (2004 and 1972) and San Francisco (1997). In April, Texas had 14 straight games with at least seven K???s, three short of the record set by Detroit in 1996. During that streak, Texas also made a run at the consecutive game records for at least eight, nine and ten K???s, but fell short. A number of teams currently have long streaks of at least three strikeouts by their batters ??? the Chicago Cubs (156), San Diego (152), Cincinnati (148) and Texas (130) ??? and later this year could challenge the record of 235 regular season games set by Cincinnati in 2002-2003. Whether you think strikeouts are a necessary evil or just plain bad (see my earlier articles on offensive production versus strikeouts, and the comments that followed), the 2000???s have definitely been the K decade in baseball. It will be interesting to see if the trend towards increasing strikeouts continues, levels off, or reverses as we move into 2010 and beyond.