Featured in our cover photo is Reds budding superstar Elly De La Cruz. There’s not much he can’t do at the plate. One though is to stop swinging and missing a lot. Cruz K’d 118 times last season to lead the majors, he came within five of the all time record.
Back in 1962 Hall Of Famer Harmon Killibrew of the Minnesota Twins struck out one hundred and forty-two times. Jake Wood of the Tigers had set the record the previous season as a rookie.
Last season fifty three hitters struck out as many as one hundred and forty-three times with Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar joining De La Cruz with at least two hundred.
Bobby Bonds smashes record
Killibrew’s record lasted all of one season. White Sox outfielder Dave Nicholson crushed the record in 1963 by whiffing one hundred and seventy-five times, besting the ‘Killer’s’ mark by a whopping thirty-two.
Then Bobby Bonds broke the record twice. First with one hundred and eigthy-seven in 1969 and then Barry’s dad went down a hundred and eighty nine times the next season.
For the record Bobby’s son Barry only topped the century mark once and that was in his rookie year. Bobby’s record lasted thirty-four seasons. From 1970 until 2004. Phillies Hall of famer Mike Schmidt took a run at it when he K’d a hundred and eighty times in 1975.
Nobody came close until 1986 when Pete Incaviglia (185) finished four short and the next season when Rob Deer (186) went him one better but Bonds record endured.
In 2000 Preston Wilson (187) toed up to the line missing by just two. Two seasons later José Hernández (189) crept within one of Bonds with seven games to go. He played the next three but then Brewers manager Jerry Royster sat him the final four games leaving Bonds still on top.
Adam gets it Dunn
The Reds Adam Dunn (195) finally took Bonds out of the record in 2004. The Phillies Ryan Howard (199) came with one of the double century mark three years later.
Mark Reynolds was the man and remains the man. He was the first to surpass two hundred K’s in 2008. He would set the all time mark the next season. Two hundred strikeouts has now been done twenty-one times. Killebrew’s mark has been passed more than five hundred times.
1 Mark Reynolds 223 (2009)
2 Adam Dunn 222 (2012)
3 Chris Davis 219 (2016)
4 Elly De La Cruz 218 (2024)
5 Yoan Moncada 217 (2018)
6 Kyle Schwarber 215 (2023)
7 Eugenio Suarez 214 (2023)
8 Joey Gallo 213 (2021)
9 Chris Carter 212 (2013)
