Who has the most career ML strikeouts?

Answer 1

As a pitcher, here's the list as of April 10, 2008:

CAREER

STRIKEOUTS SO

1 Nolan Ryan 5714

2 Roger Clemens 4672

3 Randy Johnson 4616

4 Steve Carlton 4136

5 Bert Blyleven 3701

6 Tom Seaver 3640

7 Don Sutton 3574

8 Gaylord Perry 3534

9 Walter Johnson 3509

10 Phil Niekro 3342

11 Greg Maddux 3281

12 Ferguson Jenkins 3192

13 Bob Gibson 3117

14 Curt Schilling 3116

15 Pedro Martinez 3031

16 John Smoltz 2981

17 Jim Bunning 2855

18 Mickey Lolich 2832

19 Cy Young 2802

20 Frank Tanana 2773

T21 Mike Mussina 2668

T21 David Cone 2668

23 Chuck Finley 2610

24 Warren Spahn 2583

25 Bob Feller 2581

26 Tom Glavine 2576

27 Jerry Koosman 2556

28 Tim Keefe 2521

29 Christy Mathewson 2502

30 Don Drysdale 2486

31 Jack Morris 2478

32 Mark Langston 2464

33 Jim Kaat 2461

34 Sam McDowell 2453

35 Luis Tiant 2416

36 Dennis Eckersley 2401

37 Kevin Brown 2397

38 Sandy Koufax 2396

39 Charlie Hough 2362

40 Robin Roberts 2357

41 Early Wynn 2334

42 Rube Waddell 2316

43 Juan Marichal 2303

44 Dwight Gooden 2293

45 Lefty Grove 2266

46 Eddie Plank 2246

47 Tommy John 2245

48 Jim Palmer 2212

49 David Wells 2201

50 Grover C Alexander 2198

51 Vida Blue 2175

52 Camilo Pascual 2167

53 Dennis Martinez 2149

54 Jamie Moyer 2129

55 Bobo Newsom 2082

56 Fernando Valenzuela 2074

57 Dazzy Vance 2045

58 Rick Reuschel 2015

59 Orel Hershiser 2014

60 Catfish Hunter 2012

61 Andy Benes 2000

As a batter, here's the list as of April 10, 2008:

CAREER

STRIKEOUTS SO

1 Reggie Jackson 2597

2 Sammy Sosa 2306

3 Jim Thome 2052

4 Andres Galarraga 2003

5 Jose Canseco 1942

6 Willie Stargell 1936

7 Mike Schmidt 1883

8 Fred McGriff 1882

9 Tony Perez 1867

10 Dave Kingman 1816

11 Bobby Bonds 1757

12 Craig Biggio 1753

13 Dale Murphy 1748

14 Lou Brock 1730

15 Mickey Mantle 1710

16 Harmon Killebrew 1699

17 Chili Davis 1698

18 Dwight Evans 1697

19 Rickey Henderson 1694

20 Dave Winfield 1686

21 Reggie Sanders 1614

22 Carlos Delgado 1607

23 Gary Gaetti 1602

24 Ken Griffey Jr. 1600

25 Mark McGwire 1596

26 Jim Edmonds 1595

27 Lee May 1570

28 Jeff Bagwell 1558

29 Dick Allen 1556

30 Manny Ramirez 1555

T31 Ray Lankford 1550

T31 Willie McCovey 1550

33 Barry Bonds 1539

34 Dave Parker 1537

35 Alex Rodriguez 1534

36 Frank Robinson 1532

37 Lance Parrish 1527

T38 Willie Mays 1526

T38 Devon White 1526

40 Eddie Murray 1516

T41 Rick Monday 1513

T41 Greg Vaughn 1513

43 Andre Dawson 1509

44 Mike Cameron 1500

45 Tony Phillips 1499

46 Greg Luzinski 1495

47 Eddie Mathews 1487

48 Jeff Kent 1475

49 Frank Howard 1460

50 Jay Bell 1443

51 Juan Samuel 1442

T52 Harold Baines 1441

T52 Jack Clark 1441

54 Mo Vaughn 1429

55 Jimmy Wynn 1427

56 Jim Rice 1423

57 George Foster 1419

58 George Scott 1418

59 Royce Clayton 1415

60 Ron Gant 1411

61 Darrell Evans 1410

62 Rob Deer 1409

63 Jay Buhner 1406

64 Andruw Jones 1404

65 Eric Davis 1398

66 Carl Yastrzemski 1393

67 Jose Hernandez 1391

68 Joe Carter 1387

69 Carlton Fisk 1386

70 Hank Aaron 1383

71 Jeromy Burnitz 1376

72 Travis Fryman 1369

73 Matt Williams 1363

74 Danny Tartabull 1362

75 Tim Salmon 1360

76 Larry Parrish 1359

77 Darryl Strawberry 1352

78 Robin Yount 1350

79 Frank Thomas 1349

80 Rafael Palmeiro 1348

81 Ron Santo 1343

82 Julio Franco 1341

83 Ellis Burks 1340

84 Gorman Thomas 1339

85 Dean Palmer 1332

86 Babe Ruth 1330

87 Deron Johnson 1318

88 Cecil Fielder 1316

89 Shawn Green 1315

90 Willie Horton 1313

91 Jimmie Foxx 1311

T92 Mickey Tettleton 1307

T92 Tim Wallach 1307

94 Cal Ripken 1305

95 Bobby Abreu 1303

96 Steve Finley 1299

97 Bret Boone 1295

98 Jose Valentin 1294

99 Derek Jeter 1293

100 Kirk Gibson 1285