But most fans would agree that pitching duels — compared to slugfests — aren't the most exciting things to witness in sports, especially when one dishes out $90 for a seat and $8 per beer.
While "chicks dig the long ball," there have been a handful of legendary pitchers throughout the history of the game that get a city buzzing days in advance of his scheduled start.
Nolan Ryan, the current president of the Texas Rangers and member of baseball's hall of fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., is certainly one of them. His patented "Ryan Express" struck fear in his opponents — and likely still does to this day when cameras catch him sitting field side in Arlington. Ryan leads the MLB in career strikeouts with 5,714 (check out the list below of the top 10 strikeout kings) and the odds of anyone ever breaking that are slim.
1. Nolan Ryan, 5,714
2. Randy Johnson, 4,875
3. Roger Clemens, 4,672
4. Steve Carlton, 4,136
5. Bert Blyleven, 3,701
6. Tom Seaver, 3,640
7. Don Sutton, 3,574
8. Gaylord Perry, 3,534
9. Walter Johnson, 3,509
10. Greg Maddux, 3,371
The Red Sox had a pair of strikeout aces over the last 30 years in Roger Clemens (who is third on the all-time list, as seen above) and Pedro Martinez (who stands 13th all time with 3,154 Ks and third with a career 4.1500 strikeout/walk ratio).
Randy Johnson wasn't made famous for his mullet — although that legendary lettuce certainly helped build his legend. The Big Unit stands second on the all-time K list and has 132 strikeouts in just 19 postseason games.
Steve Carlton was another master of the K, as the longtime Phillies ace led the NL in strikeouts in five seasons and stands in at fourth among the all-time strikeout leaders.
If your team needed one clutch strikeout, which MLB pitcher would you turn to?
