<P> In baseball, a strikeout occurs when the batter receives three strikes during his time at bat . Strikeouts are associated with dominance on the part of the pitcher and failure on the part of the batter . </P> <P> Nolan Ryan has the most career strikeouts in Major League Baseball . During a record 27 - year career, he struck out 5,714 batters . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> † </Th> <Td> Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Bold </Th> <Td> Denotes active player . </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Who has the most strikeouts of all time