Roger Clemens Strikes Out 20

At Fenway Park on the night of April 29, 1986, Roger Clemens struck out 20 Seattle Mariners in a nine-inning complete game, setting a major league record that most observers considered unbreakable. He walked none. The Red Sox won 3-1.

Clemens was 23 years old and in just his third full season. He had undergone shoulder surgery the previous August, and there were real questions about whether his career was over before it had properly started. The 20-strikeout game answered those questions permanently.

The victims included Phil Bradley, who struck out four times, and Gorman Thomas, who struck out three. Clemens threw 138 pitches, relying almost entirely on his fastball, which sat in the mid-90s all night. The final strikeout, Phil Bradley swinging through a fastball in the ninth, set the record and sent the Fenway crowd into a standing ovation.

Clemens would tie his own record ten years later, striking out 20 Tigers at Tiger Stadium on September 18, 1996. Kerry Wood matched 20 in 1998, and Max Scherzer reached 20 in 2016. But Clemens did it first, and he did it at a time when nobody believed it was possible.