Bob Feller Sets the American League Strikeout Record

On September 29, 1946, Bob Feller struck out five Detroit Tigers in a 4-1 Cleveland victory, raising his season total to 348 strikeouts and setting what was believed to be the American League single-season record. Among his strikeout victims that day were Hank Greenberg and Jimmy Bloodworth in the eighth inning. The win was Feller's 26th of the season.

Feller's 1946 campaign was a return to form after three and a half years of military service during World War II. He had enlisted in the Navy the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, becoming the first major league player to volunteer. He served on the USS Alabama, saw combat in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, and earned six campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. He did not pitch a single professional game from 1942 through most of 1945.

When Feller returned to the mound in August 1945, he picked up where he had left off. By 1946, he was the most dominant pitcher in the American League. He led the league with 26 wins, 348 strikeouts, 36 complete games, and 10 shutouts while posting a 2.18 ERA. He threw 371 and one-third innings, a workload that would be unthinkable in the modern game.

Later research into box scores from Rube Waddell's 1904 season credited Waddell with five additional strikeouts, moving his total to 349 and pushing Feller into second place. But in 1946, the record was Feller's, and his dominance that season, coming immediately after years of wartime service, remains one of the great individual achievements in the sport.