Jack Harshman holds the record for white sox career most strikeouts with 16 strikeouts in a game.
Also, Ed Walsh, Jim Scott, and Eddie Cicotte are all tied for second place on the franchise’s all-time strikeout leaderboard with Sale’s 15 strikeouts.
Before 1858, a strikeout needed three pitches to be thrown and missed. This regulation has not altered much since 1858 when a call for strikeouts was adopted.
Any combination of three swinging or looking pitches by the pitcher results in a strikeout. An unplayable pitch counts as a strike, although it cannot be the final strike of an inning. It is a third strike if the catcher manages to catch a foul tip.
An automatic out occurs if the catcher fails to properly hang on to the ball or if the ball strikes the ground. There are two outs and the catcher misses a third strike, in which case the hitter may try to sprint to first base. Even if the batter makes it safely to first base, the pitcher and the hitter are both given credit for the strikeout in the scorebook.
The letter K is used in the scorebook to indicate a strikeout in baseball. In baseball, a reverse K is used to indicate a third-strike call on which the hitter fails to swing.
