1961 Strikeouts Leaders Top 25 in the National League
Name	Strikeouts	Team	Rank
Sandy Koufax	269	Los Angeles Dodgers	1
Stan Williams	205	Los Angeles Dodgers	2
Don Drysdale	182	Los Angeles Dodgers	3
Jim O'Toole	178	Cincinnati Reds	4
Bob Gibson	166	St. Louis Cardinals	5
Mike McCormick	163	San Francisco Giants	6
Art Mahaffey	158	Philadelphia Phillies	7
Joey Jay	157	Cincinnati Reds	8
Don Cardwell	156	Chicago Cubs	9
Joe Gibbon	145	Pittsburgh Pirates	10
Juan Marichal	124	San Francisco Giants	11
Johnny Podres	124	Los Angeles Dodgers
Bob Purkey	116	Cincinnati Reds	13
Warren Spahn	115	Milwaukee Braves	14
Ray Sadecki	114	St. Louis Cardinals	15
Frank Sullivan	114	Philadelphia Phillies
Ernie Broglio	113	St. Louis Cardinals	17
Larry Jackson	113	St. Louis Cardinals
Jack Sanford	112	San Francisco Giants	19
Billy O'Dell	110	San Francisco Giants	20
Bob Friend	108	Pittsburgh Pirates	21
Sam Jones	105	San Francisco Giants	22
Glen Hobbie	103	Chicago Cubs	23
Harvey Haddix	99	Pittsburgh Pirates	24
Curt Simmons	99	St. Louis Cardinals
Name	Strikeouts	Team	Rank

	Jim Thome wore number twenty-five since he first came up with the Cleveland Indians making him the franchise record holder for that particular number (Mike Garcia is second). Jose Cruz of the Houston Astros had his number twenty-five retired on October 3, 1992, and became the first Major League player with that particular retired number. Future Hall of Famer Sammy Sosa is best known for wearing number twenty-one; however, when the young slugger played for the Chicago White Sox (1989-1991) he only wore number twenty-five.