Most K in Final Season, Since 1901

In keeping with the final season theme but returning to the mound, I took a look at pitchers' strikeouts in their last year. Only one hurler topped 200 strikeouts in his final season and he managed to get past 300 as well (he had almost twice the K's of the second place guy!). He, of course, was Sandy Koufax. Looking at the rest of the list, only ten players struck out 120 or more their last year, and only thirty-seven passed the century mark.

The list of those with 120+ K:

1. Sandy Koufax, 1966, 317
2. Chuck Finley, 2002, 174
3. Britt Burns, 1985, 172
4. Kevin Tapani, 2001, 149
5. Mike Sirotka, 2000, 128
6. Lefty Williams, 1920, 128
7. Larry Jackson, 1968, 127
8. Pete Dowling, 1901, 124
9. Ramon Garcia, 1997, 120
10. John ":-)" Smiley, 1997, 120

Fun Fact: Baseball-Reference.com lists Pete Dowling's age in 1901 as 99. He must be the definition of "ageless lefty."

Here are the older-than-35 players to strike out more than 100 (a nice round number) K in 2007:

1. John Smoltz (40) - 197
2. Andy Pettitte (35) - 141
3. Jamie Moyer (44) - 133
4. Miguel Batista (36) - 133
5. Orlando Hernandez (41) - 128
6. Jose Contreras (35) - 113
7. Tim Wakefield (40) - 110
8. Greg Maddux (41) - 104
9. Curt Schilling (40) - 101
10. Woody Williams (40) - 101

Bonus Fun Fact: Sixty-six pitchers age 35 or older struck out at least one batter this season.