The Top 16 Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders ( through August 13 , 2012 ) : # Reggie Jackson – 2,597 # Jim Thome – 2,534 ( 47 ) # Sammy Sosa – 2,306 # Andrés Galarraga – 2,003 # Alex Rodriguez – 2,000 ( 84 ) # Adam Dunn - 1,976 ( 167 ) # José Can
After August 26 , 2012 , Adam Dunn was one of the strikeout leaders with more than 1,980 strikeouts .