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Jered Weaver Joins Rare Angels Strikeout Fraternity

Jered Weaver had a fine season for the Angels this year. He put up a 3.01 ERA in a career-high 224 1/3 innings over 34 starts, although due to a lack of run support he ended up with just a 13-12 record. More importantly, Weaver led the major leagues with 233 strikeouts, putting him in very select company.

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Only three Angels have led the American League, let alone the major leagues, in strikeouts, with the last instance coming 31 years ago, when Nolan Ryan paced the junior circuit in 1979 with 223 strikeouts in his final season as an Angel. Ryan led the AL in strikeouts seven times from 1972-1979, and in the one year he didn't lead the league, his teammate Frank Tanana led the pack, with 269 strikeouts in 1975. In those eight years, either Ryan or Tanana led the majors in strikeouts as well, except for 1978 and 1979, when J.R. Richard of the Astros amassed more strikeouts than Ryan.

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Ryan, Tanana, and Weaver. That's quite a group of pitchers in Angels' lore.