Sewell's Strikeouts

There are certain players who are best known for a single statistic that defined their careers: for Cy Young, it is 511 wins; for Hank Aaron, it is 755 home runs; for Cal Ripken, Jr., it is 2632 consecutive games. Then, there is Joe Sewell, whose number is 114. The number times that he struck out. In 14 seasons. Nobody else in the modern era has had a lower at bat to strikeout ratio, and it's a record that isn't likely to be broken, considering how frequently players today strike out. So, here's a few facts to put his accomplishment in context:

• Sewell led the AL in lowest at bat per strikeout ratio nine years in a row, from 1925 to 1933.
• The only reason he didn't win in 1934 was because he retired. The 1934 winner, Joe Vosmik, struck out once every 40.5 at bats. The previous year, Sewell struck out once every 133 at bats.
• Sewell's career average was 62.6 at bats per strikeout, the best in MLB history.
• In 1932, he averaged one strikeout every 167.7 at bats, the best single season average since strikeouts started being reliably recorded in 1910. He also has the record for the second best single season average, in 1929. And third best, in 1925. And fourth best, in 1933.
  
• In 2011, Juan Pierre led the AL with 15.6 at bats per strikeout.
• Sewell's worst at bat to strikeout ratio in a full season was 1922, when he averaged one every 27.9 at bats. No MLB player has even averaged that few strikeouts in a season since Tony Gwynn in 1995.
• The last MLB player to reach Sewell's career average in a single season was Don Mueller in 1956, when he averaged one strikeout ever 64.7 at bats.
• There have been more than twice as many no-hitters (272) than Joe Sewell strikeouts in MLB history.
• In 14 seasons, Joe Sewell struck out 114 times. Players have struck out more than that in a single season 1096 times.
• Since 1947, six batters have struck out six times in a single game. That is twice as many as Sewell's entire 1932 season (3 in 503 at bats).
• In 1929, Sewell struck out on May 17. He did not strike out again until September 20, 115 games and 442 at bats later, setting a MLB record.
• There were only two games in his career in which Sewell struck out twice.
• The record for the most no-hitters by one pitcher is 7. The most Joe Sewell strikeouts by one pitcher is 4.
• The all-time leader in strikeouts by a batter is Reggie Jackson, who accumulated 2597 strikeouts in 21 seasons. In order to strike out that many times, Sewell would have had to have played for 325 years.