Nolan Ryan

Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. (born January 31, 1947) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 27 years and still holds many major league pitching records, some of which are so far beyond previous marks that they are likely to stand for years to come, if not forever. He was most noted for his blazing fastball and his longevity, routinely throwing pitches exceeding 100 mph, even into his forties. The media tagged him with the nickname "The Ryan Express", referencing a 1965 action-adventure film called Von Ryan's Express.

Playing Career

As a Met

Ryan was born in Refugio, Texas, but his family moved to the Houston suburb of Alvin when he was six weeks old; he has lived there to this day. He developed his dazzling fastball as a high school pitcher in Texas, which impressed the New York Mets enough to draft him in 1965 and promote him to the major leagues late in 1966.

Related Topics:
Refugio, Texas - Houston - Alvin - New York Mets - 1965 - 1966

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However, Ryan struggled for a number of years and was even sent back to the minor leagues a few times because of his inability to find the strike zone. He didn't make the majors for good until the 1968 season, and even then was unable to crack an outstanding Mets pitching staff led by Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.

Related Topics:
Minor leagues - 1968 - Tom Seaver - Jerry Koosman

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Ryan did, however, give people a taste of what was to come in the 1969 World Series, when he entered Game 3 in relief of a struggling starter and shut down the powerful Baltimore Orioles for nearly three innings. Ryan's work enabled the Mets to hang on to win that game, and they went on to upset the Orioles in five games. A videotape of that game, which has occasionally been played on ESPN Classic, reveals that Ryan's motion, with the trademark high trailing leg kick, was already firmly established at that young age.

Related Topics:
1969 World Series - Baltimore Orioles

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As an Angel

Ryan truly blossomed as a pitcher after being traded to the California Angels in 1972. Even though the Angels were a poor team and remained one for most of his time there, he began winning between 19 and 22 games a season regularly. In 1973, he set his first record when he struck out 383 batters in one season, eclipsing Sandy Koufax' old mark by one. This record was made even more impressive by the fact that he achieved it in the first year of the designated hitter in the American League; if AL pitchers had still been hitting, Ryan would almost certainly have topped 400 strikeouts that season.

Related Topics:
California Angels - 1972 - 1973 - Struck out - Sandy Koufax - Designated hitter - American League

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He threw two no-hitters in 1973, added a third in 1974 and a fourth in 1975, tying another of Koufax' records. He led the league in strikeouts seven times in the 1970s. In 1974 he twice struck out 19, the Red Sox in 12 innings and on August 12 Nolan Ryan struck out 19 and walked only 2 as the Angels topped Red Sox 4-2 which wasn't broken until Roger Clemens struck out 20 in a 1986 game. historians and even the players argue all the time about who was the fastest pitcher of all-time. The most widely quoted response is Nolan Ryan, whose fastball was "officially" clocked by the Guinness Book of World Records at 100.9 miles per hour in a game played on August 20, 1974 versus the Chicago White Sox. A record that's still included in the book. Nolan also holds the record for most number of strikeouts in one season of 383 on September 2000. Matthew Aloysius Kilroy holds the double AA record of 513.

Related Topics:
No-hitter - 1974 - 1975 - 1970s - Roger Clemens - 1986

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As an Astro

Ryan signed a lucrative free-agent contract with the Houston Astros after the 1979 season, in which he became the first player to make $1 million a year. The normally light-hitting Ryan got his 'Stros years started with a bang in a nationally televised game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 12, 1980, in which he hit a 3-run home run off future fellow Hall of Famer Don Sutton. It was the first home run of his career (he only hit one more), and garnered 3 of the 6 RBI's he would get that year. He got his second taste of postseason play in 1980, but the Astros were stopped one game short of the World Series.

Related Topics:
Houston Astros - 1979 - Los Angeles Dodgers - April 12 - 1980 - Hall of Famer - Don Sutton

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On September 26, 1981, Ryan threw his fifth no-hitter to finally break Koufax's mark. That season, he won the National League ERA title with a miserly 1.69.

Related Topics:
September 26 - 1981 - National League - ERA

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After that, Ryan then settled into having a long string of good, but not great seasons, highlighted by his breaking Walter Johnson's all-time strikeout record on April 27, 1983, with his 3,509th whiff.

Related Topics:
Walter Johnson - April 27 - 1983

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In 1987, Ryan had one of the most bizarre seasons in baseball history. He was by far the most dominant pitcher in the National League, leading the league in ERA (2.76) and strikeouts (270) at the age of 40. However, Ryan received horrendous offensive support all season, and finished with a record of 8-16. The poor record most likely cost him the Cy Young Award, an honor he contended for many times but never won.

Related Topics:
1987 - Cy Young Award

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As a Ranger

He left Houston in a contract dispute after the 1988 season and joined the Texas Rangers, back in the American League. Many observers, keeping in mind that the aging Ryan had been pitching home games in the air-conditioned Astrodome, thought he would struggle by having to pitch outdoors in the oppressive Texas heat. Others predicted he would do well as American League batters hadn't faced "The Express" since 1979. With more run support than he had in 1987, Ryan had a number of fine seasons for the Rangers.

Related Topics:
1988 - Texas Rangers - Astrodome

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In 1989, he won 16 games and led the league with 301 strikeouts. Against the Oakland Athletics on August 22, Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson in the fifth inning to become the first pitcher ever to record 5,000 career strikeouts.

Related Topics:
1989 - Oakland Athletics - August 22 - Rickey Henderson

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Two years later, at 44, he finished fifth in the league in ERA (2.91) and third in strikeouts (203), to again earn Cy Young Award votes.

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He threw his sixth no-hitter and earned his 300th win in 1990. He pitched his seventh no-hitter on May 1, 1991, striking out Roberto Alomar for the final out. Coincidentally, Ryan's second baseman in his first two no-hitters was Alomar's father, Sandy Sr. Earlier in the same day Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock's career stolen base record with his 939th stolen base.

Related Topics:
300th win - 1990 - May 1 - 1991 - Roberto Alomar - Sandy Sr. - Rickey Henderson - Lou Brock - Stolen base

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Before the 1993 season, Ryan announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. His seemingly bionic arm finally gave out in Seattle on September 22, 1993, when he tore a tendon, ending his career two starts prematurely.

Related Topics:
1993 - Seattle - September 22 - 1993

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However, on August 4, just before the end, Ryan confirmed his reputation as a strong, competitive Texan in one bizarre moment. He had just hit Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox with a slow moving curveball. The normally unflappable Ventura angrily charged the pitching mound in order to fight Ryan, who was twenty years his senior. Ryan famously defended himself, perhaps better than any other known pitcher in a similar situation. The 46-year-old Ryan – a rancher in the offseason and highly dedicated to workouts during the season – promptly subdued the 26-year-old Ventura in a headlock with his left arm, pummelling Ventura's head with his right fist six times before catcher Ivan Rodriguez was able to pull Ventura away from Ryan. Videos of the confrontation were played on sports highlight reels that evening throughout the country. Ryan was widely credited as coming out ahead in the fight, planting those "noogies" on Ventura.

Related Topics:
Robin Ventura - Chicago White Sox - Ivan Rodriguez - Noogies

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