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Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. (born January 31, 1947) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for a record-tying 27 years. Ryan still holds many major-league pitching records, some by such wide margins over previous marks they will likely stand for many years.

Nolan Ryan was most noted for his blazing fastball and his longevity. He is considered to have been one of the hardest-throwing pitchers of all time, and his pitches were regularly recorded in the 100-mph range, even past the age of 40. The media tagged him "The Ryan Express" (a reference to the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express).

Ryan was an eight-time MLB All-Star, and his 5,714 career strikeouts rank first in baseball history. He leads the runner-up, Roger Clemens, by approximately 1,200 strikeouts—one of the largest statistical gaps for a category.

Ryan is also the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven, three more than any other pitcher. He is tied with Bob Feller for the most one-hitters with 12.

Playing career

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New York Mets

Ryan was born in Refugio, Texas, but his family moved to the Houston suburb of Alvin when he was 6 weeks old. He developed his dazzling fastball as a high-school pitcher. The New York Mets drafted him in 1965 and promoted him to the major leagues late in the 1966 season. When Ryan was called up, he was the second-youngest player in the league. He would end his career as the oldest player in Major League Baseball.

However, Ryan struggled for a number of years. He spent 1967 back in the minor leagues because of his inability to find the strike zone. Ryan did not make the majors for good until the 1968 season, and even then he was unable to crack the Mets outstanding pitching rotation led by Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. Ryan was used more as a reliever by the 1969 Mets.

Ryan did, however, give people a taste of what was to come in the 1969 postseason. Against the Braves, Ryan completed a Met sweep by throwing seven strong innings of relief in Game 3, getting his first playoff win (it would take him 12 years to get another). Then in the 1969 World Series, Ryan saved Game 3, pitching 2⅓ shutout innings against the powerful Baltimore Orioles. The save gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the Series, which they went on to win in five games. The videotape of that game, which has occasionally been shown on ESPN Classic, reveals that Ryan's mechanics, with the trademark high trailing leg kick, already were firmly established at that young age.

California Angels

Ryan blossomed after being traded to the California Angels in 1972 for shortstop Jim Fregosi (who would later manage Ryan in Anaheim). In his first season with the Angels, Ryan had a league-leading 329 strikeouts-- nearly a third more than the AL runnerup, and to that point, the fourth-highest total of the 20th century. Within five seasons, the season would only be Ryan's fourth-highest strikeout total.

Although the Angels were a sub-.500 team and remained one for most of his time there, Ryan's win totals were often among the league leaders: 19 victories in 1972, 21 in 1973 and 22 in 1974. (Ryan's 22 wins remain an Angels franchise record, tied with Clyde Wright in 1970).

In 1973, Ryan set his first major record when he struck out 383 batters in one season, eclipsing Sandy Koufax's old mark by one. Some noted that the record was achieved in the first year of the designated hitter and speculated that if AL pitchers had still been required to bat, Ryan might well have topped 400 strikeouts.

He threw two no-hitters in 1973, added a third in 1974 and a fourth in 1975, tying another of Koufax's records. In 1974 he twice struck out 19 batters, tying the single-game record for a nine-inning game, which went unsurpassed until Roger Clemens struck out 20 in 1986.

Fans, researchers, historians and even players debate who was the fastest pitcher of all time. The most common response is Ryan. His 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 vs. the Chicago White Sox.

The Angels finally made the playoffs in Ryan's eighth and final year there. He started Game 1 of the LCS and threw seven effective innings against the Orioles' Jim Palmer, but neither man was involved in the decision as Baltimore won in the 10th inning. Ryan was scheduled to pitch Game 5, but the Angels were eliminated in four. The season complete, Ryan thus became a free agent.

Nolan Ryan led the American League in strikeouts seven times during his eight seasons with the California Angels. However, he also led the league in walks in six of those years, and finished second in the other two seasons: 1975 and 1979.

Though popular with fans, Ryan did not win over Angels General Manager Buzzie Bavasi, who dismissed him as a flashy .500 pitcher, a designation picked up by much of the media. (Ryan was 26-27 during the two seasons that both were with the Angels). When Bavasi let Ryan leave after a 16-14 record in the 1979 season rather than agree to Ryan's demand to become the first player to be paid $1 million per year, Bavasi remarked he only needed to replace Ryan with two 8-7 pitchers.

Houston Astros

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 Houston 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 homer of Ryan's career (he only hit one other) and produced 3 of the 6 RBI he would get that year.

On July 4 of that season, against the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium, Cesar Geronimo became Ryan's 3,000th career strikeout victim (oddly, Geronimo had also been Bob Gibson's 3000th strikeout victim, in 1974). He got his second taste of postseason play in 1980, but the Astros were stopped one game short of the World Series.

In the classic 1980 NLCS versus the Philadelphia Phillies, Ryan pitched well in Game 2, but again got a no decision in a game that went extra innings. In the fifth and final game of the series, Ryan and the Astros held a 5-2 lead entering the 8th inning. But Ryan allowed three consecutive singles before walking in the third run. The Houston bullpen allowed the Phillies to take a 7-5 lead, and only a game-tying Astro rally permitted Ryan to escape the loss.

On September 26, 1981, Ryan threw his fifth no-hitter, breaking Koufax's mark while becoming the third pitcher to throw a no-hitter in each league. That season, his 1.69 ERA won the National League ERA title.

Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1981 NLDS, Ryan threw a complete game 2-hitter in the opener, outlasting the Dodgers' rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela. It was Ryan's second and last career postseason win. In the fifth and final game of the series, Ryan left trailing 3-0 and took the loss.

After that, Ryan settled into a long string of good but not great seasons, highlighted when he passed Walter Johnson's all-time strikeout record on April 27, 1983, with his 3,509th whiff. (Steve Carlton would reach the same mark two weeks after Ryan.)

In 1986, Ryan's Astros faced the New York Mets in the NLCS. Ryan had a shaky start in Game 2, taking the loss. He returned in Game 5 with a masterpiece, throwing 9 innings of 2-hit, 1-run, 12-strikeout ball. However, one of those hits was a Darryl Strawberry home run which tied the game at 1-1; Ryan got a no decision as his Astros lost in 12 innings. Later it was revealed that Ryan had pitched the game on an injured foot.

In 1987, Ryan had one of his most bizarre seasons. He was arguably the most dominant pitcher in the National League, leading in both ERA (2.76) and strikeouts (270) at the age of 40. However, he received poor offensive support all season and finished 8-16. The wins and losses likely cost Ryan the Cy Young Award, an honor for which he occasionally contended but never won. Ryan tied for 5th place in the 1987 Cy Young voting.

Texas Rangers

Ryan left Houston in a contract dispute following the 1988 season and joined the Texas Rangers, back in the American League. With improved run support, Ryan had three effective seasons for the Rangers.

In 1989, he went 16-10 and led the league with 301 strikeouts. Against the Oakland Athletics on August 22, Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson to become the first – and, at present time, the only – pitcher ever to record 5,000 career strikeouts. Two years later, at 44, he finished fifth in the league in ERA (2.91) and third in strikeouts (203).

In 1990, he threw his sixth no-hitter (on June 11) and earned his 300th win (on July 30, against the Milwaukee Brewers). He pitched his seventh no-hitter on May 1, 1991, striking out Roberto Alomar of the Toronto Blue Jays for the final out. Coincidentally, Ryan's second baseman in his first two no-hitters had been Alomar's father, Sandy Sr.

Before the 1993 season, Ryan announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On August 4, just before the end, Ryan confirmed his reputation as a strong, competitive Texan in one high profile moment. After Ryan hit Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox, the normally unflappable Ventura angrily charged the mound in order to fight Ryan, who was 20 years his senior. Ryan famously defended himself, securing the 26-year-old Ventura in a headlock with his left arm, while pummelling Ventura's head with his right fist seven times before catcher Iván Rodríguez was able to pull Ventura away from Ryan. Videos of the incident were played that evening throughout the country. While Ventura was ejected, Ryan--who had barely moved from his spot on the mound in the fracas--was allowed to remain in the game.

Nolan Ryan's very durable arm finally gave out in Seattle on September 22, 1993, when he tore a ligament, ending his career two starts earlier than planned. Briefly attempting to pitch past the injury, Ryan threw one further pitch after tearing his ligament; with his injured arm, his final pitch was measured at 98 miles per hour.

Current Activity

Ryan's current business interests include ownership of two minor league teams – the Corpus Christi Hooks, which play in the Class AA Texas League, and the Round Rock Express, a Class AAA team in the Pacific Coast League. Both teams are affiliates of the Houston Astros, for whom Ryan also serves as a Special Assistant to the General Manager.

Ryan threw out the first pitch of Game 3 of the 2005 World Series, the first World Series game ever played in Texas, and ultimately the longest in terms of time. ESPN suggested the Astros might have needed to pull the 58-year-old out of retirement if the game had gone much longer.

Ryan has co-written six books: autobiographies Miracle Man (with Jerry Jenkins, 1992), Throwing Heat (with Harvey Frommer, 1998) and The Road to Cooperstown (with Mickey Herskowitz and T.R. Sullivan, 1999); Kings of the Hill (with Mickey Herskowitz, 1992), about contemporary pitchers; and instructional books Pitching and Hitting (with Joe Torre and Joel Cohen, 1977), and Nolan Ryan's Pitcher's Bible (with Tom House, 1991).

In addition to his baseball activities, Ryan is majority owner and chairman of Express Bank of Texas and owns a restaurant in Three Rivers, Texas. He served on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission from 1995 to 2001. He appeared as a TV spokesman for Advil for several years, promoting the pain medication he recommended for his own arm. He also has appeared in various television commercials shown in the Texas market.

During election years in the late 90s, Ryan's name would frequently come up in the news as a potential candidate for some statewide office (usually for the Republican Party). However, he has never run in any race, and these rumors have quieted.

Legacy

Given that he broke many of Koufax's records previously thought to be untouchable, Ryan frequently is linked with him much in the way that Hank Aaron is to Babe Ruth or Pete Rose to Ted Williams and Ty Cobb. There are other similarities; both Ryan and Koufax started in the majors at a very young age and struggled early in their careers, both were primarily "extreme fastball" pitchers noted for achieving previously unprecedented strikeout totals and multiple no-hitters, and both were very closed and private away from the game (Koufax more so than Ryan). It was said of Ryan that he started every game with the intention of striking everyone out. Koufax once admitted he began every game with the intention of throwing a perfect game, and failing that, a shutout. They also were both very conscious of their value and had tenacious contract disputes with their owners. An astute businessman, Ryan readily admitted the money was a large part of the reason he played as long as he did. Ryan also would be remembered by many players and fans as a roughneck pitcher who did not take failure lightly.

But there are many differences too: Koufax pitched left-handed and Ryan right-handed; despite his early troubles, Koufax played his entire career with one team whereas Ryan played for four. Koufax played on four championship Dodgers teams, whereas Ryan found himself on mostly mediocre teams. Most importantly, thanks to a strong arm that could handle a lot of work, Ryan had one of the longest careers of any player, whereas Koufax's sterling career was cut short in its prime by arthritis and arm trouble. Nonetheless, both stand out as the premier "power pitchers" of their times.

Ryan played more seasons than any other player in baseball history, and his career strikeout mark is considered one of the most distant records in baseball. Ryan ranks first all-time in strikeouts (5,714), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6.56), and no-hitters (7). He is also fifth in innings pitched (5386), second in games started (773), seventh in shutouts (61) and is tied for 13th in wins (324). He also ranks high on the list for four "negative" records; he ranks first all-time in walks allowed (2,795), first in wild pitches (277), third in losses (292), and ninth in hit batsmen (158).

Ryan is the only major league player to have his number retired by three different teams (excluding Jackie Robinson, whose number 42 has been retired by every team in the major leagues). The California Angels retired the number 30 on June 16, 1992; the Texas Rangers retired his number 34 on Sept. 15, 1996; and the Houston Astros retired number 34 on Sept. 29, 1996.

On April 19, 1968, Ryan struck out three batters on nine pitches in the second inning of a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals; he became the eighth National League pitcher and the 14th pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning, exactly four years to the day after Bob Bruce's previous NL nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning. On July 9, 1972, Ryan struck out three batters on nine pitches in the second inning of a 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox; he became the seventh American League pitcher to accomplish the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning, and the first (and currently only) pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the feat in both leagues.

Ryan was the last player who had played in the 1960s to retire from Major League Baseball, beating out Carlton Fisk by three months.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, in his first year of eligibility with 98.79% of the vote. That year, he ranked 41st on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. He was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2003.

Despite Ryan's longevity and statistics, his legacy has been questioned. He never won a Cy Young Award, only finishing second once in 1973. For his career, Ryan was only 32 games over .500, and his "average" season saw him post a record of 13-12. Ryan's 292 losses rank him third overall, and first among pitchers who played entirely after 1900. He ranked in the top ten in the league in wins eight times, and in losses eight times. He had little success in leading teams to the postseason, making it there only five times, and only once to the World Series as a rookie with the Mets. In the postseason, Ryan's record was 1-2 in 7 starts. In fairness, Ryan typically lacked sufficient run support. In 1987 he led the league in ERA and losses at the same time (an almost unthinkable proposition).

Statistics

References

1. Texas Rangers Retired Number History on mlb.com Retrieved May 18, 2006
2. Ryan Baseball Hall of Fame bio Retrieved April 26, 2006

Pietrusza, David, Matthew Silverman & Michael Gershman, ed. (2000). Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia. Total/Sports Illustrated.

External links

• The Nolan Ryan Foundation
• Career statistics from Baseball Reference
• Baseball Hall of Fame bio

• 1947 births
• Living people
• Major league players from Texas
• Baseball Hall of Fame
• 1972 American League All-Stars
• 1973 American League All-Stars
• 1975 American League All-Stars
• 1977 American League All-Stars
• 1979 American League All-Stars
• 1981 National League All-Stars
• 1985 National League All-Stars
• 1989 American League All-Stars
• 1969 New York Mets World Series Championship Team
• 300 win club
• 3000 strikeout club
• California Angels players
• Houston Astros players
• New York Mets players
• Texas Rangers players
• Major league pitchers
• MLB pitchers who have pitched a no-hitter
• Irish-Americans
• People from Houston
• People with dyslexia