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Nolan Ryan
#34
| Pitcher | Texas
Rangers
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Nolan Ryan |
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| Nolan Ryan |
For most of Nolan Ryan's extraordinary career, the fireballing Texan defined the term "power pitcher." Ryan holds numerous major league pitching records, including most strikeouts (5,714), most no-hitters (7), most games with 15 or more strikeouts (26), and most strikeouts in a single season (383).
Remarkably, the "Ryan Express" was a durable star, seemingly never to blow out his arm. The only pitcher to strike out 16 or more batters after the age of 40 (he accomplished the feat three times), Ryan's 27 major league seasons are the most played by anyone in baseball history.
Ryan was the first American League pitcher to strike out nineteen men in a nine-inning game (August 12, 1974). Over his illustrious career, the flame-thrower struck out an average of 9.55 batters per nine innings pitched, while allowing opposing batters a meager .204 batting mark. But his most impressive accomplishment may be his no-hitters - consider this: every pitcher's dream is to throw a no hitter, but around 98% of them will never accomplish their dream. Nolan Ryan managed to accomplish it seven times and no pitcher in the history of the game has even come close. (He also threw a major league record twelve one hit games during his career.)
Despite the eye-popping strikeout statistics and the longevity, the Ryan legend is substantially overblown. He won 20 games just twice in his career (1973 and 1974), never won the Cy Young award and posted his best season in the strike-shortened 1981 campaign. He won just two ERA titles over his career, both while pitching in the pitcher-friendly Astrodome, and lost almost as many games (292) as he won (324). Still, he was undisputably one of the toughest pitchers to hit against who ever walked the mound - over his career, he held opposition batters to a paltry .204 batting average.
"One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come
into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something."
- Nolan Ryan
"Every hitter likes fastballs just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don't like it when
someone's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's how you feel when Ryan's
throwing balls by you."
- Reggie Jackson
"I was just in the right place (strikeout number three-thousand) at the right time."
- Cesar Geronimo
"Nolan says throw it high because amateurs get out there, no matter how good they are,
and throw it in the dirt. You get more of an 'oooooo' if you heave it over the head instead
of going with the fast breaking deuce into the dirt."
- President George Bush
"You don't face (Nolan) Ryan without your rest.
He's the only guy I go against that makes me go to bed before midnight."
- Reggie Jackson
Picture from National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.
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