EXPRESSWAY TO STARDOM
Hall of Famer Ryan’s career numbers are the stuff of Texas legend
Nolan Ryan had 17 strikeouts and was on the verge of a no-hitter in 1973 when Detroit Tigers first baseman Norm Cash stepped to the plate.
An indication of how the day had gone, Cash, rather than carrying a bat, had a broken- off piano leg. Told by home-plate umpire Ron Luciano that he couldn’t use the table leg to bat, Cash quipped: “But Ron, I’ve got as much chance with this as I do with a bat.”
Cash tossed the illegal piece of wood toward the dugout, grabbed a real bat and popped out to end the game as Ryan, then a righthander with the California Angels, hurled his second career no-hitter in a 6-0 win.
The legend of Ryan was just beginning — an Expressway that would eventually lead to Cooperstown.
Ryan’s career numbers are the stuff of legend: 5,714 strikeouts and seven no-hitters, both major league records, place him in the pantheon of baseball immortals. He finished his career holding or sharing 53 major league records, many unlikely to ever be broken, as arguably the greatest power pitcher in history. He recorded 324 wins with four teams (New York Mets, California Angels, Astros and Texas Rangers) in an age-defying 27-year career.
Along the way, Ryan’s fastball was clocked at 100.9 miles per hour, he was the game’s first $1 million-a-year player, twice helped the Astros to division titles in the 1980s, and gave new meaning to the slogan “Don’t Mess With Texas” with a memorable fight with the Chicago White Sox’s Robin Ventura.
“He’s as Texan as Texan gets — determined and hardworking,” then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush said in 1999 at the announcement of Ryan’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. “He’s blessed with a can-do spirit that absolutely refuses to let obstacles stand in the way of any dream he has ever had. Nolan honed the talents God gave him into stuff of a baseball legend.”
Not bad for a flame-throwing, skinny kid from Alvin.
Mets scout Red Murff said the 6-foot-2-inch, 170-pound Ryan had the best arm he had ever seen when the team drafted Ryan in the 12th round in 1965. After three years in the minors and a brief call-up in 1966, Ryan reached the majors for good in 1968 and spent four seasons with the Mets. He split time between the rotation and bullpen with a save in Game 3 against the Baltimore Orioles to help the Amazin’ Mets capture the 1969 World Series.
Before the 1972 season, Ryan was among four players sent to the Angels for six-time All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi.
Ryan led the American League with 329 strikeouts in 1972, followed by a modern- era record 383, breaking Sandy Koufax’s single-season record by one. From 1972-79, Ryan led the AL in strikeouts seven times, twice won 20 games and tossed four no-hitters, matching Koufax for the most in history.
When Ryan endured an injuryshortened 1979 season, Angels general manager Buzzie Bavasi was reluctant to re-sign the 32year- old pitcher.
“All I need to replace Ryan is hire two 8-7 pitchers,” Bavasi said in reference to Ryan’s 16-14 record that season.
Ryan became a free agent, and the Astros signed him to a fouryear, $4.5 million deal that made him the highest-paid player in baseball history. The “Ryan Express” was coming home.
“I was always wanting to be an Astro and play in Houston, so when I got the opportunity, it was really special,” Ryan said. “I was able to live at home.”
Some of Ryan’s best performances were still to come.
In Ryan’s first season, the Astros won a one- game playoff with the Los Angeles Dodgers to capture the National League West and reach the postseason for the first time, falling to the Philadelphia Phillies in a five- game NL Championship Series. During the strike-shortened 1981 season, Ryan led the NL with a careerbest 1.69 ERA as the Astros won the second-half West Division title and made a second straight postseason appearance, this time losing to the Dodgers in the NL Division Series in five games.
The Astros would reach the playoffs one more time with Ryan, falling short in a thrilling six- game NLCS against the Mets.
From 1980-88, Ryan broke Walter Johnson’s career strikeout record, became the first pitcher to record 4,000 strikeouts and tossed no-hitter No. 5 to break Koufax’s record.
“With the kind of stuff he’s had, plus the longevity, I don’t think his no-hitters or strikeouts can ever be reached,” Koufax said.
Most, including Ryan, thought he would retire with the Astros. But after seeing Ryan finish 12-11 in 1988, club owner John McMullen thought Ryan was too old (he was 41) and too expensive (hewas making $1.4 million.) Ryan would pitch five more seasons, except in Arlington with the Rangers.
His curveball and change-up got better, his fastball remained in the 90s until the end, and Ryan became an ageless wonder with a fewmore milestones to reach. He struck out his 5,000th batter, won his 300th game and threw no-hitters No. 6 and No. 7, the last at age 44.
“He got to be a better pitcher late,” Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry said. “He kept learning his craft.”
To think, Ryan’s numbers could have been even more astonishing: he had 12 one-hitters, including five lost in the ninth inning, and 18 two-hitters. Incredibly, Ryan never won a Cy Young Award, which is presented to the league’s outstanding pitcher.
Ryan retired after the 1993 season, at age 46.
On Jan. 5, 1999, Ryan earned induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 98.79 percent of the ballots— one vote shy of eclipsing the highest percentage in history, set by Tom Seaver (98.84) in 1992.
Ryan’s Hall of Fame plaque, however, depicts him wearing a Rangers, not Astros, cap.
“The reason for that is I feel those last five years with the Rangers, because of some of the things that happened there — the 5,000th strikeout, the no-hitters, the 300th win, brought my career and my presence in the game to another level,” Ryan said. “I feel those were very special years there.”