A’s no-no match for Ryan Express
This story was originally published in 1990
Nolan Ryan held time and the A’s at bay Monday night, throwing his sixth career no-hitter at the age of 43.
Ryan became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter with a performance for the ages, especially the middle ages. He struck out 14 (all swinging) and walked two in the Texas Rangers’ 5-0 win over the A’s, extending his major league record for no-hitters.
The Coliseum crowd of 33,436 rose to its feet when Ryan jogged to the mound for the bottom of the ninth.
Pinch hitter Ken Phelps struck out swinging, and the crowd was seated — barely. Shortstop Jeff Huson made one of the plays of the night, throwing out Rickey Henderson on a checked- swing dribbler. Then, Willie Randolph sent a flyball floating toward the Rangers’ bullpen. Right fielder Ruben Sierra gloved it, and Ryan, baseball’s all-time strikeout leader, wrote another line in the record book.
He was mobbed by an exultant Rangers team and carried sheepishly off on their shoulders while the crowd roared.
“I’m telling you he did a great job,” said catcher John Russell, who had never caught Ryan before. “I was like I was in a coma. I had no feeling whatsoever. I was numb. I just wanted him to keep going. I didn’t want to take anything away from him. I’ve never seen the look in a guy’s eye that he had in his eye. I’ll never forget it. You can’t explain it.
“Determination, all the years and years of work, it was all right there. It was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.”
It was, amazingly, nothing baseball hasn’t seen Ryan do several times before. But it was the first time baseball has seen somebody — let’s face it — this old do it. Cy Young was 41 when he no-hit the New York Yankees on June 30, 1908, for the Boston Red Sox.
This was Ryan’s first nohitter since Sept. 26, 1981, when he pitched a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers for the Houston Astros. It was the sixth time the A’s have been nohit, the first since 1976.
The A’s did little to even quicken the laconic Ryan’s pulse.
He walked Walt Weiss on a 3-and-1 count in the third and Mike Gallego on a full count in the sixth. Randolph sent a ball to the warning track in left-center in the fourth, and Henderson lined out to center on a nice play by Gary Pettis in the sixth.
Ryan threw 130 pitches and said, “I was at the limit.”
Afterward, as they drifted out of a solemn clubhouse, the A’s were able still to do nothing but shake their heads.
“That’s amazing. Most pitchers become junkballers, if they’re even in the game at that age. They become crafty pitchers,” said Weiss, who couldn’t believe that Ryan was placing mid-90 mph fastballs wherever he wanted them.
“He’s been doing it forever. I want to see his autopsy.”
Ryan isn’t bionic. When he pitched against the A’s last Wednesday, it was the first time he had pitched since May 17. Ryan (5-3) had been on the disabled list because of back trouble. He hadn’t won since April 26, when he pitched a one- hitter in a 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.
He was characteristically understated about his sixth no- hitter, talking so casually in that slow Texas drawl that he might have been discussing another day at his ranch.
“To be honest, I was surprised I had the velocity (that) I had in my last outing,” Ryan said. “It was cool tonight. I think there were a lot of circumstances contributed to the game, the fact that it was cool. The air was heavy. The ball that Willie (Randolph) hit (in the fourth), I thought when it left the bat it was a home run. I was real disgusted with myself because I let the call on the 2-2 pitch affect my 3-2 pitch.”
The A’s might own baseball’s most feared lineup, but they were almost no-hit victims once before this season. Seattle Mariners pitcher Brian Holman, 25, had a perfect game against the A’s on April 20 until Phelps homered with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Jose Canseco wasn’t in the lineup Monday and Carney Lansford was available as only a pinch hitter.