Nolan Ryan's Career

New York Mets (1966 - 1971)

Nolan Ryan was the 295th player drafted in the 1965 amateur draft, in the 10th round by the New York Mets. The Mets decided that he threw hard enough and had a nice build so he was worth the chance. His first professional game was in Marion, Va.

During the seven years he spent with the New York organization, perhaps his best year was in the minors. In Class A Greenville he posted a 17-2 record with 272 strikeouts. After that year the Mets decided he was ready. His first major league game came on September 11, 1966, against the Atlanta Braves. His first strikeout was Pat Jarvis.

Brother Strikeout Victims
Sandy Jr. & Roberto Alomar
Felipe, Jesus, & Matty Alou
George & Ken Brett
Ollie & Oscar Brown
Jose & Hector Crus
Tony & Chris Gwynn
Dane & Garth Iorg
Carlos & Lee May
Eddie & Rich Murray
Craig & Jim Nettles
Joe & Phil Niekro
Cal & Bill Ripken

In 1967 he was dealt a breif blow to his career when an elbos injury forced him to sit out two months of the season. His first star-caliber performance with the Mets was on May 14, 1968 when he struck out 14 batters to set a Mets record. He was put on the disabled list for the month of August for reoccuring blisters. By 1970 he was still having a lot of trouble harnassing the power of his fastball. His 97 walks in 131 innings set a Mets record. The next year wasn't all that better; he walked 116 in 152 innings, although he did beat his personal strikeout record with 16 batters fanned in one game.

He was never considered a star player with the Mets. He didn't start consistently, and was plagued by blisters on his pitching hand. He often dipped his fingers in a solution of pickle brine trainer Gus Mauch made to toughen the blister. His only bright spot was getting the chance to pitch in the 1969 NLCS and World Series, where he performed masterfully in relief.

Nolan Ryan was traded to the California Angels with outfielder LeRoy Stanton, catcher Francisco Estrada, and pitcher Don Rose in 1971 for veteran third baseman Jim Fergosi.

California Angels (1971 - 1979)

Perhaps the best eight seasons of Nolan's career happened when he was with the California Angels. Four of his seven no-hitters, five seasons of over 300 strikeouts, and both his 20 win seasons occurred with the Angels. The Angels were able to give Nolan what the Mets could not: consistent starts and innings. During his eight years, his lowest inning total was 198 (in 1975), and had at least ten complete games and three shutouts in all eight years. He led the league in strikeouts 7 of 8 years, and posted a major league record 383 strikeouts in 1973.

Father & Son Strikeout Victims
Sandy Sr. & Roberto Alomar
Sandy Sr. & Sandy Jr. Alomar
Bobby & Barry Bonds
Tito & Terry Francona
Ken Sr. & Ken Jr. Griffey
Hal & Brian McRae
Dick Sr. & Dick Jr. Schofield
Maury & Bump Wills

Much of his success can be attributed to all the players and coaches who taught him and helped him harness his power. Then Angels pitching coach Tom Morgan, catcher Jeff Torberg, and coach John Roseboro all helped him develop his strong arm. He also had such a relationship with assistant coach Jimmie Reese, who helped with his relentless work ethic, that Nolan named his second son Nolan Reese. After Nolan pitched his second no-hitter with the Angels, Alvin High School named their ballpark Nolan Ryan Field in his honor.

He left the Angels in 1979 for the Houston Astros because the Angel's GM, Buzzie Bavaski, wouldn't give Nolan what he asked for. On June 16, 1992, the California Angels honored Nolan Ryan with a special evening to retire his jersey and induct him into the Angels' Hall of Fame.

Houston Astros (1980 - 1988)

When Nolan signed with the Astros in November of 1979, he had signed the richest baseball contract ever (at that time), with a three-year, $3.5 million dollar deal. He could have had more money, if he wanted, but instead he chose to play in his home state of Texas.

"What was important was our family," said Nolan, "was to pick a location, one where we'd be happy and one where I could finish up."

Hall of Fame Strikeout Victims
Hank Aaron
Luis Aparicio
Ernie Banks
Johnny Bench
Lou Brock
Rod Carew
Roberto Clemente
Don Drysdale
Bob Gibson
Reggie Jackson
Al Kaline
Harmon Killebrew
Juan Marichal
Eddie Mathews
Willie McCovey
Joe Morgan
Jim Palmer
Brooks Robinson
Willie Stargell
Billy Williams
Carl Yastremzski

Although he was not as spectacular with the Astros as he was with the Angels, his nine seasons mounted a 106-94 record with a 3.13 ERA, and he pitched his 5th no-hitter. Perhaps one of his best seasons came with the Astros. In 1987 he had 270 strikeouts in 211.2 innings and lead the league with a 2.76 ERA, but because of poor run support, he only posted an 8-16 record. The Astros provided an average of 1.69 runs during each of the 16 losses. And that was when he was 40 years old. He is the only pitcher ever to lead the leauge in strikeouts and ERA but not be awarded the Cy Young Award.

"My least favorite [uniform] was the Astros' starburst. When you first put it on, you felt like you were kinda in a clown's unform."

All this time Nolan had been using a two-pitch arsonal to master his batters: a blazing fastball and a wicked curve. Nolan's fastball was officially clocked at 100.3 mph, making it the fastest pitch ever thrown. And he did it in the 9th inning of a game, after throwing 140 previous pitches. During the strike of 1981, Cincinati Reds broadcaster Joe Nuxhall showed Ryan how to throw a changeup. Nolan has practiced the pitch a lot, and he believes it is the reason his strikeout to innings pitched ratio has been improved after falling off in the first half of the 80s.

After 1988, Astros owner John McMullen asked Nolan to take a pay cut. Nolan wasn't having that so he promptly packed his bags and headed north to Arlington. "I really didn't want to leave," Ryan said, "but someone in the organization must not have wanted me to stay."

Twenty or More Strikeouts
not including 1993 season
39 Claudell Washington
31 Fred Patek
30 Jorge Orta
29 Larry Hisle
29 Rod Carew
27 Amos Otis
26 Chili Davis
26 Andrew Dawson
24 Al Bumbry
24 Carlton Fisk
23 Dale Murphy
23 Darrell Porter
23 Dave Parker
23 Juan Samuel
22 Reggie Jackson
22 Graig Nettles
22 Ron LeFlore
22 Bill North
21 John Briggs
21 Rico Petrocelli
21 Jeffrey Leonard
20 Cecil Cooper
20 Ron Smalley
20 Terry Kennedy
20 Ron Oester
20 Frank White

Texas Rangers (1989 - 1993)

"There's no real way of measuring credibility," says Rangers GM Tom Grieve, "but there's no doubt on the day we signed Nolan we became a team that was looked upon with respect. That includes our fans who must have been saying: 'Wow, if we can sign Nolan Ryan, if he wants to come here, we must be pretty good.'" The Rangers drew over two million fans for the first time during Nolan's first year with them.

"Big Tex" will be remembered for pitching with the Rangers more than for any other team. He achieved many milestones during his five seasons with the Rangers.

He surpassed the 300 strikeout mark with the Texas Rangers for the first time since 1977. On August 22, 1989 he struck out Rickey Henderson for his 5000th career strikeout. On June 11, 1990, he pitched a no-hitter against Oakland. On July 31, 1990, he defeated Milwaukee for career win number 300. And on May 1, 1991, he pitched his record 7th no-hitter against Toronto. If he wasn't a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame before signing with the Rangers, he certainly is now.

He came to Texas with one or two years in mind, but stayed five. He finally retired after realizing his body and arm wouldn't go as long as they needed to. His last game was rather disappointing, with 6 batters faced, 4 walks, and 5 earned runs with no outs. He was also ejected from a game for the first time in his major league career on April 6, 1992, after hitting Oakland's Willie Wilson with a pitch. But no one will remember that, they will remember the 5714 strikeouts, 324 wins, and 7 no-hitters.

Nolan signed a 10-year contract to help the Rangers in a role to be defined later upon his retirement.

Ryan's Milestone Strikeouts
No.      Date   Opponent       Player
1      9/11/66  Atlanta        Pat Jarvis
100    6/18/68  Houston        Denny LeMaster
500    4/18/72  Minnesota      Charlie Manuel
1000   7/03/73  Oakland        Sal Bando
1205*  9/27/73  Minnesota      Rich Reese
1500   8/25/74  New York AL    Sandy Alomar
2000   8/31/76  Detroit        Ron LeFlore
2500   5/12/78  Cleveland      Buddy Bell
3000   7/04/80  Cincinati      Cesar Geronimo
3500   4/17/83  Montreal       Andre Dawson
3509#  4/27/83  Montreal       Brad Mills
4000   7/11/85  New York NL    Danny Heep
4500   9/09/87  San Francisco  Mike Aldrete
5000   8/22/89  Oakland        Rickey Henderson
5500   9/30/91  Seattle        Tino Martinez
5714   9/17/93  California     Greg Myers
* Breaks Koufax's single season strikeout record.
# Breaks Johnson's all-time strikeout record.

Quoteables

Hank Aaron: "No one throws harder."

George Bush: "Nolan Ryan is one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and an excellent role model in sports today. He's living proof that dreams do come true for everyone with the courage and dedication to work hard to achieve their dream."

Phil Garner: "Nolan has not lost his edge or desire to train to perfect his game. God gave Nolan a great body and a great right arm. But he developed the attitude to keep it all going."

Bo Jackson: "With Nolan, there's no messing around. He challenges you with his best stuff. And 95 percent of the time, he's going to get you out with his best stuff."

Reggie Jackson: "He's the only guy who put fear in me. Not because he can get you out, but because he can kill you."

Tom Kelly: "He's the only Superman I know."

Ron Luciano: "About 40 percent of the pitchers in the major leagues cheat or look for some kind of edge. Nolan's going to strike the batter out anyway. You could put Nolan on the grass behind the mound and he'd probably blow the ball by the batter."

John Russell: "Just being able to be part of [the 6th no-hitter] was special, because I respect Nolan more than anybody I've been around, played against or even heard of."

Tom Seaver: "When I came up, we had Koosman and, soon after that, Gentry. Those were great young arms. But you looked at Nolan, and you saw there was something extra that no one else had."

Mike Stanley: "When people ask me what's the highlight of my career, I say catching Nolan Ryan's seventh no-hitter. It was my moment, too, as far as I'm concerned. It's something I'm very proud of."

Claudell Washington (on striking out 39 times against Ryan): "That's all I had? I thought I had a lot more. All the at-bats I had against him were bad."

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