Nolan Ryan
The first few years of his career it looked as if Nolan Ryan would never master his pitches; half-way through his career he seemed destined to be labeled a mediocre pitcher with a great fastball; the last ten years of his career he achieved immortality. Throwing no-hitters as a young fire baller and as a veteran pitcher, Ryan shattered the career strikeout record once held by
Walter Johnson.
Quotes About Ryan
"He was throwing the ball harder than any man I ever saw in my life." — John Mayberry, after his Royals were no-hit by Nolan Ryan on May 15, 1973
"If they had a higher league, he could be in it. As a matter of fact, he could be it." — Hal McRae, on Nolan Ryan
Played For
New York Mets (1966-1971)
California Angels (1972-1979)
Houston Astros (1980-1988)
Texas Rangers (1989-1993)
All-Time Rankings
Nolan Ryan ranks #20 among the Top 50 all-time at SP. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1973
Though he pitched for a struggling Angels team, Ryan was in the zone in '73. He hurled two no-hitters, pitched 326 innings (allowing 238 hits), and struck out a record 383 batters. He posted a 2.87 ERA in 39 starts, completing 26 games, and saving one.
Factoids
Nolan Ryan was 22 years old when he was a member of the 1969 World Champion New York Mets. He pitched 25 more years without getting to another World Series.
Nolan Ryan is the only pitcher to strike out Roger Maris, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa.
Nolan Ryan is the only man to play for all four teams from the 1961-1962 expansion: the Mets, Angels, Astros (Colt .45s), and Rangers (Washington Senators).
#100 and a No-Hitter
On June 1, 1975, Ryan struck out O's second baseman Bobby Grich for the final out in his fourth no-hitter. The win was the 100th of Ryan's career.
No-Hit Factoids
Ryan hurled a record seven no-hitters, and he is the only pitcher to hurl no-hit games for three different major league teams. However, in none of those games he did he threaten to hurl a perfect game, in fact, in four of his no-hitters, Ryan walked a batter in the first inning. In his no-hit games, Ryan struck out a total of 94 batters and walked 26. A complete list of his no-hitters is listed below:
Date....Opponent.......IP.....H....K...BB....Final
5/15/73...Kansas City......9.....0...12....3......3-0
7/15/73...Detroit..........9.....0...17....4......6-0
9/28/74...Minnesota........9.....0...15....8......4-0
6/1/75....Baltimore........9.....0....9....4......1-0
9/26/81...Los Angeles......9.....0...11....3......5-0
6/11/90...Oakland..........9.....0...14....2......5-0
5/1/91....Toronto..........9.....0...16....2......3-0
The Final Outs:
5/15/73 Kansas City - Amos Otis (flew out to right)
7/15/73 Detroit - Norm Cash (poppped out to short)
9/28/74 Minnesota - Eric Soderholm (struck out)
6/1/75 Baltimore - Bobby Grich (struck out)
9/26/81 Los Angeles - Dusty Baker (grounded out third to first)
6/11/90 Oakland - Willie Randolph (flied out to right)
5/1/91 Toronto - Roberto Alomar (struck out)
Here's a partial list of some of the batters who were held hitless in Ryan's seven no-hitters: Amos Otis, John Mayberry, Lou Piniella, Norm Cash, Jim Northrup, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew, Ken Singleton, Don Baylor, Bobby Grich, Lee May, Brooks Robinson, Davey Lopes, Reggie Smith, Dusty Baker, Steve Garvey, Pedro Guerrero, Mike Scioscia, Rickey Henderson, Willie Randolph, Dave Hdnerson, Carney Lansford, Devon White, Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter, John Olerud, Mark Whiten...
In his May 16, 1973, no-hitter against the Royals, Kansas City manager Jack McKeon registered a protest over Ryan's delivery, claiming the Angel hurler was balking with his move. "I want to thank Jack," Ryan said after the game. "Jack did me a favor causing all that commotion. When I bring my foot off the rubber, it usually means that I'm rocking back too far and I get wild, high." Ryan made adjustments, and struck out 12 Royals' batters for his first no-hitter. McKeon and the Royals withdrew the protest... In that no-hitter, Angels' third baseman Al Gallagher did not handle a chance, nor did left fielder Vada Pinson.
Born
Lynn Nolan Ryan was born on January 31, 1947, in Refugio, TX.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Primary Position: P
Primary Team: HOU
College: Alvin JC
Major League Debut
September 11, 1966
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1966
George Scott
Sal Bando
Reggie Smith
Rick Monday
Nolan Ryan
Don Sutton
Bob Watson
Nate Colbert
Stan Bahnsen
Nicknames
The Ryan Express, Express
Uniform Numbers
#34 (1966, 1980-1993), #30 (1968-1979)
Similar Players
Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood
Related Players
Jim Fregosi, Steve Carlton, Walter Johnson... George Brett and Robin Yount, who were inducted to the Hall of Fame with Ryan in 1999... Jeff Torborg caught a no-hitter from Ryan, Sandy Koufax, and two other pitchers.
| Hall of Fame Voting |
| Year |
Election |
Votes |
Pct |
| 1999 |
BBWAA |
491 |
98.8% |
|
No-Hitter
5/15/1973: For CAL (A) vs. KC (A), 3-0 at KC. 9 innings pitched.
7/15/1973: For CAL (A) vs. DET (A), 6-0 at DET. 9 innings pitched.
9/28/1974: For CAL (A) vs. MIN (A), 4-0 at MIN. 9 innings pitched.
6/1/1975: For CAL (A) vs. BAL (A), 1-0 at CAL. 9 innings pitched.
9/26/1981: For HOU (N) vs. LA (N), 5-0 at HOU. 9 innings pitched.
6/11/1990: For TEX (A) vs. OAK (A), 5-0 at OAK. 9 innings pitched.
5/1/1991: For TEX (A) vs. TOR (A), 3-0 at TEX. 9 innings pitched.
Post-Season Appearances
1969 National League Championship Series
1969 World Series
1979 American League Championship Series
1980 National League Championship Series
1981 National League Division Playoffs
1986 National League Championship Series
Feats
Seven no-hitters... All-time strikeout leader... Ryan hit the first home run of his career on April 12, 1980, off future Hall of Famer Don Sutton ijn the Astrodome. Ryan hit two home runs in his career.
Milestones
Against the Oakland A's on August 22, 1989, Ryan became the first pitcher ever to record 5,000 career strikeouts. He struck out Rickey Henderson in the fifth inning to break the 5,000 barrier.
Milestones
- July 4, 1980: 3000th strikeout... Cesar Geronimo
- July 11, 1985: 4000th strikeout... Danny Heep
- August 22, 1989: 5000th strikeout... Rickey Henderson
- July 31, 1990: 300th Win...
Pitching Feats
Transactions
Selected by New York Mets in the 12th round of the free-agent draft (June 8, 1965); Traded by New York Mets with Don Rose, Leroy Stanton and Frank Estrada to California Angels in exchange for Jim Fregosi (December 10, 1971); Granted free agency (November 1, 1979); Signed by Houston Astros (November 19, 1979); Granted free agency (November 4, 1988); Signed by Texas Rangers (December 7, 1988).
Matchup Data
Ryan terrorized the Detroit Tigers in 1973, going 4-0 (1.15 ERA) with 44 K's in 39 innings against the Bengals. During his no-hitter that season against Detroit, on July 15 in Tiger Stadium, Detroit first baseman Norm Cash came to the plate in the ninth inning carrying a wooden table leg in place of his bat. Cash figured he had little chance to make contact anyway. He didn't - he popped out to short for the game's final out.
All-Star Selections
1972 AL
1973 AL
1975 AL
1977 AL
1979 AL
1981 NL
1985 NL
1989 AL
Replaced
Jim McAndrew, as a starter on the 1971 Mets.
Replaced By
Rick Helling, Hector Fajardo and a few other #5 starters on the 1994 Rangers.
Best Strength as a Player
Velocity
Largest Weakness as a Player
Control
Other stories on the Web about Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan's Perplexing 1987 Season ⇒
Learn More about Nolan Ryan
Search Amazon.com for Books about Nolan Ryan ⇒
Search for Nolan Ryan at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒
