Happy Birthday to Nolan Ryan. In a Hall of Fame career that lasted 27 seasons, Ryan established himself as one of the most dominant and fearing Starting Pitchers of all time. Pitching for four teams, the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and the Texas Rangers, Ryan had memorable moments at all four stops.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1966; 68-93):

324-292 W-L 3.19 ERA 5,386 IP 5,714 K 1.247 WHIP

  • 8x All-Star
  • 7 No Hitters
  • 1969 World Series Champion

As a Pitcher

   While early in his career, Ryan was raw and wild with the Mets, it took some time for him to learn control, and once he did, throughout his entire career, Ryan retained the ability to consistently throw pitches in the 100 MPH range, as well as a 12-6 Curveball with velocity for a breaking ball. No pitcher in baseball history recorded more Strikeouts than Nolan Ryan at (5,714) or thrown for more No-Hitters than Ryan’s seven. Despite pitching on many teams that were average to below average, giving him very little run support, he won over 300 games. Along with 14 seasons of pitching 200 or more innings, Ryan led the league in Strikeouts eleven times and in ERA and WHIP twice. While he does hold the record for Walking the most batters, his control only got better as he aged. Over his last ten seasons in which he led the league in Strikeouts four times, he never Walked batters in the triple digits like he did earlier in his career.

Best Years

   Despite Ryan’s dominance, he never won a Cy Young, which is mind-blowing. His best season was in 1973, when he set the single-season record in Strikeouts with 383 over the span of 39 starts and 326 Innings, but Jim Palmer of the Orioles had just a slightly better season than Ryan. Over the span of his career, Ryan finished top-5 in the Cy Young voting six times, including one of those times being at the age of 42. Had Ryan pitched for better teams, providing him the proper run support, perhaps Ryan would’ve won more games and possibly a Cy Young. Below are Ryan’s eight best seasons of his career, three of which occurred at 40, 42 & 44.

1972: 19-16 W-L 2.28 ERA 284.0 IP 329 K 1.137 WHIP (39 Starts) Age 25

1973: 21-16 W-L 2.87 ERA 326.0 IP 383 K 1.227 WHIP (39 Starts) Age 26

1974: 22-16 W-L 2.89 ERA 332.2 IP 367 K 1.272 WHIP (41 Starts) Age 27

1977: 19-16 W-L 2.77 ERA 299.0 IP 341 K 1.344 WHIP (37 Starts) Age 30

1981: 11-5 W-L  1.69 ERA  149.0 IP 140 K 1.121 WHIP (21 Starts) Age 34

1987: 8-16 W-L 2.76 ERA 211.2 IP 270 K 1.139 WHIP (34 Starts) Age 40

1989: 16-10 W-L 3.20 ERA 239.1 IP 301 K 1.086 WHIP (32 Starts) Age 42

1991: 12- 6 W-L 2.91 ERA 173.0 IP 203 K 1.006 WHIP (27 Starts) Age 44

Legacy

    Nolan Ryan was one of those pitchers whose arm wasn’t just built to be a high-level starting pitcher; it was built for longevity. Pitching in four decades, only Cap Anson played as long as Ryan did in the major leagues. His arm was one of a kind, having the ability to throw over 100 MPH consistently for his entire career. As I showed you, three of his best seasons occurred after he turned 40. While he played a part in the Mets winning the World Series in 1969, it didn’t seem like he would ever flourish with them, and once he got to Angels, that’s when Ran started to figure things out. Nolan Ryan is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and rightfully so. Spending eight years with the Angels, nine with the Astros, and his final five with the Rangers, he had success in all three stops and is regarded as one of the best players in all three franchises. All three teams retired his uniform upon his retirement. He wore #30 with the Angels and #34 with the Astros and Rangers. 

References:

  1. Nolan Ryan via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Ryan#
  2. Nolan Ryan Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanno01.shtml