The Rangers had long been a floundering organization, having relocated from Washington, playing in an expanded minor league ball park, and never participating in postseason play. With the signing of Ryan on December 7, , the Rangers gained something they never had before: national credibility. Motivated by the challenge of continuing to succeed on a power level with younger competition, Ryan proceeded to have three full-blown years of greatness with Texas, from to In those years, he compiled a record of with a 3.
On August 22, , he achieved career strikeout number 5, That same year, at the age of 42, he had his sixth K season. Only former Astros teammates J. Richard and Mike Scott had managed the feat since Ryan had last done it in But he was just warming up. On June 11, , Ryan pitched his sixth no-hitter , beating the defending world champion Athletics at Oakland.
He suffered for most of the game with constant pain in his lower back later discovered to be a stress fracture , the significance of which he tried to minimize after the game. On July 31, , he won his th game in the major leagues , beating the Brewers in Milwaukee.
He fanned 16 that night with a sore Achilles tendon, constant back pain, and a cracked-skinned, bloody right middle finger, all of which went with the territory of power pitching into his mid-forties.
He made the front page of plenty of news sections, too. But nowhere was he bigger news than in Texas. In his first season as a Ranger, the team drew over 2 million fans for the first time in franchise history. When he pitched, average attendance was 8, more than on other nights. Construction commenced in Fans knew that every time Nolan Ryan took the mound, it might be a no-hitter.
In his first three years with the Rangers, on top of the two no-hitters, Ryan also pitched six one-hitters, eight two-hitters, and 12 three-hitters. The most enduring memory of Texas Rangers fans who witnessed the Ryan Express during his five glorious years in Arlington, from to , was not a statistic but a sound. Every time the something power pitcher delivered his heat, he threw the ball with such total passion that a bellowing grunt could be heard throughout the ballpark.
During the season, on nights he pitched, Ryan rode a stationary bicycle for at least 45 minutes after the game. Nothing keeps him from making his rounds in the weight room.
Ryan completed his final season as a Ranger in hampered by injuries to his knee, rib cage, and elbow. Pitching in between stays on the disabled list, he gave Texas fans one final lasting memory. On August 4, , in the third inning of a game against Chicago, a Ryan fastball hit Robin Ventura in the arm. The young White Sox third baseman stormed the mound and tried to attack a man 20 years his senior.
Ryan had been in this situation once before when Dave Winfield charged him at Houston. Unfazed by the altercation, he lasted seven innings, allowing three hits and retiring 12 of the last 13 men he faced to get the victory.
It spurred a three-game winning streak. But the Ryan Express, believe it or not, was finally pulling into the station. The end came on September 22, , at Seattle. In his last career start, while throwing a fastball in the first inning, Ryan tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Later that night in the clubhouse, he described his final game. The Rangers years established that Nolan Ryan was more than a major league superstar. In Texas, he became a baseball legend whose final career records were light years ahead of those of his nearest rivals.
In baseball, Nolan Ryan is that guy. To the surprise of no one, Ryan became a first-ballot inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Missing the thrill of pitching competitive baseball, Nolan Ryan kept finding ways to stay active in the game.
While sons Reid and Reese pitched in college in the mids for Texas Christian University, their dad served as volunteer pitching coach for the Horned Frogs and donned a uniform for games. They decided the team needed to move from Mississippi to Texas, and with the help of chief executive officer Reid Ryan and chief financial officer Reese Ryan, the baseball enterprise started its search for the best possible location in the Lone Star State.
City leaders rejected his proposal, not wanting competition with Texas Longhorns baseball. Then Ryan had another idea. He called the mayor of Round Rock, north of Austin, to explore the possibility of locating his Jackson team there. The mayor instantly thought of an available piece of land with frontage on Highway 79 that for years had been a cornfield, and invited Ryan to take a look.
A few weeks later, the deal was made, and the city of Round Rock held a groundbreaking ceremony. Dell Diamond hosted its first game on Opening Day of the Texas League season…and the people came. Overall, Round Rock and Corpus Christi attracted more than 6 million fans in their first seven years.
In February , Ryan was named president of the Texas Rangers, becoming the first Hall of Fame player to be the top executive at a major league franchise since Christy Mathewson with the Boston Braves some 85 years earlier.
Ryan was not content to have a title and do things as other had done them. What helped him break so many baseball records was the application of old-fashioned common sense to his daily regimen. He never risked wearing out his arm by pitching in winter ball. The offseason physical activities Ryan pursued did not include bowling, volleyball, skiing, or any other sport that might result in a hand or leg injury. Adding to his prudent exercise decisions, he maintained a calm lifestyle sustained by a balanced moderate diet, no smoking, and no excessive drinking, celebrating his no-hitters drinking orange juice instead of the traditional champagne.
The science behind the artistry of Nolan Ryan involved the full utilization of his body and mind, knowing when to accept instruction and when to follow his own instincts.
Boston, Talmage. The Nolan Ryan biography is excerpted from this book. But I bet his years up until the late 90s were clean. His first four Cy Youngs were legit.
Eight-time game winner. Won 30 games once. Never walked more than 90 batters in a season and had over 3, career strikeouts. Won one more Cy Young than Ryan. In a word: underrated. Injuries will keep him from getting wins, but Johnson's. Ryan clearly belongs in the Hall of Fame and deserves credit for his accomplishments.
In fairness, he didn't always play for good teams, but he never distinguished himself ahead of some of his contemporaries, aside from strikeouts and no-hitters. Furthermore, those categories don't reflect consistent dominance and mastery in the craft of pitching. True, the s had many great pitchers, but Ryan's severe wildness hurts him.
Great, but not all-time elite. Sorry, Nolan. Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! The best active pitchers with at least 1, innings who haven't won a Cy Young Award but still have a reasonable chance to do it.
Chris Sale , present It's truly shocking that Sale hasn't won a Cy Young. The left-hander was a top-six finisher in the AL every year from , and he placed no lower than fourth in four of those seasons.
The closest he got was 2. Sale underwent Tommy John surgery in , but after returning to post a 3. Stephen Strasburg , present As Strasburg showed during the playoffs, he has the ability to be the best pitcher in baseball when he's healthy and at the top of his game. Strasburg's performance 2. Kershaw placed second and Strasburg third. Gerrit Cole , present How does a win, 2. When your teammate puts up an equally impressive campaign and defeats you by the slimmest of margins.
That's what happened to Cole in , as his brilliant season netted a second-place finish in the AL race behind Verlander, who went with a 2. Lance Lynn , present Lynn has been a perennial Cy Young Award candidate in the past three years, finishing fifth in and sixth in before grabbing a spot among the AL finalists with Cole and Robbie Ray.
In that span, the right-hander has registered a 3. Yu Darvish , present At first glance, a year-old pitcher coming off a 4. But Darvish finished second in the NL race and was a candidate in before struggling in the second half.
The best to never win a Cy Young Award. Share share-square Pitchers in each category listed in order by bWAR. Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, bWAR.
0コメント