Nolan Ryan: The Strikeout King

[00:00:00] On June 5th, 1981, Astros Nolan Ryan lives up to his wild pitching reputation when he

[00:00:08] sets the record for pitching the most walks all time and when it is his career as a leader

[00:00:14] with the most walks and the most strikeouts in a career.

[00:00:19] Here's a story behind Nolan Ryan today on Daily Sports History.

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[00:01:06] Welcome to Daily Sports History.

[00:01:07] I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive in sports history every day.

[00:01:13] And today's trivia question to listen out for is what founding father was Nolan Ryan

[00:01:19] related to?

[00:01:22] Now Nolan Ryan was a Texas boy through and through born in Texas and was what

[00:01:27] you expect the all American boy to be.

[00:01:30] In fact, he was actually a descendant of John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration

[00:01:37] of Independence in the United States.

[00:01:41] So his roots to America go way back.

[00:01:45] He had been playing baseball with his father in the front yard since he was seven and

[00:01:50] fell in love with the game, playing with the local neighborhood kids in a vacant lot

[00:01:54] near his house.

[00:01:55] But he actually kind of developed his throwing arm by being a paper boy with his father starting

[00:02:01] at the age of eight.

[00:02:02] He would go out every morning between 1 and 4 a.m. to deliver newspapers.

[00:02:07] But it wasn't just that he developed his throwing through being a paper boy, he

[00:02:12] just had a natural gift.

[00:02:14] By the time he was in junior high, he could throw a softball over 100 yards

[00:02:20] and he really started to focus on the game of baseball after participating in high

[00:02:23] school football.

[00:02:24] When he had a head on collision with a future NFL player, he decided to just focus on baseball

[00:02:30] for the rest of his career and he made the varsity team as a sophomore.

[00:02:33] And that's when things really started to take off and he started to attract many

[00:02:38] major league scouts while still in high school.

[00:02:41] His junior year, he averaged two strikeouts per inning, including a 21 strikeout game

[00:02:47] in a game that went extra innings.

[00:02:49] But during his senior year, he really set the baseball world ablaze.

[00:02:53] He posted a 19-3 record, taking his team all the way to the state playoffs.

[00:02:59] And this led him to get drafted in the 12th round by the Mets where he would sign

[00:03:05] and join the Appalachian League where he started out ablaze, fanning over having over

[00:03:11] 300 strikeouts in his first season, actually making his debut in 1966 for the

[00:03:17] Mets in Shea Stadium on September 11th.

[00:03:20] And he would make his first major league start a week later in the Astrodome in front of

[00:03:26] family and friends.

[00:03:27] He struck out the whole first side but would allow four runs, four hits, and two walks,

[00:03:33] taking a loss in his first major league start.

[00:03:37] His fastball was overpowering.

[00:03:39] He would average 14 strikeouts per nine innings, which is a great number.

[00:03:44] But he would also average just as many walks.

[00:03:47] And in 1967, he actually suffered an arm injury that doctors recommended he have surgery for.

[00:03:53] But Ryan refused and preferred to rehab his arm on his own as he already knew,

[00:03:59] especially back then, that having surgery on your arm could prematurely cut his career.

[00:04:06] And in 1968, he officially became a full-time member of the New York Mets.

[00:04:10] And he immediately became a sensation, being featured on the cover of Life magazine,

[00:04:15] being hailed as the best young pitchers the majors have ever seen.

[00:04:18] But he would constantly deal with finger issues and continuous military obligations.

[00:04:25] And he had joined the military to serve his country, but only joined the reserves

[00:04:28] so he could still pitch.

[00:04:30] But this caused him to have kind of weird times and couldn't have a consistent pitching schedule.

[00:04:35] And the Mets really didn't adjust their schedule to fit him, which caused him even

[00:04:40] more tire strain.

[00:04:41] The Mets had a great season, being known as the Amazing Mets.

[00:04:46] They made it all the way to the World Series, where he pitched two in third innings,

[00:04:51] pitching in shutout relief in game three.

[00:04:53] Little did we know at the time this would be the only time he would make an appearance

[00:04:59] in the World Series.

[00:05:00] And luckily, he was able to get the ring.

[00:05:02] But Ryan made his tries following the next year.

[00:05:05] Despite having a 7-11 record, he had an ERA of 3.42.

[00:05:09] In 1971 would be the first season he would win 10 wins and would continue that streak

[00:05:14] for 16 more years.

[00:05:16] By the end of this season, he would complete his dream of pitching in the majors for five

[00:05:21] seasons.

[00:05:22] Now it was a dream of his because then he would earn a pension from the baseball

[00:05:26] union.

[00:05:27] But he was still just a middling player.

[00:05:29] Despite all the hype and the hard throwing and the strikeouts he had, he still,

[00:05:34] only after five years in the majors, had a record of 29 and 38.

[00:05:39] But he would average a strikeout per inning, but would also average six walks.

[00:05:44] And after this season, he told his wife if the Mets didn't trade him after this

[00:05:48] year, he had made his pension, he would quit the game of baseball.

[00:05:52] The reason why is because New York didn't foster him.

[00:05:55] They didn't help him with pitching coaches.

[00:05:57] They didn't help him with his military obligations.

[00:06:00] They didn't help him grow as a player.

[00:06:02] He did everything on his own and he got a lucky break on December 10th, 1971 when he was

[00:06:08] traded for three marginal players to the California Angels.

[00:06:14] And this is where his career would take off.

[00:06:17] Because while with the Angels, he was finally done with his military obligations, he

[00:06:21] was getting in a better rhythm pitching every four days so he would get less blisters

[00:06:25] on his hands, and he was actually able to get into a workout regimen, which

[00:06:30] was unusual for the day as he was lifting and conditioning more than any other

[00:06:35] player and becoming in great shape, which back then was thought to be weird because

[00:06:40] they didn't think pitchers should work out as much because it would limit their

[00:06:44] mobility of their arm.

[00:06:45] But this actually became a great asset to Nolan as it helped him strengthen his

[00:06:50] arm and pitch for many, many years.

[00:06:53] He would go on to pitch four no hitters with the Angels, tying Sandy Koufax's

[00:06:58] career record, who was an idol of Ryan's, and he would have his first 300 strikeout

[00:07:04] season in 1973 with a total of 383 strikeouts.

[00:07:08] But the problem was, despite all his success that he was having with the California

[00:07:12] Angels, they were a terrible hitting team.

[00:07:15] His ERA with the Angels was just above 3.0 and he won over 20 games two times

[00:07:21] because they could not score.

[00:07:24] This somewhat helped Ryan as he knew he had to pitch almost a perfect game every

[00:07:28] time, but was a continuous challenge for him as he just wanted the chance to win.

[00:07:34] Despite all the success he was having with the Angels in the time there, setting

[00:07:38] records, pitching no hitters, having great success despite the team not having

[00:07:43] success, the team eventually let him go as they thought they could replace Ryan

[00:07:48] with a couple of other pitchers because he was just winning a little bit more

[00:07:52] than 50% of his starts.

[00:07:53] And as a power pitcher, he was 32 years old and they thought he was probably going

[00:07:58] to be going downhill, but little did they know Nolan Ryan wasn't the average

[00:08:02] pitcher.

[00:08:03] And he wanted to go back to Texas, back to his home where he became the

[00:08:07] first player in professional sports history to earn $1 million per year with

[00:08:14] his three-year contract with the Houston Astros.

[00:08:17] And he made more in the first two seasons with the Astros than he made all

[00:08:21] the 12 years previously with the Mets and Angels.

[00:08:24] And in 19 on July 4th, 1980, he recorded his 3000th strikeout.

[00:08:30] And in 1981, he again pitched a no hitter, giving him five no

[00:08:35] hitters, passing his idol, Sandy Koufax, becoming the all-time leader in no

[00:08:41] hitters.

[00:08:41] That same year, he would break the record for the most walks pitched by

[00:08:45] a pitcher in major league history.

[00:08:47] But two years later, he would also set the record for the most strikeouts that

[00:08:51] had stood by Walter Jones since 1927.

[00:08:56] Two years later in 1985, he would pass 4000 strikeouts and he still wasn't

[00:09:02] done.

[00:09:03] In 1987, he was the first major league pitcher in history to lead the

[00:09:08] league in both strikeouts and ERA and not receive a Cy Young.

[00:09:13] Despite leading the league, he only had a record of 8 and 16, which had

[00:09:18] nothing to do with how good of pitching he was doing.

[00:09:22] And he finished fifth in the Cy Young.

[00:09:24] And by the time he was 40 years old, he had still not lost velocity.

[00:09:28] He was still pitching regularly over a hundred miles an hour with a

[00:09:33] devastating curve and a changeup he had also learned as well.

[00:09:37] But after the 1988 season, the Houston Astros thought he was done

[00:09:41] pitching and they let him go.

[00:09:43] But Ryan wanted to stay in Texas and he actually got a raise and went to the

[00:09:48] Texas Rangers where he would continue to pitch great for the rest of his career.

[00:09:53] Because on June 11th, 1990, he pitched his sixth no hitter.

[00:09:59] And just a month later, he would win his 300th game.

[00:10:02] But in September 1990, one of the most iconic moments happened in his

[00:10:07] career when big hitter Bo Jackson hit a one hopper back to Nolan

[00:10:11] Ryan that hit him in the face, giving a gash in his lip that required six stitches.

[00:10:17] But he continued to pitch with blood on his face, intimidating every hitter

[00:10:23] from then on if they already weren't intimidated by his great power.

[00:10:28] But in his final year of baseball

[00:10:31] in 1993 is arguably more iconic than the bloody face game that he pitched.

[00:10:37] When Robin Ventura was hit by one of his fastballs,

[00:10:41] he stormed the mound and tried to attack

[00:10:44] Nolan Ryan, who was 20 years his senior.

[00:10:47] And Nolan just stood his ground and was able to get Robin in a headlock

[00:10:52] and punched the top of his head after the fight.

[00:10:55] Ventura was ejected and Ryan stayed

[00:10:57] in the game, retiring 12 of the last 13 men he faced.

[00:11:01] But just a month later, September 22nd,

[00:11:04] 1993, while pitching a game in Seattle, it would be his last he ever pitched

[00:11:10] because while in the first inning he heard a pop and he had torn his

[00:11:15] ligament in his right elbow, which is very common for pitchers

[00:11:19] they use the Tommy John surgery for.

[00:11:21] But by this point, being in his 40s,

[00:11:24] he knew it was time to hang everything up.

[00:11:27] And in 1999, he would be inducted

[00:11:29] into Cooperstown as he was a first ballot Hall of Famer, as he still

[00:11:33] leads the majors strikeouts, walks, no hitters.

[00:11:37] And despite all of that, he never won a Cy Young award and only had one

[00:11:44] World Series championship back when he began his career as a reliever with the

[00:11:48] Mets, but he didn't stay away from baseball for long.

[00:11:51] As in 2008, he became the president

[00:11:54] of the Texas Rangers and has become an idol for many pitchers.

[00:11:58] Just like Sandy Koufax was for him.

[00:12:00] And I want to thank Jacoby Manuel for suggesting this topic from Twitter.

[00:12:06] And if you want to have a topic done on this show, all you have to do is leave us

[00:12:10] a review wherever you're listening, give us your name and the topic you want.

[00:12:14] And we'll give a show just for you

[00:12:16] and come back tomorrow for more daily sports history.

[00:12:21] And did you catch today's answer for the trivia question?

[00:12:26] Did you catch the answer to the trivia question today?

[00:12:32] What?

[00:12:34] What U.S. founding father

[00:12:36] is Nolan Ryan related to?

[00:13:14] And the answer is John Hancock.