Nolan_Ryan

5,714 He is one of baseball's pitching legends. A member of Baseball's Hall of Fame, he is the all-time career strikeout leader in major league baseball with 5,714 strikeouts. He is the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven. He is a member of the 300 club, an eight-time All-Star, World Series champion, and his number is retired by three teams. He was nicknamed "The Ryan Express". This man is none other than Nolan Ryan. His birthname is Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. Nolan was born on January 31st, 1947 in Refugio, Texas. He was the youngest of six children. Even as a young child he enjoyed throwing stuff at objects, so his father thought baseball would be a great sport for Nolan. He started playing Little League baseball when he was nine-years-old, and pitched his first no-hitter a few years later. In his senior year of high school he posted a 20-4 record, batted .700 in a state tournament, and was put on the All-State team. Nolan was drafted by the New York Mets out of high school in the 1965 free-agent draft. He played in the West Carolinas League beginning on September 11, 1966. It was during this time his fellow players noticed his outstanding fastball, and also his lack of control. He would have both of these through the rest of his career. His Minor League days were short lived, as he was called up by the Mets at the end of the '66 season, and was the second-youngest player in the league (he would retire the oldest player in the league). He gave up his first home run to Joe Torre. His performance was less than the club had expected of him as he was often homesick, and was sent back to the minor leagues for the '67 season because he couldn't find the strike zone. He Married his high school sweetheart, Ruth, in 1968 and she moved in with him in New York City which eased his homesickness. Nolan's performance was much better that year and he would never see the minor leagues again. Despite his talent, he couldn't crack into the talented '69 Mets starting rotation. He instead was used as a spot-starter and relief pitcher. He got his first post season win against the Braves in the NLCS throwing seven innings of relief. In Nolan's only World Series appearance of his career, he pitched 2⅓ shutout innings, saving game three against the Baltimore Orioles. Nolan was becoming increasingly frustrated with New York and requested to be traded in 1971. In one of the most upsetting trades in Mets history he was traded to the Angels. With the Angels he would earn a spot in the starting rotation. In his first season with the Angels he struck out a League-leading 329 strikeouts, and posted a 2.28 ERA. On July 9th, 1972 he struck out three batters on nine pitches. He made his first MLB record when he struck out 383 batters, breaking Sandy Koufax's short-lived record by one. Nolan Ryan signed a contract with the Huston Astros after becoming a free-agent in 1979, becoming the first pitcher to make over a million dollars a year. He went to Huston in order to be closer to his family and birthplace in Texas. On April 12th, he hit a 3-run home run off of future Hall-of-Famer Don Sutton. On July 4th that year he made his 3,000th strikeout. He broke another one of Koufax's records on September 26, 1981, when he threw his fifth no-hitter, and later posted a 1.69 ERA for the season. After filing for free-agency in 1988, Nolan signed with the Texas Rangers. On August 22, 1989 he struck out Rickey Henderson for his 5,000th career strikeout, the first and only pitcher to achieve such a number. In 1990 Nolan Ryan pitched his sixth no-hitter on June 11th, and picked up his 300th win on July 31st. Rickey Henderson broke a major league record when he stole his 939th career base on May 1st, 1991, but was overshadowed when Nolan Ryan pitched his seventh career no-hitter at age 44. On August 4th 1993, after hitting Robin Ventura with a pitch, Ventura threw down his helmet and charged the mound after Ryan, who put Ventura into a headlock and began punching Ventura in the head. This scene caught the medias attention and was aired on TV all across the country. Before the '93 season began, Nolan Ryan had announced he would retire at the end of the season. Then on September 22nd he tore his ligament with only two starts left in the season. He threw one more pitch after his injury recorded at 98MPH. He retired with another MLB record, playing in 27 seasons. After retiring Ryan became a business man, in baseball of course. He owns the Texas Rangers AA and AAA affiliate minor league teams. He is president of the Texas Rangers as well. He also owns a restaurant in Three Rivers, Texas. He had a heart attack in April 2000, and received a double coronary bypass surgery. Nolan Ryan has a junior high school and expressway named after him. He had a very long and enduring legacy. He is one of the most well-known power-pitchers. His fastball was too much for most batters to handle. he frequently reached 100MPH even into his forties. His fastball got him a lot of his strikeouts but at a cost, his lack of control also bought him 2,795 walks, 50% more than any other pitcher. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 receiving 98.2% of the vote. Basically, he is simply one of the best there ever was.