Title: Strikeout Kings- Nolan Ryan
LillyRocks - August 10, 2007 10:32 PM (GMT)
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| Pitching- it's what defines baseball in many circumstances. Without the pitcher, baseball would lose it's core. Baseball would have no support; with that- no runs could be scored, no pitches would be thrown and no games could be decided. Pitchers are an ultimate component of baseball, and sports alike. And what better idea to add to the pitching toolbox than a strikeout. Ah, the beauty. Wether it's a fastball you whiff on down the middle to a curveball that paints the corner, strikeouts are the ultimate way to define a game. And that's what these players did-- they equiped themselves with a unique arsenal of pitches, some unique, others just unhittable, and crafted them into the ultimate pitch. These five baseball players I am writing about defined what we know as "strike outs". The greatest strikeout pitcher to ever stand on a Major League mound. His name? Nolan Ryan. His game? Anything to get the opposing player out; prefferably with a strike three. And strike out batters he did. Nolan Ryan set an all time Major League Baseball record with a total of 5,714. He wore several different major league jerseys, but everywhere he went he continued to amaze crowds and the media. Nolan Ryan grew up in Alvin, Texas; a suburb of Houston, Houston which is the same city Ryan would go on to play 8 years in. As a youngster, Ryan enjoyed throwing anything he could; apples, baseballs or anything in a spherical shape at a live or imaginary target. His father began to notice his son's behavior and pleaded to Nolan to sign up for the local little league team. He did so, and started playing baseball at the age of nine. Several years later, Ryan did what he would do several more times- throw a no hitter. Nolan Ryan was put on this earth to pitch, and he had discovered his newfound talent. After his high school graduation, Ryan decided it was time to prove himself in a proffesional limelight. He signed with the New York Mets to begin his playing career in the big apple. He was immediately assigned to a minor league team, which was named the Marion Mets from Marion, Virginia. Nolan Ryan conditioned hard and motivated himself to become great, and was shortly called up to the major league level.  Nolan Ryan was impressive as a youngster, but according to Met's managers and fans he "lacked control". Ryan was later traded to the California Angels. But, the critics would start to dump pressure and stress on to Ryan, who was then the second youngest player in the majors. (He would retire as the oldest player to play the game) Nolan Ryan had a decent major league stint, but would be sent back down to the minors in 1967. The reason? Nolan Ryan had trouble finding the strike zone. Many critics have stated that Ryan had the most uncontrollable major league baseball careers, as he would hit many batters whilst pitching. Nolan Ryan did not stay a major leaguer until the year 1968. However, he played for the Mets, and if you may remember correctly, they had an astounding pitching rotation. The rotation you may ask? Well it included superstars Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. Nolan Ryan was sent to the bullpen and made a pack of fabulous relief appearances. Ryan made some of the best playoff performances of his career as a New York Met. He threw 7 innings of scoreless baseball in the NLCS that year against the Braves, and 2 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball in the World Series against Baltimore. In 1970, Nolan Ryan would reach the record books for the first time. He had now cracked the Mets starting pitching rotation, and looked solid in terms of striking hitters out. His record was set on April 18th, where he tied a Mets record with fifteen strikeouts, only to view it be broken four days later by Tom Seaver. A year later, Nolan Ryan began to crack under the pressure of being in the city of New York. He had a 10-14 record and had been contemplating and discussing retiring from the game of baseball. He asked that the management trade him away to another team, and that is what the Mets did. Nolan Ryan then became a California Angel. In his first year under the sweltering California sun, Nolan Ryan applied himself to greatest. Ryan led the Majors with a whopping 329 strikeouts, which was almost a third more of anything close to that number. He also posted an amazing 2.28 earned run average that year, and looked a lot better than he did as a New York Met. He sure hit the strike zone well in the year of 1972, many would agree. The Angels, however, were just starting out as a baseball dynasty. They failed to post sucsessful numbers on the wins chart, and were a sub .500 team for most of Ryan's term there. Ryan did manage to post several winning seasons, going 19-16 in 1972 which was his first year, 21-16 in 1973 and 22-16 in 1974.  Nolan Ryan holds the all-time record for most career strikeouts. Nolan Ryan would set several milestone records that have yet to be touched or dreamed about by anybody wearing a major league uniform. On July 9th, 1972 Nolan Ryan found himself facing the Boston Red Sox. In the 2nd inning, Ryan looked excellent, striking out the side on nine pitches. (That is the minimum amount of pitches you could throw to strike out the side) That had been done before, but Ryan would later do it again in the National League. A year later Nolan Ryan struck out 383 hitters in just one season, breaking Sandy Koufax's record by one too many whiffs. His fastball had even been clocked out 100.9 miles per hour against the Chicago White Sox. Ryan proved to be a profound pitcher, being unhittable on several occasions in California. He threw a total of four no hitters in a California Angels jersey. He dueled out Sandy Koufax yet again, topping some of Sandy's no-hit records. Nolan Ryan would pitch eight years as an Angel, and would be a free agent after the eighth. (Even though the Angels finally made the playoffs, only to be eliminated in the championship series) However, Ryan's immediate sucsess and media attention did not win over the Angel's manager Buzzie Bavasi, who was not in to Nolan's new found hype and glory. Bavasi let Ryan go in to the free agent market after a 16-14 season which Bavasi didn't find glorious. After hearing word about the massive contract Ryan signed with Houston, Bavasi wasn't impressed saying "I only need to get two 8-7 pitchers and he is replaced".  Nolan Ryan became an Astro after signing the MLB's first ever million dollar contract. Nolan Ryan's contract was ludricous for the year he signed it. He became the first baseball player to ever receive a contract of 1 million dollars. As a Houston Astro Nolan Ryan was in the prime of his career. He recorded his 3,000th strikeout in 1979. Nolan would taste the sweet feel of October as an Astro in 1980, but was stopped short by only a game. Ryan played decently in the NLCS, arguably causing the Astros to lose two of the games. A year later Nolan Ryan would throw yet another no hitter. In 1981 Nolan Ryan would pitch a two-hit shutout against Los Angeles in the NLDS to outlast Fernando Valenzuela, and pick up his last career win in the postseason. Ryan left his childhood hometown in 1988 due to a contract dispute with the Astro's management. He wouldn't leave the state, and would become a Texas Ranger. He had a sub-par career in Arlington, going 16-10 in his first season. He also struck out 301 batters that year. On August 22nd Nolan Ryan struck out Oakland superstar Rickey Henderson to become the first ever to pitcher to get to 5,000 strikeouts. Henderson commented in the post game by saying "If he ain't struck you out, then you ain't nobody". If that was true, then 5,713 more baseplayers were 'somebody'. In 1990 Nolan Ryan threw his sixth career no hitter and picked up his 300th career win while facing the Milwaukee Brewers. Rickey Henderson also stole his 939th base against Ryan, but that was overlooked as in that game Ryan threw his 7th career no hitter. Before the 1993 season, Nolan Ryan announced his retirement.  The brawl with Robin Ventura turned out to be one of the highest points of Ryan's career. August 14th of that year was a high point for Nolan Ryan. He was caught in a brawl between him and White Sox player Robin Ventura. Ventura was hit by a pitch and charge after Nolan, but would be captured in a headlock by Nolan Ryan and received six punches to the head. Catcher Ivan Rodriguez broke up the fight quickly, and the White Sox manager and Ventura were ejected while Ryan, who did not move from his spot on the mound, was not. Nolan Ryan had a durable arm from throwing those strikeouts and 100 MPH fastballs, and his arm would eventually dull out and give away. It gave out against the Seattle Mariners on September 22nd, which was two starts away from expected. Ryan threw one more pitch, which was clocked at an impressive 98 MPH, but Ryan's career was over. He pitched one more game but gave up five runs without recording an out. Ryan has been the head of numerous criticisms. A noted flaw by many people was his wildness on the mound as a pitcher. He surrendered 2,795 career walks and threw a terrible 277 wild pitches in his career, which would be much higher than any other pitcher. Another critic note of Ryan is that he never won a Cy Young award in his career. He only played in eight all star games, and his 292 career losses give him the 3rd all time highest. But aside from the criticisms, Nolan Ryan is the all time strike out pitcher. He had a commanding fastball and a nice breaking curveball. He had a wonderful arsenal of pitches, and was always constructing on his pitch toolbox. He turned into a magnificent pitcher, and made opposing managers slump in the dugouts from embarrasment. Ryan's pitches were absolutely nasty, and that's what makes Nolan Ryan a "Strike Out King". |