Ryan, Nolan (Lynn Nolan Jr.)
Baseball
b. Jan 31, 1947, Refugio, TX
Control problems, especially in the early part of his career, and the fact that he played primarily with mediocre teams kept Ryan from having a great won-lost record. But he was still occasionally throwing fastballs at 96 miles an hour in the 1993 season, his last, when he was forty-six years old, and he threw a record seven no-hitters, shattering Sandy Koufax's former record of four.
Ryan joined the NL's New York Mets late in the 1966 season, spent 1967 in the minor leagues, and returned to the Mets in 1968. Used only sporadically in New York, he was traded to the AL's California Angels in 1971.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-hander became a star in California, combining a fastball often clocked at more than 100 miles an hour with a big, breaking curve. He was 19-6 in his first season, leading the league with 9 shutouts and 329 strikeouts in only 284 innings.
He had his only 20-victory seasons with a 21-16 record in 1973 and 22-16 in 1974. Ryan led the AL in strikeouts both years with 383 in 326 innings and 367 in a league-leading 332 innings.
After being limited to 28 starts with a sore arm in 1975, Ryan led the league in strikeouts four years in a row, notching 327 in 1976, 341 in 1977, 260 in 1978, and 223 in 1979, when he also had 5 shutouts to lead the AL. During that period, though, he averaged more than four walks per game and his record was only 62-61.
Ryan was traded to the NL's Houston Astros in 1980. He had an 11-10 record in his first season with Houston and was 11-5 in 1981, when his 1.69 ERA led the league. He was the ERA leader again in 1987 at 2.76 but had only an 8-16 record to show for it. He led the league in strikeouts with 270 that year and again with 228 in 1988.
Ryan then signed with the Texas Rangers of the AL as a free agent. He led that league with 301 strikeouts in 1989 and 232 in 1990. A variety of injuries began to bother him in 1991 and he retired after the 1993 season with a record of just 22-20 over his last three years.
In his 23 major-league seasons, Ryan had a 324-292 record, an average of about 13½ wins and 12½ losses a year, with 61 shutouts and a 3.19 ERA. He struck out 5,712 hitters and walked 2,795 in 5,386 innings.