Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Ryan pitched for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. After his retirement in 1993, Ryan served as chief executive officer (CEO) of the Texas Rangers and an executive advisor to the Houston Astros. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999,[1] and is widely considered to be one of the greatest MLB pitchers of all time.
Ryan was a right-handed pitcher who consistently threw pitches that were clocked above 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). He maintained this velocity throughout his pitching career, being known as one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball into his mid-40s. Ryan was also known to throw a devastating 12–6 curveball at exceptional velocity for a breaking ball.[2]
Ryan had a lifetime win–loss record of 324–292 (.526) and was an eight-time All-Star. He has 5,714 career strikeouts, an MLB record[1] that is 839 more than runner-up Randy Johnson. Similarly, Ryan's 2,795 bases on balls lead second-place Steve Carlton by 962 – walking over 50% more hitters than any other pitcher in MLB history. Ryan's lifetime batting average against of .204 is also a major league record. Ryan, Pedro Martínez, Randy Johnson, Trevor Hoffman, and Sandy Koufax are the only five pitchers inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame who had more strikeouts than innings pitched. Ryan is one of three players in history to have his number retired by at least three teams, along with Jackie Robinson (whose number was retired by Major League Baseball) and Frank Robinson.
Ryan is the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven, three more than any other pitcher. He is tied with Bob Feller for the most one-hitters, with 12. Ryan also pitched 18 two-hitters. Despite this, he never pitched a perfect game, nor did he ever win a Cy Young Award; both were largely attributed to his high walk rate. Ryan is one of only 31 players in baseball history to have appeared in MLB games in four different decades.
^ abPitching Splits and Daily Pitching Logs at Retrosheet and Baseball-Reference.com.
^Bill James; Rob Neyer (2004). The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers. New York: Fireside. pp. 382–383. ISBN 0-7432-6158-5.
Lynn NolanRyan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over...
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dominance on the part of the pitcher and failure on the part of the batter. NolanRyan has the most career strikeouts in Major League Baseball. During a record...
winning team, signing nearby Alvin, Texas native NolanRyan to the first million-dollar-a-year deal. Ryan had four career no-hitters already and had struck...
strikeout record several times between 1982 and 1984, before his contemporary NolanRyan passed him. One of his most remarkable records was accounting for nearly...
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher NolanRyan. He was a pitcher in minor league baseball, and currently serves as the CEO of Ryan-Sanders Baseball Inc., which...
record, at 3,508. That record fell in 1982 to NolanRyan, who was then passed by Steve Carlton, before Ryan took the career strikeout record for good at...
but did win three division titles and notably hosted the careers of NolanRyan, Rod Carew, and Reggie Jackson. Under manager Mike Scioscia, they would...
the Rangers. June 11, 1990: NolanRyan threw his sixth no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics. July 30, 1990: NolanRyan earned his 300th win against...
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Johnson credits a session with NolanRyan late in the 1992 season with helping him take his career to the next level; Ryan has said that he appreciated...
NolanRyan Field is a baseball venue located in Kingsville, Texas, and has been the home of the TAMU-Kingsville Javalinas baseball team since 1994. The...
mark of 2,507, until the 1983 season, when three players (Steve Carlton, NolanRyan and Gaylord Perry) finally passed his career total of 3,508. Johnson became...
years on the field they also were able to enjoy the heroics of fireballer NolanRyan, who tossed four of his seven no-hitters as an Angel. He also set several...
two pitchers other than Young have even started as many as 749 games—NolanRyan (773) and Don Sutton (756). Among pitchers expected to be active in the...
became NolanRyan's 5,000th strikeout victim, but Henderson took an odd delight in the occurrence, saying, "If you haven't been struck out by NolanRyan, you're...
the 4.44 mark set by Denny McLain in the 1968 season. Verlander joined NolanRyan and Roger Clemens as the only three American League pitchers in history...
bring the Mets into greatness, much like Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and NolanRyan did in the 1960s. However, all three players succumbed to injury, preventing...
Famer NolanRyan, who was nicknamed "The Ryan Express." Ryan, along with son Reid Ryan and Don Sanders make up the team's ownership group, Ryan Sanders...
least 97. It was a feat previously accomplished just twice, first by NolanRyan in 1990 and then Pedro Martínez in 2000. The 100th win of Scherzer's career...
more than once, including Hall-of-Famers Lefty Grove, Sandy Koufax, and NolanRyan, and active pitchers Chris Sale, Max Scherzer, and Kevin Gausman. Koufax...
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