Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan -
Born: January 31, 1947 in Refugio, TX
College: Alvin Junior College
Bats: R Throws: R

Born the youngest of six children, Nolan Ryan first developed his intimidating fastball at Alvin High School in Alvin, Texas. During this time, Ryan was also known for hitting and walking batters. This plagued him in high school and continued into his early major league career.

Ryan broke into the Big Leagues with the New York Mets in 1968. He pitched in New York for just over four up-and-down seasons. He was then traded to the California Angels, where he took off. Ryan won 19 games his first year with the Angels, then 21 and 22 the next two years. He left the Angels after eight years to return to his native Texas to pitch for the Houston Astros. He played there, continuing to strike fear in batters, for nine years. As a free agent in 1989, Ryan signed with the Texas Rangers and there he played the last five years of his career.

Even beyond the age of 40, he was getting the ball up to the 100-mph mark. Ryan’s career ended on September 22, 1993 when he tore a ligament in his arm. It is said that as he tried to play through the injury, Ryan threw one more pitch that, even with the torn ligament, was clocked at 98 mph. Spanning a record setting 27 seasons, Ryan accumulated a mind-blowing 5,714 strikeouts, had six years with 300 strikeouts or more, blanked teams for a total of seven no-hitters, amassed 324 wins, and walked 2,795 batters. In contrast, Ryan also topped the all-time base on balls record for pitchers with 2,795 walks.