Nolan Ryan speaks about work ethic and dedication in his Hall of Fame induction speech. He also discusses life after baseball. I can’t imagine how difficult that would be, to dedicate your life to a single profession, and one day walk away from it.
On April 28, 1961, Milwaukee Braves pitcher Warren Spahn threw his second no-hitter against the Giants at County Stadium. This feat made him the second-oldest pitcher in history to throw a no-hitter, at the age of 40 years and 5 days. At the time, the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter had been Cy Young, at 41 years old. That spot is now held by Nolan Ryan, who threw a no-hitter at the age of 44 on May 1, 1991.
Every hitter likes fastballs, just like everybody likes ice cream. But you don’t like it when someone’s stuffing it into you by the gallon. That’s what it feels like when Nolan Ryan’s thrown balls by you.
~Reggie Jackson
One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.
~Nolan Ryan
On August 22, 1989, Nolan Ryan threw a 96 mph fastball to strike out Rickey Henderson — the 5,000th strikeout of his career. Over the course of the game, Ryan struck out 13 batters and gave up only five hits, but still ended up losing to Oakland 2-0. To this day, Nolan Ryan remains the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to strike out 5,000 batters (5714 total). Coming in second is Randy Johnson, with 4,875 strikeouts.
On this day in 1973 in Kansas City, Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan threw his first no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Royals. It would be the first of seven no-hitters that Ryan would throw over the course of his career — a Major League record. His second no-no would come only two months later against the Tigers in Detroit.
