Nolan Ryan may be remembered as the greatest pitcher of all times. Ryan shares his favorite memories of his baseball career, which happened to be Little League.
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. is a former American right-handed pitcher who played in a major league record 27 seasons for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers, from 1966 to 1993.
Ryan, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, threw pitches that were regularly recorded above 100 mph, even past the age of 40. The media tagged him, or more specifically his pitching, as “The Ryan Express” (a reference to the 1965 film Von Ryan’s Express).
Ryan was an eight-time MLB All-Star, and his 5,714 career strikeouts rank first in baseball history. He leads the runner-up by over 1,000 strikeouts as of early in the 2007 season. The pitcher in second place as of early 2007 varies between Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson, who are both active and who are both over the 4,600-strikeout mark. 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 Major League history.
Ryan is also 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.
| Nolan Ryan | |||
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Ryan with the Texas Rangers in 1990
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| Pitcher | |||
| Born: January 31, 1947 Refugio, Texas |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 11, 1966, for the New York Mets | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 22, 1993, for the Texas Rangers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 324–292 | ||
| Earned run average | 3.19 | ||
| Strikeouts | 5,714 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
MLB records
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| Member of the National | |||
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Inducted | 1999 | ||
| Vote | 98.8% (first ballot) | ||
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