Nolan Ryan is also the only MLB player that responded to my fan mails in the early 90's and sent me an autographed picture with a note apologizing for the delay in writing back to me due to many fan mails!!! I still have it.
I will never forget when that idiot charged Ryan. If Ryan hits you, you tip your hat say "thank you sir, it has been an honor for my ribs to touch a ball that you have touched," and take your damn base.
There's another record Ryan has: He struck a number of fathers & sons in his career. Show me where the same pitcher has struck out a father and later their son in the same career.
Jack Morris struck out Hal McRae and Brian. It's more common than you think.That's what I was pointing out. Ryan might have the distinction of doing it the most
I agree. I saw him pitch in person when he was in Houston. I had a seat right behind home plate, and for three innings, I never saw the ball. I heard him grunt, and then the pop of the ball in the catcher's mitt. Guys are throwing the ball harder now, but nobody has thrown the ball harder, for longer than Nolan Ryan. The narrator makes a good case for Ryan as the best pitcher in the history of MLB. Some pitchers were almost as good for a few years, none were ever so good, so consistently, for so long.
Roy Doughty I agree, I grew up watching baseball in the 70s and 80s and Nolan Ryan was a man of no comparison. He is the best, well rounded baseball pitcher that the American public will ever see.
Roy Doughty actually, no one has thrown faster than Nolan Ryan. There is a documentary called Fastball which explains that in details. Nolan has the fastest fastball of all time.
I agree with you, I had season tickets and it is like you said, you hear the grunt and the pop on the mitt. I have never seen a my thing like it. He can still throw heat, maybe not quite as fast. He threw out the first pitch at the Astros home opener and it was a strike. Also, talking about cattle ranching the man would enter the cutting horse competition every year at the Houston livestock show and rodeo.
Guys are not throwing the ball harder now.As this guy said,if they clocked Ryan's fastball now it would probably be at 106 mph. Ryan was The best fastball pitcher ever.
His 7th no-hitter happened @ 44 years old.....Incredible...........This must be a record by itself............Loved it when he beat the piss out of Robin Ventura.
Not really a line drive. Bo Jackson chopped a ball about a foot in front of home plate. It was rather weakly hit. Nolan just misplayed the ball. He got Bo out, let's not be crazy, but it was NOT a line drive.
On a whim, needing something to do that evening, and being in town (Alameda) to visit my Mom during a college spring break road trip from Seattle to L.A...my buddy Bill and I took a ride over to the coliseum (in Oakland) for an A's game that night. Not knowing (or caring) who the opponent was, we bought the cheapest bleacher seats we could, gobbled down the rest of our cash in hot dogs and beer, and proceeded to watch one of the most memorable baseball games I'll ever see. By the ninth inning, the normally UBER-loyal center-field bleacher seat fans, along with yours truly, were standing and cheering "NOLAN!-NOLAN!-NOLAN!"...as this magnificently smooth flame thrower mowed down the Bash Brothers...and everyone else they sent...one after another...seemingly effortlessly. It was the greatest pitching I've ever seen in my life. I doubt I'll ever see it again. It looked like he was playing catch. - I am a witness to his greatness...the sixth no hitter. - Sometimes, God smiles on you...on a whim.
Agree! Watched him many times live when he was an Astro. When he was warming up the pop you would hear of his pitches hitting the mitt was like no other. My favorite Baseball player of all time.
I took my young daughter to a Rangers game and we sat in row 16, inside first base, she wanted to know what the sound was when he pitched you could hear the ball humming on the way home
Ryan played against in golden era of baseball in 60s- 70s to early 90s facing Hall of Famer hitters like Brett, Schmidt, Rose, Carew, Reggie Jackson, Tony Gwynn, Ryne Sandberg, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Robin Yount, Cal Ripken Jr. , Frank Thomas, Dave WInfield, Hank Aaron, and many others
He also credits Bo Jackson for saving him from asphyxiation during the Ventura fight. Bo came through throwing players off of the man pile that was above Nolan.
Agreed. I’ve watched that entire Ventura smack down many times and the incomparable Mr. Nolan Ryan did not have a busted lip. Nolan Ryan is 100% Texan, works harder than those half his age and has no problem throwing down with an over confident 26 year old. Put Ventura in a headlock, 6 shots to the head before his teammates arrived, and right back to work doing what he does.
If you ever redo this video, you should add his 1981 season. He led the NL in ERA by a wide margin, but was denied the Cy Yound Award by Fernandomania. 1.69 ERA and no Cy, seriously? Nolan Ryan was the only pitcher I ever hear of whose velocity increased in the late innings. He was amazing.
the1eggman1 / HEY,,, Fernando blew his arm . Rotator cuff. He never got the operation because of its poor success results. Noone said he had a better career. I like how you jumped from "Ryan should have beet Fernando" to Ryan is better ALL TIME. Everybody can see you do that. YOU LOSE .
When you compare Ryan's lifetime stats to players whose careers were much shorter, you get the G.O.A.T. Ryan had great mechanics and just plain out threw all of his competition and certainly makes these guys today look like chumps. He pitched entire games consistently for a very long time...something that is not even heard of today.
The "jujitsu" off the top of your head stinjks! Although he may have been just above .500, he faced the best of the best for nearly 3 decades and somehow was just above .500 with 222 complete games. That's a nice list of pitchers, but a couple of the guys were from the dead ball era...who cares about them anyway? They had no reason to throw 100 mph fastballs back then. Ryan was the premier fb pitcher of his time. Regardless he holds a slew of records that won't be broken. Keep preaching though because it makes you feel better. Btw, Ryan played longer than all of those guys you jujitsu'd
Another amazing Nolan Ryan stat : June 14, 1974: California Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan throws 235 pitches during his 13-inning effort against the Boston Red Sox .
I saw him pitch when he was in high school (Alvin, Texas). My eyes got pretty big when I snuck behind the backstop and watched him warm up. I enjoyed seeing him pitch in the majors. Not just an amazing heater; his curve buckled hitters and his change up embarrassed them. His career Ks will never be broken. Good man, great pitcher, should've won several Cy Young awards.
I'm 57 years old, and I've been saying this same thing for a very long time. Underrated, unnoticed, and under-appreciated. By the way - I'm a lifelong NY Yankees fan so this opinion is totally unrelated to my rooting interests. Ryan was a freak of nature.
Seven no hitters, a World Series ring, almost 6,000 strike outs...and helped get the Rangers to the World Series two years in a row (as an exec). Just all around awesome.
Nolan Ryan is the GOAT! I remember when I was a kid going to an Astros game when I heard the catchers mitt make a loud pop, after hearing a loud grunt by Ryan and thought WOW this guy is beyond human! I did see times on the radar that clocked 103, so for sure now days he would still be king!
Ryan also holds another rather obscure record that, in today's game of relief pitchers and starters pitching 7 innings, is highly unlikely to be broken, unless Sidd Finch turns up again: Complete games pitched, surrendering 2 or fewer hits and 0 runs while striking out at least 9 batters. In other words, games of nearly utter dominance on the mound. Jim Maloney (!) of the Cincinnati Reds pitched 15 such games in his career, which is good for second place in all of MLB history. Sandy Koufax is in third place with 11 such games. Some of the others in the elite club: Randy Johnson 10. Billy Pierce and Rick Wise 9. Ferguson Jenkins 8. Dave Stieb, Gaylord Perry, and Mike Mussina 7. Camilo Pascual, David Cone, and Justin Verlander 6. Those are the only other players since 1930 with more than 5 such games. Except for... ... Nolan Ryan, who pitched 27 such games of such utter dominance, more than the next two players, Maloney and Koufax, combined. It's tough to find career stats in which the leader holds more occurrences than the 2nd and 3rd place players combined. (Such as Rickey Henderson's record of 19 games stealing 4 or more bases.)
How many walks did he give up in those games? Imagine if this cowpoke actually improved, like another guy with a pretty good fastball, sandy koufax, did?
@@sludge4125 Imagine if Sandy Koufax didn't flame out after 10 years and was able to pitch even half as long as Ryan. If you look at his career, it's impossible to say he didn't improve from where he was early on. He had no breaking ball, and by the time he finished his curve was just as devastating as the heater. I'm not in agreement that he was the best pitcher ever -- Seaver, Maddux, Spahn, Pedro, etc. all had better performances on a regular basis to help their team win. The one thing Ryan never considered changing was the willingness to take something off a pitch just to avoid walking a batter. He always gave max effort, never worried about holding baserunners, and that often hurt his chances of winning games against good teams that would exploit that. But no one will ever be as unhittable as him. Ever. The way the game is going and how pitchers are brought up now, there's literally no chance of his records ever being broken. Can you imagine a guy pitching 12 innings with 235 pitches today, then coming back on 3 days rest to start with another 5 innings that game? Once in a lifetime player.
Thomas, he’s the most durable pitcher ever!!! Game? Check. Season? Check. Career? Check. He throws as hard in the 9th as he does in the first. He’s probably the most unique pitcher in history. And he doesn’t take any crap from young ones who want to visit him on the mound.
Yeah the Cy Young award has the unfortunate influence of the team's performance added to those that make the call. In Ryan's case his record was weak compared to say Jim Palmer in 73 because he went 22-16 rather than 23-9. I think the only pitcher that overcame that deficiency was Steve Carlton circa 1970 when he went 27-10 with a crappy Phillies squad. There really can be no doubt that Ryan is untouchable as the greatest pitcher of all time.
Glad you clarified how pitches are timed at the pitcher today and closer to the plate during Ryans day. You probably know about the documentary I think on Netflix called "Fastball" in which Ryan is shown to have thrown faster than Chapman. Maybe you mentioned it. Nice work
I had the pleasure to see him pitch 3 times when he would come to Philly in the 80's..I remember getting his autograph before a game when I was 14.I was so excited.And I can still remember him laughing like it's no big deal..He was the king of cool..
Don't forget that Nolan Ryan played for the terrible Angles. They averaged 2 runs per game in his losses. How would Koufax or any other pitcher do without run support? Imagine if he played for a team that dominated baseball for 10 - 15 years. Don't forget that ages 44 and 46 he pitched no hitters. How many pitchers on the over 40 list pitched equaled that? NONE, he was the best. When doing comparisons make sure to compare apple to apple. :-)
My college roommate was Mr Ryan next door neighbor... I did not know baseball... but met him ...he took 2 tank top short short coeds home for " cookies" ( This baseball mega star with countless groupies saw us as " little girls" ..) His gorgeous and charming wife fed us and refused him sweets ( fyi? His interest in us coeds? Was to con baked goods from his beloved wife) He was the ultimate gentleman, obviously adored his wife and was one of the few men whose head we never turned in the 80s lol... a few yrs later I got to see him pitch one of his last games... he was in his 40s? Shut out seven innings..took two boys half his age to finish the game.... my ( then fiancée, father of our five) almost died of embarrassment as I cheered " go Mr Ryan! You're the greatest Mr Ryan!" ....he will always be the awesome " Mr Ryan" to me...!
Just to offer something against Ryan being considered the greatest here.. His record was only .526 win percent and its very true that it is because he played on mediocre at best teams most years of his career.. teams that did not score runs. The flip side of that argument is there is a reason those teams did not score runs beyond just being bad. The fact is that Ryan spend the vast vast majority of his career pitching in extreme pitcher parks. His massive walk totals early in his career could have been disastrous had he been pitching in a place like ... say... Boston but by pitching with the Angels during that time he could get away with it. The Astrodome in Houston was even more extreme benefiting pitchers. I'll give some examples.. His Career ERA in Fenway Park was 4.92, in Comiskey Park was 5.35, Veterans Stadium 5.52.. these are hitters parks. Having said all this I still personally believe Ryan was the greatest but this is just meant as an arguement why he may not have always been looked at as the greatest by some.
Great video!! I remember the Ventura fight when it happened!! I loved it then, and I still love it today!!! It’s hard to argue against Ryan being the best pitcher ever!
Whether Ryan was the greatest or not, he will always be my favorite MLB player of all time. As a SoCal boy from the OC, it was not uncommon to see me at "Anaheim" Stadium the day he ptiched. Story goes one umpire was calling one his games and called a strike on the batter. Batter turned and asked the umpire how he could tell if it was a strike. The umpire's response, "It sounded like one."
@@mickeydrago9401 The umpire Ron Luciano, in one of his books, admitted that he couldn't keep up with Ryan's fastball; sometimes, the ball would disappear on its way to the plate and he'd have to guess the call from where the catcher's glove was. So I guess Ryan was hard to hit.
@@soaringvulture No guessing required, of 27 years he led the league 12 times in the least amount of hits given up per 9 Innings and he has the record for least hits given up per game in a career with 6.6...
@@soaringvulture Aroldis Chapman is much harder to hit but he doesn't pitch that much so his data won't be considered records, currently giving up five hits per game and striking out 15 per game as I just looked up his career numbers, nice well-rounded numbers by the luck of it
Great video and I agree 100% with all the information in your video. I really believe Nolan would have been closer to 350 wins if he would have played for better teams that actually scored runs for him. I was lucky enough to see him pitch 15 times over the years including a game against Chicago in 1992. He pitched 10 innings, gave up 3 hits, 16 K's and 1 unearned run.....for a NO Decision. But you never heard him complain or run his teammates down for a lack of run support. We may will never see a talent and class act like Nolan Ryan again. Thanks for the video!
@@bedfordsimon8 Winfield's punch didn't even connect and Nolan said after the game if it had landed he realized he could have really been hurt and up until that time he had never challenged anyone charging the mound and after that he did. So Nolan didn't even challenge Winfield. But if he had in the future Ryan would have probably decked him.
@@mitchwall52 winfield pounded ryan a half dozen times while nolan turtled, winfield was nfl sized , he was drafted by the nba and nfl and was a huge man who cleaned ryans clock, beat him badly and ryan as an astro stop throwing inside for a while, he was a mediocre .500 pitcher and not some tough guy, even venturra slammed him to the ground in their fight
@@simonjames1604 lol not according to the video. But you believe what you want and there wasn't a mark on Ryan in the post game interview when he told what happened and Ryan could throw a 600 pound steer . He wasn;t afraid of winfield.
@@mitchwall52 i watched it when it happened live, ryan turtled the whole time and mattingly mashed him on his hiead several times until the umps bailed him out
I'm 37 years old and Nolan Ryan was only around for only maybe 8 years when I really got interested in baseball but he is my favorite player of all time much respect to Nolan Ryan
Have always been a fan of Ryan’s. Saw him in County Stadium some time back in the 80s. He struck out 12 Brewers in 9 innings. I never knew they changed the way they measure the speed of a pitch to the advantage of today’s pitchers. Learned something from watching your video. Thanks.
To me...the stat that should matter MOST for a pitcher for career is batting average against. And the all time leader is like being the all time GAA leader for hockey...and those guys are always considered the top all time. SO that, plus strikeouts, PLUS NO HITTERS....easy. Ryan #1
Fkn allah, you can’t be that stupid. Please tell me you aren’t as stupid as you appear. The boy averaged one game over .500 a year. Being near or leading the league every year in walks, wild pitches, and errors by a pitcher doesn’t matter, when deciding greatness? Plus, he had a lousy pickoff move. Only morons cherrypick one stat and claim it’s the end all for arguments. Go back to your crocheting, and leave baseball for us knowledgeable people.
@@sludge4125 lol. wow. hurt your feelings did we? dont be a bitch bro. you got beat. just own it and move on. i'd be happy to educate you on baseball and sports in general, if you would, like since you seem a bit new. also...one stat? i listed three, lol. you couldnt even get that part right. im going to take a wild guess and say you had a lot of remedial classes...
Thank's a lot for your video, Amazing Guy (Amazing Mets, it's much appreciated)!!!!! That was great info re: the speed of his pitches, I've never heard that info before, and to throw a 98 mile per hour fast ball pitch with his injury, even though he had a real rough outing (which I just missed seeing w/my Dad, got there just after he left, and a heartbroken me told my Dad, let's go, I can't enjoy this at all......) with his injury and other things creeping about that were causing him trouble that night....to finish it off with a legendary 98 mile per hour pitch is incredible, what a competitor/legend!!!!!
What is also amazing is that he was revered by every team he played for unlike today's athletes when they leave teams. I went to his last game in Anaheim in 1993. The Angels were not good that year but that game drew a sellout of 60k. Standing ovation when he walked to the bullpen, standing ovation when he took the mound, and standing ovation when he left. There was not 1 Angels fan there that night!
He was the reason I starting watching base ball in 1970. The day after he pitched I had to read the sports section on the Washington Post to read about and look at his statistics for the game. Got to see him in spring training when he was a member of the Texas Rangers. I remember all of the young hitters shaking their heads because they couldn't catch up to his fast ball. Oh, BTW he was twice their age.
I am so glad I got to meet him once and get his autograph on the same ball with Yogi Berra. Will ALWAYS be in the top 5. I got to experience him pitching in San Diego, sat 2nd row behind on deck circle, incredible display...the grunting, the sound of the ball's flight, the pop of the catcher's mitt, YESSIR!!
He played in the pre-steroid era. By leading the league, or close to it, every year, in walks, wild pitches, and errors by a pitcher, in addition to having a lousy pick off move, he managed to average being one game over .500 a year. This is not to deny his greatness. But, greatest ever?
rdizzy1 Ryan didn’t play in the steroid era. He played mostly in the lower scoring eras. His first real season he played was 1968, the year of the pitcher. His last year was 1993, which was the first year when offenses rose a lot, thanks to PEDs, small strike zones, and maybe juiced balls as well. 1987 was a year of high offenses, and most likely a juiced ball. There was a huge drop once 88’ came. But other than 87’ and 93’, Ryan played in low scoring eras, or average.
The fact that I first got to know Ryan from a n64 game always feels amazing to me. Because he's the only guy who throws a hundred miles per hour. And I use him a lot until I searched who he is and what a great decision. He is a legend.
Chris Wahl it is estimated he threw 108. The radar guns used today record the velocity just after the ball leaves the pitchers hand, the ones they used back in the day recorded the velocity when it got to the plate after air resistance and all that. The exit velocity on Ryan's fastball was estimated to be 108
The Cy Young Award was named after Cy Young after his playing days were over. I assume that would be obvious, however, maybe you believed the name of the award was changed in order to honor Cy Young. Although, your comment may have been a joke.
Loved Nolan Ryan from Game #1. My father told me about him before he ever Played a Game in the Majors. I was 7 Years Old when Nolan pitched his First Game. My father also told me about the Greatest Hockey Player 🏒 to ever play the Game Wayne Gretsky, a Year before the Oilers came into the League. Great Memories, as Long as I hear the Name of Nolan Ryan, I will Constantly be Reminded of my Father!! 👍💯⚾️🙏🔥
I think he was the greatest thrower of all time but not the greatest pitcher. With that said he probably comes very close to being the best pitcher because of the outrageous stats and physical stamina he possessed. He was indeed a freak of nature.
Nolan Ryan was the toughest man I ever saw play baseball. He was just a phenom. I saw him pitch a few times and you would see him go through his wind up and then hear what sounded like a gunshot when the ball hit the catchers mitt.
Sandy Koufax: 12 seasons with 3 seasons where he started less than 15 games (5, 10, and 13 starts) Wins 165 Losses 87 Winning pct .655 ERA - 2.76 Averaged 239.6 K's per year over 10 full seasons 4 No Hitters, 1 Perfect Game 3 Cy Young awards 1 NL MVP award 2 World Series MVP's Led NL in ERA 5 times and MLB 3 times Led MLB in K's 4 times, was 2nd 1 time Led MLB in Wins 3 times Led MLB in Winning pct 2 times, led NL 1 time and was 2nd 1 time His 5 best seasons; 1962 - 14-7 2.54 ERA 1963 - 25-5 1.88 ERA 1964 - 19-5 1.74 ERA 1965 - 26-8 2.04 ERA 1966 - 27-9 1.73 ERA 111 W - 34 L during that span Best 5 season average totals; 22.2 wins - 6.86 losses and a 1.986 ERA Nolan Ryan: 27 seasons - 3 seasons with less than 15 games started (10, 13, and was in only 2 games in '66) Wins 324 Losses 292 Winning pct .526 ERA - 3.19 Averaged 228.56 K's per year in 25 years (not counting '66 and' 93 when he played in only 2 games in '66 and 13 games in '93) 7 No Hitters 0 Cy Youngs 0 MVP's Led the MLB in ERA 1 time. Led MLB in K's 7 times and his league in K's 4 times Did not finish higher than 4th in wins Never finished higher than 5th in Winning Pc His 5 best seasons; 1972 - 19-16 2.28 ERA 1973 - 21-16 2.87 ERA 1974 - 22-16 2.89 ERA 1977 - 19-16 2.77 ERA 1981 - 11-5 1.69 ERA in 21 starts in a strike shortened year (He averaged about 31 starts in his career as a starting pitcher so he could have gone 16-7 in '81 with 31 starts) 92 W - 69 L (98 - 71 with '81 projections) Best 5 season average totals; 18.4 wins - 13.8 losses and a 2.956 ERA (or 19.4 - 14.2 if you include '81 projection totals) Yogi Berra, who holds the MLB record for World Series games played at 75, said this after Koufax and the Dodgers beat the Yankees in game 1 of the 1963 World Series; "I can see how he (Sandy Koufax) won twenty-five games. What I don't understand is how he lost five."
Ha! The Dodgers didn't exactly kill the ball in those days. When Koufax pitched one of his No-Hitters, the team had already sent Don Drysdale ahead of them to the next city on the schedule so he'd be well rested for his next start. They called Drysdale at the hotel where he was staying and told him that Sandy had pitched a no-hitter. Drysdale replied; "yes but did he win?"
Being the "best" is completely subjective, since there are so many styles to consider. Ryan's pitches had the most explosive action, or "stuff", for sure. But, when a pitcher doesn't have stuff like that, then being more creative becomes imperative for success. It's that creative process that determines who's the best pitcher. That's why I liked watching Buehrle and Maddux. If those guys had stuff to go with their command...
In an interview he did while still playing, Ryan said that the record he was most proud of was the 383 strikeouts in 1973. 1973 was the first year of the DH in the AL, so he did it without getting to face the opposing pitcher. How many of Koufax’s 382 victims were pitchers?
sandy koufax was my dads fav player mine were as far as pitchers go id say since clemens was roided up id have t o say nolan is number one and greg maddux is number two as far as my era i never saw bob gibson and i hear koufax had a short career so just my two cents
@@halfogre7843 if u look at post season AND season play u could make a VERY good argument for Bob! 3 for 3 in WORLD SERIES, shut out pitching in two of the three series... and even hit two homers himself! two time MVP in the world series! not to mention 1968, arguably the greatest season ever pitched!
This video should be titled "Very Little Evidence & No Proof That Nolan Ryan Was the Greatest Of All-Time!" These nuggets are nice, but most certainly do not prove Ryan was the best.
Nolan Ryan was so good that they should have an award named after him. I'm not saying rename the Cy Young award but name an award after him, he deserves it.
ryan never won a cy young, so what award would you give to him? the best .500 pitcher in baseball? the guy who walked a lot of people? the guy who pitched a long time? those are some weird awards to give out but suit ryans profile i guess
Walked the most batters in history. Almost 1000 more walks then the #2 pitcher. Threw 277 wild pitches which is 2nd only to a guy who ended his career in 1894. 757 bases were stolen against him. That's 40% more than the pitcher that comes in 2nd. Not counting his rookie season, Ryan led his teams outright in wins only 5 times in 26 seasons. In 11 of his 27 seasons, Ryan had a winning percentage that was LOWER than his teams. He lost more games then anyone except Cy Young. He led the league in ERA twice and one of those seasons was the strike shortened 1981. He finished his career with a .895 fielding percentage, had the most errors by a pitcher since CY Young and is probably the worst post war fielding pitcher ever. To paraphrase someone else, he is one of the most extraordinary pitchers ever, but he is not even close to being the greatest.
clash5j I think we can all agree here that Nolan Ryan has incredible velocity that spanned his whole career with some also great individual statistics that many have cited. Others have cited Khofax and Gibson ad the best pitcher. Let's just appreciate all of these guys and the rich pageant they bring to the game of baseball. We could all sit here for endless hours debating countless statistics while missing the richness of each of the guy's greatness in pitching! Each one is beautiful in his own right; sit and just watch videos pf each one pitching and relish it.
clash5j yes, you are correct in your assessment of this video. It has a bit of a statistical bias for some measures, however does highlight some of his "interesting" facets and wins despite playing on many losing teams.
He played on winning teams as well. I know the Astros won two divisional titles during his nine years there and they had winning records more often than not during the 1980's.
The Braman's - Remember, Nolan is a good ole boy from the South, while Gibson is Black and Koufax was Jewish - both facts won't play well in the South. And don't if you listen to the good ole boys debate Nolan Ryan vs others.
Oh please. Play the race card whenever you get a chance. I'm from Louisiana and am a long time Astro fan. Gibson and Koufax were both better than Ryan. Are you happy? Can't even have a baseball debate without some fool making it political.
You have GOT to include the agelessness of Ryan as well, 27 years in MLB, and he was 47 when he retired, still throwing 90+ mph HEAT!! It don't get no better than that.
Some very good points here. I would like to see some serious discussion about deadball versus post-deadball pitchers. I personally feel that deadball era pitchers had a much greater advantage. Some points against that may be poorer fielding gloves in deadball era, but obviously, there are a lot more extra-base hits and homers in live ball era. As for your main point, I can agree he should be top five, but the number of walks can't be ignored. Would love to see a Top 30-50 list of post-deadball pitchers with a few other factors figured. What about a stat which shows how much a pitcher carried a team, like wins as a percentage of total team wins per season? What about fielding percentage/Golden Glove Awards (Greg Maddux dominated that hands down)? What about the small handful of pitchers that had impressive numbers both as starters AND relievers?
the arguments against him being "the best" are pretty straight forward and easy to understand. 1 he never won a single cy young in 27 years only came close really twice due to some of the obvious glaring weaknesses in his game 2 he walked an average of 6 batters a game and could be hopelessly wild hitting lots of guys and uncorking a ton of wild pitches 3 he was a number 1 pitcher for a very brief period , by 1978 the angels replaced him at number 1 with frank tanana and after that ryan was almost always in the 2 or 3 spot behind guys like mike scott and joe niekro. how can the best ever be pitching in the 2 hole or worse most of his career? 4 he couldnt field, he was god awful and couldnt throw or catch very well . 5 he couldnt control the running game, 8 times he led the league in allowing stolen bases . 6 he never learned. ryan was deemed uncoachable by many even whitey ford said of ryan "he seems to be content to be a thrower and not a pitcher ". Ryan is in the hall because he pitched hard for a long time but thats all he brought to the table. he is a .500 pitcher who never lead a team to playoff greatness and never won a single cy young. thats who he actually was.
I saw a youtube video of someone's Top 10 Pitchers of All - Time where Ryan wasn't listed ? I responded that whomever made the video WAS SMOKING CRACK. I saw him pitch LIVE ! 27 year career, fastest fastball, most K's, lowest BA against and 7 no - hitters....you can't argue with that ! The guy is the best or at least top 5 all time
The Express is my all time favorite pitcher in MLB and you fashioned a great argument on his behalf. Your voice is quite grating on the ears though. 😳😂
Ryan is in the Guinness book for the fastest pitch ever recorded @ 108.4 mph. That demands respect in itself. The rest of the list adds to the intimidation factor. He's my idol. I pitched for 15 years. It's hard to come close to that level of greatness
Woa, nice introduction! I hope you are making some money MakeitWayne on RUclips. You sound like the tens of thousands who review music, cars, movies, voice reactions, etc etc. I know several, some of whom do a really not have to work, must be nice
When Nolan Ryan broke Sandy Koufax's single season strikeout record of 382 in 1973 by a single strikeout to set the record at 383, Koufax mentioned that Ryan gave up a LOT more BBs than he did (162 Ryan / 71 for Koufax) in HIS record setting season in 1965. However, Ryan pitched fewer innings in 1973 than Koufax did in 1965 (326.0 Ryan / 335.2 Koufax). PLUS, Ryan threw his 383 strikeouts in the American League the first year of the DH, while Koufax faced pitchers in the season he threw 382 strikeouts. So, IMO, Ryan's 383 strikeouts in 1973 was FAR more remarkable than Koufax's 382 strikeouts in 1965.
He still has that cattle herd too. They sell Nolan Ryan beef in Kroger here in Texas, and it is great quality. Funny to see that brought up in this video. He has made way more money in the ranch industry than he ever did from baseball. Thats crazy considering he was also the first player to earn $1 million a year too.
Yes! Loved seeing Nolan Ryan pitch. With two strikes on a batter crowd would go crazy wanting the strike out. Number two pitcher all time is Bob feller from my state Iowa.
Dude... Absolutely awesome video!!! I am a die hard White Sox fan, but I am also a die hard baseball fan and Nolan Ryan is my absolute favorite player of all time!!!!
Wait... what about your dad?
The Real Jay Sarz Kent bottenfield = goat
Pedro Martinez was better
PFFFFT!
@@MusicMan3 wrong. go away
@@MusicMan3 not a f****** chance Bryan Martinez wasn't near that good
Nolan Ryan is also the only MLB player that responded to my fan mails in the early 90's and sent me an autographed picture with a note apologizing for the delay in writing back to me due to many fan mails!!! I still have it.
That’s Dope AF
Wow
I’m going to the same school that he went to back in his days
Same here! I still have it framed with a bunch of his cards.
I think I got the same thing, it was probably 1992. It was a black and white one photo. I gave mine to a girl….
I will never forget when that idiot charged Ryan. If Ryan hits you, you tip your hat say "thank you sir, it has been an honor for my ribs to touch a ball that you have touched," and take your damn base.
Hypno Hypnos I want the card with Nolan Ryan knocking the crap out of that guy
You mean Robin Ventura?
That’s the one
Hardly think Ventura was an idiot, but as a rookie he was taught a lesson by Nolan. Ventura was a good ball player. Great at 3rd.
The dude can throw 100 plus with those long arms,no way I'm gonna run right into his right hand
Ryan is also the only pitcher in the history of the league that hit a batter 6 times in one pitch.
Hunter Zolomon Nice 😂😂😂
No no no it was chuck Norris 👨🏼 ⚾️ 💪🏼
black jack mcdowell i remember him
LMFAO 😂😂💀
This was genius
also had 12 one hitters,18 two hitters, and immaculate innings in both NL and AL. One of the greatest to have ever played a sport. A true icon.
If he had pitched in the NL his entire career and faced a pitcher, batting his strike outs would be much higher
There's another record Ryan has: He struck a number of fathers & sons in his career. Show me where the same pitcher has struck out a father and later their son in the same career.
ken griffey jr and ken griffey sr played together in seattle i dont think bobby bonds and barry bonds ever played together
Roger Clemens struck Griffey Jr and Sr.
@@alwillk a lot of pitcvhers did since they played together... a bunch of no name relievers have this distinction..
Jack Morris struck out Hal McRae and Brian. It's more common than you think.That's what I was pointing out. Ryan might have the distinction of doing it the most
It's not very uncommon. I mean, look how many father/sons have played at the same time or within the same decade. There are many.
I agree. I saw him pitch in person when he was in Houston. I had a seat right behind home plate, and for three innings, I never saw the ball. I heard him grunt, and then the pop of the ball in the catcher's mitt. Guys are throwing the ball harder now, but nobody has thrown the ball harder, for longer than Nolan Ryan. The narrator makes a good case for Ryan as the best pitcher in the history of MLB. Some pitchers were almost as good for a few years, none were ever so good, so consistently, for so long.
Roy Doughty
I agree, I grew up watching baseball in the 70s and 80s and Nolan Ryan was a man of no comparison. He is the best, well rounded baseball pitcher that the American public will ever see.
Roy Doughty actually, no one has thrown faster than Nolan Ryan. There is a documentary called Fastball which explains that in details. Nolan has the fastest fastball of all time.
I agree with you, I had season tickets and it is like you said, you hear the grunt and the pop on the mitt. I have never seen a my thing like it. He can still throw heat, maybe not quite as fast. He threw out the first pitch at the Astros home opener and it was a strike. Also, talking about cattle ranching the man would enter the cutting horse competition every year at the Houston livestock show and rodeo.
I disagree. Maddux was better consistently and longer. I made the case in the comments here.
Guys are not throwing the ball harder now.As this guy said,if they clocked Ryan's fastball now it would probably be at 106 mph. Ryan was The best fastball pitcher ever.
His 7th no-hitter happened @ 44 years old.....Incredible...........This must be a record by itself............Loved it when he beat the piss out of Robin Ventura.
Norm Abraham
I’m 44 and couldn’t imagine being in the shape he was to accomplish that
It is incredible!!!
Warren Spahn was 39 and 40 when he threw his no hitters.
He also had 12 one hitters absolutely incredible
@@mikethevike06 He also had 37 complete game 2 hitters, so in total he had 56 complete games of 2 hits or less, that will never be broken
@@chrisj197438 and what makes it more unique,is he’s a power pitcher.
He took a line drive off the face and kept pitching. Best ever
@Koletti Pireaus You mad?
Not really a line drive. Bo Jackson chopped a ball about a foot in front of home plate. It was rather weakly hit. Nolan just misplayed the ball. He got Bo out, let's not be crazy, but it was NOT a line drive.
That Bo Jackson at bat was the reason for the blood on the jersey, not the fight with Ventura.
Koletti Pireaus no he said adding on he has grit and doesn’t stop so you’re fucking stupid in general more stupid than that guy
@Koletti Pireaus he was saying the dude was a straight up hardass
The fact that he owns the record the record for owning the most records is amazing
except some of those records you wouldnt want to own, most walks, worst fld pct most stole bases allowed etc
On a whim, needing something to do that evening, and being in town (Alameda) to visit my Mom during a college spring break road trip from Seattle to L.A...my buddy Bill and I took a ride over to the coliseum (in Oakland) for an A's game that night.
Not knowing (or caring) who the opponent was, we bought the cheapest bleacher seats we could, gobbled down the rest of our cash in hot dogs and beer, and proceeded to watch one of the most memorable baseball games I'll ever see.
By the ninth inning, the normally UBER-loyal center-field bleacher seat fans, along with yours truly, were standing and cheering "NOLAN!-NOLAN!-NOLAN!"...as this magnificently smooth flame thrower mowed down the Bash Brothers...and everyone else they sent...one after another...seemingly effortlessly.
It was the greatest pitching I've ever seen in my life.
I doubt I'll ever see it again.
It looked like he was playing catch.
-
I am a witness to his greatness...the sixth no hitter.
-
Sometimes, God smiles on you...on a whim.
Agree! Watched him many times live when he was an Astro. When he was warming up the pop you would hear of his pitches hitting the mitt was like no other. My favorite Baseball player of all time.
I took my young daughter to a Rangers game and we sat in row 16, inside first base, she wanted to know what the sound was when he pitched you could hear the ball humming on the way home
I agree!!!
Ryan played against in golden era of baseball in 60s- 70s to early 90s facing Hall of Famer hitters like Brett, Schmidt, Rose, Carew, Reggie Jackson, Tony Gwynn, Ryne Sandberg, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, Robin Yount, Cal Ripken Jr. , Frank Thomas, Dave WInfield, Hank Aaron, and many others
Don Mattingly
Paul molitor
good point
Question. Why did you start with people first name. Then there full name
Ken Griffey Sr. And Ken Griffey Jr.
I remember watching Nolan Ryan pitch on TV as a kid, it was truly amazing. It was like watching art being made.
Ryan was the greatest power pitcher of all time, phenomenal 27 year career, great thrill watching him pitch since 1968
Randy johnson
Yes
@@sludge4125 yes
any athlete, any sport, any era - no one compares, excellence & longevity ... NR redefined the meaning of GOAT !!!
@@sludge4125 he didn't play for the Yankee s that s not his fault he played on average teams at best it's not golf its not tennis no more talk needed
that busted lip at 3:10 is not from the fight with ventura. it was from being hot lined straight in the mouth by bo jackson.
Yes it was. I was watching that game....he shook it off and kept on rollin. That's a MAN! Lol
Had to be Bo Jackson lol
He also credits Bo Jackson for saving him from asphyxiation during the Ventura fight. Bo came through throwing players off of the man pile that was above Nolan.
Agreed. I’ve watched that entire Ventura smack down many times and the incomparable Mr. Nolan Ryan did not have a busted lip. Nolan Ryan is 100% Texan, works harder than those half his age and has no problem throwing down with an over confident 26 year old. Put Ventura in a headlock, 6 shots to the head before his teammates arrived, and right back to work doing what he does.
chris daniel - That was from a Bo Jackson line shot to his mouth. He shook it off, picked the ball up and threw him out at first.
If you ever redo this video, you should add his 1981 season. He led the NL in ERA by a wide margin, but was denied the Cy Yound Award by Fernandomania. 1.69 ERA and no Cy, seriously? Nolan Ryan was the only pitcher I ever hear of whose velocity increased in the late innings. He was amazing.
FDzerzhinsky ironically the Astros got revenge in 1986 were Mike Scott beat Fernando for Cy Young despite Fernies 21 win season
the1eggman1 / HEY,,, Fernando blew his arm . Rotator cuff. He never got the operation because of its poor success results. Noone said he had a better career. I like how you jumped from "Ryan should have beet Fernando" to Ryan is better ALL TIME. Everybody can see you do that. YOU LOSE .
When you compare Ryan's lifetime stats to players whose careers were much shorter, you get the G.O.A.T. Ryan had great mechanics and just plain out threw all of his competition and certainly makes these guys today look like chumps. He pitched entire games consistently for a very long time...something that is not even heard of today.
The "jujitsu" off the top of your head stinjks! Although he may have been just above .500, he faced the best of the best for nearly 3 decades and somehow was just above .500 with 222 complete games. That's a nice list of pitchers, but a couple of the guys were from the dead ball era...who cares about them anyway? They had no reason to throw 100 mph fastballs back then. Ryan was the premier fb pitcher of his time. Regardless he holds a slew of records that won't be broken. Keep preaching though because it makes you feel better. Btw, Ryan played longer than all of those guys you jujitsu'd
I'm a Randy Johnson fan and he's my favorite. Nolan is everyone's favorite ironman...except yours. Peace!
7 No Hitters ,12 One Hitters ,22 Two Hitters All Major League Records !
Most 1 Hitters is a record, that Ryan shares with Bob Feller.
steelersjourney11111
One of the biggest myths in major league history is that Ryan played on weak teams. Not true.
steelersjourney11111 These separate him from the field!
He also holds the MLB Record for walks, too.
Another amazing Nolan Ryan stat : June 14, 1974: California Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan throws 235 pitches during his 13-inning effort against the Boston Red Sox .
160 pitches might have gone out with JOHN SMOLTZ... now they worry after 90...
GD Son
Mind boggling.
Totally nonhuman
I saw him pitch when he was in high school (Alvin, Texas). My eyes got pretty big when I snuck behind the backstop and watched him warm up. I enjoyed seeing him pitch in the majors. Not just an amazing heater;
his curve buckled hitters and his change up embarrassed them. His career Ks will never be broken. Good man, great pitcher, should've won several Cy Young awards.
I'm 57 years old, and I've been saying this same thing for a very long time. Underrated, unnoticed, and under-appreciated.
By the way - I'm a lifelong NY Yankees fan so this opinion is totally unrelated to my rooting interests. Ryan was a freak of nature.
Seven no hitters, a World Series ring, almost 6,000 strike outs...and helped get the Rangers to the World Series two years in a row (as an exec). Just all around awesome.
Nolan Ryan is the GOAT! I remember when I was a kid going to an Astros game when I heard the catchers mitt make a loud pop, after hearing a loud grunt by Ryan and thought WOW this guy is beyond human! I did see times on the radar that clocked 103, so for sure now days he would still be king!
Yep, the greatest ever is always near the lead, EVERY YEAR, in walks, wild pitches, and errors by a pitcher.
I’m convinced.
You didn't have to convince me but I appreciate your analysis.
Ryan also holds another rather obscure record that, in today's game of relief pitchers and starters pitching 7 innings, is highly unlikely to be broken, unless Sidd Finch turns up again: Complete games pitched, surrendering 2 or fewer hits and 0 runs while striking out at least 9 batters. In other words, games of nearly utter dominance on the mound.
Jim Maloney (!) of the Cincinnati Reds pitched 15 such games in his career, which is good for second place in all of MLB history. Sandy Koufax is in third place with 11 such games.
Some of the others in the elite club: Randy Johnson 10. Billy Pierce and Rick Wise 9. Ferguson Jenkins 8. Dave Stieb, Gaylord Perry, and Mike Mussina 7. Camilo Pascual, David Cone, and Justin Verlander 6.
Those are the only other players since 1930 with more than 5 such games. Except for...
... Nolan Ryan, who pitched 27 such games of such utter dominance, more than the next two players, Maloney and Koufax, combined. It's tough to find career stats in which the leader holds more occurrences than the 2nd and 3rd place players combined. (Such as Rickey Henderson's record of 19 games stealing 4 or more bases.)
Sidd was awesome. I wonder what monastery he is at now?
How many walks did he give up in those games?
Imagine if this cowpoke actually improved, like another guy with a pretty good fastball, sandy koufax, did?
I guess jim maloney is the second best pitcher in history, or at least since 1930.
@@sludge4125 Imagine if Sandy Koufax didn't flame out after 10 years and was able to pitch even half as long as Ryan. If you look at his career, it's impossible to say he didn't improve from where he was early on. He had no breaking ball, and by the time he finished his curve was just as devastating as the heater. I'm not in agreement that he was the best pitcher ever -- Seaver, Maddux, Spahn, Pedro, etc. all had better performances on a regular basis to help their team win. The one thing Ryan never considered changing was the willingness to take something off a pitch just to avoid walking a batter. He always gave max effort, never worried about holding baserunners, and that often hurt his chances of winning games against good teams that would exploit that. But no one will ever be as unhittable as him. Ever. The way the game is going and how pitchers are brought up now, there's literally no chance of his records ever being broken. Can you imagine a guy pitching 12 innings with 235 pitches today, then coming back on 3 days rest to start with another 5 innings that game? Once in a lifetime player.
Thomas, he’s the most durable pitcher ever!!!
Game? Check.
Season? Check.
Career? Check.
He throws as hard in the 9th as he does in the first.
He’s probably the most unique pitcher in history.
And he doesn’t take any crap from young ones who want to visit him on the mound.
Ryan is the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. No question.
Jpstreet99 relax buddy
and a good match for Brett Hart with that Head Lock Ryan gives! lol
Pedro Martinez was better and he only weighed 135 pounds.
Cy Young was the greatest.
Jpstreet99 Right on. I totally agree.
So happy to be named after this guy! Lots of pressure when I was pitching as a kid though haha!
Yeah the Cy Young award has the unfortunate influence of the team's performance added to those that make the call. In Ryan's case his record was weak compared to say Jim Palmer in 73 because he went 22-16 rather than 23-9. I think the only pitcher that overcame that deficiency was Steve Carlton circa 1970 when he went 27-10 with a crappy Phillies squad. There really can be no doubt that Ryan is untouchable as the greatest pitcher of all time.
Love the video. Love Nolan. But I'd title him as ......the most dominant pitcher of all-time.
Glad you clarified how pitches are timed at the pitcher today and closer to the plate during Ryans day. You probably know about the documentary I think on Netflix called "Fastball" in which Ryan is shown to have thrown faster than Chapman. Maybe you mentioned it. Nice work
tradehead
Yes, I saw that documentary. Nolan Ryan is the best pitcher.
tradehead i saw the documentary also and it's amazing.
tradehead yes, I watched "Fastball" . Nolan Ryan pitched the fastest consistently over his career!
The Braman's - He also walked a lot of people, too.
tradehead I've seen it it's great Ryan is the best
I had the pleasure to see him pitch 3 times when he would come to Philly in the 80's..I remember getting his autograph before a game when I was 14.I was so excited.And I can still remember him laughing like it's no big deal..He was the king of cool..
The baseball Mike korzemba :) glad to see this; I really love this kind of video, keep it up!!
Will Carroll I was just thinking if that
Don't forget that Nolan Ryan played for the terrible Angles. They averaged 2 runs per game in his losses. How would Koufax or any other pitcher do without run support? Imagine if he played for a team that dominated baseball for 10 - 15 years. Don't forget that ages 44 and 46 he pitched no hitters. How many pitchers on the over 40 list pitched equaled that? NONE, he was the best. When doing comparisons make sure to compare apple to apple. :-)
I have one. He was throwing out the first pitch someplace. He was 68 or 69 years old.and his throw was clocked at 86 mph. He’s otherworldly.
63
There were five people that failed to vote Nolan as a first ballot Hall of Famer... I just wonder what planet they came from?
Kevin Knight Earth. THE planet of idiots
Not sure, but they clearly didn't watch baseball from the late 60's to the early 90's.
Unfortunately, no player - not Willie, Hank , Mickey, Ted - has ever received 100% of the votes.
@Cold Snap Yes. About time someone got 100%. I don't we''ll see anyone with the combined greatness and longevity like Mariano again. Amazing.
I am assuming Uranus.
Anyone who doesn't think Nolan Ryan is the best player ever is obviously a casual fan who has never played RBI Baseball on the NES
Ryan also had one of the toughest curve balls ever. He threw that at an average of 92 MPH.
I know right. If I knew or guessed the fastball was coming I might, just might get lucky. But that curve, there's no way.
After he learned the circle change he was almost impossible to hit.
My college roommate was Mr Ryan next door neighbor... I did not know baseball... but met him ...he took 2 tank top short short coeds home for " cookies" ( This baseball mega star with countless groupies saw us as " little girls" ..) His gorgeous and charming wife fed us and refused him sweets ( fyi? His interest in us coeds? Was to con baked goods from his beloved wife) He was the ultimate gentleman, obviously adored his wife and was one of the few men whose head we never turned in the 80s lol... a few yrs later I got to see him pitch one of his last games... he was in his 40s? Shut out seven innings..took two boys half his age to finish the game.... my ( then fiancée, father of our five) almost died of embarrassment as I cheered " go Mr Ryan! You're the greatest Mr Ryan!" ....he will always be the awesome " Mr Ryan" to me...!
Just to offer something against Ryan being considered the greatest here.. His record was only .526 win percent and its very true that it is because he played on mediocre at best teams most years of his career.. teams that did not score runs. The flip side of that argument is there is a reason those teams did not score runs beyond just being bad. The fact is that Ryan spend the vast vast majority of his career pitching in extreme pitcher parks. His massive walk totals early in his career could have been disastrous had he been pitching in a place like ... say... Boston but by pitching with the Angels during that time he could get away with it. The Astrodome in Houston was even more extreme benefiting pitchers. I'll give some examples.. His Career ERA in Fenway Park was 4.92, in Comiskey Park was 5.35, Veterans Stadium 5.52.. these are hitters parks. Having said all this I still personally believe Ryan was the greatest but this is just meant as an arguement why he may not have always been looked at as the greatest by some.
Great video!! I remember the Ventura fight when it happened!! I loved it then, and I still love it today!!! It’s hard to argue against Ryan being the best pitcher ever!
Whether Ryan was the greatest or not, he will always be my favorite MLB player of all time. As a SoCal boy from the OC, it was not uncommon to see me at "Anaheim" Stadium the day he ptiched. Story goes one umpire was calling one his games and called a strike on the batter. Batter turned and asked the umpire how he could tell if it was a strike. The umpire's response, "It sounded like one."
alot of umps were simply not used to that kind of speed, as such it is said NOLAN is owed MANY strikeouts...
@@mickeydrago9401 The umpire Ron Luciano, in one of his books, admitted that he couldn't keep up with Ryan's fastball; sometimes, the ball would disappear on its way to the plate and he'd have to guess the call from where the catcher's glove was. So I guess Ryan was hard to hit.
@@soaringvulture
No guessing required, of 27 years he led the league 12 times in the least amount of hits given up per 9 Innings and he has the record for least hits given up per game in a career with 6.6...
@@soaringvulture
Aroldis Chapman is much harder to hit but he doesn't pitch that much so his data won't be considered records, currently giving up five hits per game and striking out 15 per game as I just looked up his career numbers, nice well-rounded numbers by the luck of it
Great video and I agree 100% with all the information in your video. I really believe Nolan would have been closer to 350 wins if he would have played for better teams that actually scored runs for him. I was lucky enough to see him pitch 15 times over the years including a game against Chicago in 1992. He pitched 10 innings, gave up 3 hits, 16 K's and 1 unearned run.....for a NO Decision. But you never heard him complain or run his teammates down for a lack of run support. We may will never see a talent and class act like Nolan Ryan again. Thanks for the video!
Robin Ventura: Hey man, you hit me! Not cool! * charges mound *
Nolan Ryan: *So you have chosen, death.*
dave winfield charged the mound and beat the hell out of ryan. so that thing?
@@bedfordsimon8 Winfield's punch didn't even connect and Nolan said after the game if it had landed he realized he could have really been hurt and up until that time he had never challenged anyone charging the mound and after that he did. So Nolan didn't even challenge Winfield. But if he had in the future Ryan would have probably decked him.
@@mitchwall52 winfield pounded ryan a half dozen times while nolan turtled, winfield was nfl sized , he was drafted by the nba and nfl and was a huge man who cleaned ryans clock, beat him badly and ryan as an astro stop throwing inside for a while, he was a mediocre .500 pitcher and not some tough guy, even venturra slammed him to the ground in their fight
@@simonjames1604 lol not according to the video. But you believe what you want and there wasn't a mark on Ryan in the post game interview when he told what happened and Ryan could throw a 600 pound steer . He wasn;t afraid of winfield.
@@mitchwall52 i watched it when it happened live, ryan turtled the whole time and mattingly mashed him on his hiead several times until the umps bailed him out
I'm 37 years old and Nolan Ryan was only around for only maybe 8 years when I really got interested in baseball but he is my favorite player of all time much respect to Nolan Ryan
When you think great you think Ryan, randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and now Clayton Kershaw
I agree
Baseball Spud verlander needs to be there too
it sounds like you've started watching baseball in the 1990s, and have no recollection or education before that.
Read your history!
Please don't associate these gods with Kerchoke. Replace kerchoke with Bumgarner and you have a good list
Have always been a fan of Ryan’s. Saw him in County Stadium some time back in the 80s. He struck out 12 Brewers in 9 innings. I never knew they changed the way they measure the speed of a pitch to the advantage of today’s pitchers. Learned something from watching your video. Thanks.
To me...the stat that should matter MOST for a pitcher for career is batting average against. And the all time leader is like being the all time GAA leader for hockey...and those guys are always considered the top all time. SO that, plus strikeouts, PLUS NO HITTERS....easy. Ryan #1
Fkn allah, you can’t be that stupid.
Please tell me you aren’t as stupid as you appear.
The boy averaged one game over .500 a year.
Being near or leading the league every year in walks, wild pitches, and errors by a pitcher doesn’t matter, when deciding greatness? Plus, he had a lousy pickoff move.
Only morons cherrypick one stat and claim it’s the end all for arguments.
Go back to your crocheting, and leave baseball for us knowledgeable people.
@@sludge4125 Oh wow he doesnt have a good pickoff move that matters so much more than how many hits he gave up
@@sludge4125 lol. wow. hurt your feelings did we? dont be a bitch bro. you got beat. just own it and move on. i'd be happy to educate you on baseball and sports in general, if you would, like since you seem a bit new. also...one stat? i listed three, lol. you couldnt even get that part right. im going to take a wild guess and say you had a lot of remedial classes...
Yes Yes 100 percent, this guy would always deliver greatness, he was scary....really scary, saw him pitch, perfect mechanics.
Agree!
Thank's a lot for your video, Amazing Guy (Amazing Mets, it's much appreciated)!!!!! That was great info re: the speed of his pitches, I've never heard that info before, and to throw a 98 mile per hour fast ball pitch with his injury, even though he had a real rough outing (which I just missed seeing w/my Dad, got there just after he left, and a heartbroken me told my Dad, let's go, I can't enjoy this at all......) with his injury and other things creeping about that were causing him trouble that night....to finish it off with a legendary 98 mile per hour pitch is incredible, what a competitor/legend!!!!!
my name is Nolan and my middle name is Ryan
that's awesome
MakeItWayne I was named after him
Learn a curve ball, field your positions, and don't walk so many hitters.
What is also amazing is that he was revered by every team he played for unlike today's athletes when they leave teams. I went to his last game in Anaheim in 1993. The Angels were not good that year but that game drew a sellout of 60k. Standing ovation when he walked to the bullpen, standing ovation when he took the mound, and standing ovation when he left. There was not 1 Angels fan there that night!
"Best statistical pitcher"
No...just best pitcher.
He was the reason I starting watching base ball in 1970. The day after he pitched I had to read the sports section on the Washington Post to read about and look at his statistics for the game.
Got to see him in spring training when he was a member of the Texas Rangers. I remember all of the young hitters shaking their heads because they couldn't catch up to his fast ball. Oh, BTW he was twice their age.
Ryan was great...but anyone who really thinks he is the best pitcher of all time, or even in the top 10, knows nothing about baseball history.
I am so glad I got to meet him once and get his autograph on the same ball with Yogi Berra. Will ALWAYS be in the top 5.
I got to experience him pitching in San Diego, sat 2nd row behind on deck circle, incredible display...the grunting, the sound of the ball's flight, the pop of the catcher's mitt, YESSIR!!
Best arm ever, but walked too many batters. Amazing longevity as a power pitcher.
Probably one of the few objective takes here
he did not have good control early but improved in later years.
I saw Ryan pitch several times during his career. He was the first pitcher after Koufax that made MLB hitters look helpless.
Ventura is the only player to get 7 hits from Nolan Ryan in 1 game!
😂😂😂😂
that was in one inning at one at bat.
@@lestermount3287 one pitch too !
Props man. You did a great job putting this together.
The value of a pitcher can be reduced to single statistic: his ERA. Nothing else counts. Just ERA.
The Ryan express by far the greatest pitcher of his time. mean and flat out un-hittable (7 times?! sick)
He also played in the era when steroids were rampant almost the entire time. Facing batters juiced to the gills almost every game.
He played in the pre-steroid era.
By leading the league, or close to it, every year, in walks, wild pitches, and errors by a pitcher, in addition to having a lousy pick off move, he managed to average being one game over .500 a year.
This is not to deny his greatness. But, greatest ever?
rdizzy1 Ryan didn’t play in the steroid era. He played mostly in the lower scoring eras. His first real season he played was 1968, the year of the pitcher. His last year was 1993, which was the first year when offenses rose a lot, thanks to PEDs, small strike zones, and maybe juiced balls as well.
1987 was a year of high offenses, and most likely a juiced ball. There was a huge drop once 88’ came. But other than 87’ and 93’, Ryan played in low scoring eras, or average.
The fact that I first got to know Ryan from a n64 game always feels amazing to me. Because he's the only guy who throws a hundred miles per hour. And I use him a lot until I searched who he is and what a great decision. He is a legend.
he threw 108.8
Ryan NEVER threw 108.8
Chris Wahl it is estimated he threw 108. The radar guns used today record the velocity just after the ball leaves the pitchers hand, the ones they used back in the day recorded the velocity when it got to the plate after air resistance and all that. The exit velocity on Ryan's fastball was estimated to be 108
You're still wrong, nolan ryan never threw 108, he was overrated, never won a cy young award.
Ryan IS the greatest...40 plus yrs old and still threw heat..95 mph plus...
@@josecarranza7555 did u watch the video ??? It said he threw 108 !!!
The most amazing thing is how they made the print so tiny on the back of his late baseball cards
Not was best pitcher Is the best pitcher. No one will ever be better. No One
Don’t be sure about me and my friend who is in Little League rn
Great video! Thought I knew a lot about Nolan, but this has stats I didn't even know about
we all have GOOGLE IQ now, use it
Cy Young won 25+ games in a row and never won a Cy Young award lol
He also threw a lot pitches that are banned today.
The Cy Young Award was named after Cy Young after his playing days were over. I assume that would be obvious, however, maybe you believed the name of the award was changed in order
to honor Cy Young.
Although, your comment may have been a joke.
thanx for the laugh...
Loved Nolan Ryan from Game #1. My father told me about him before he ever Played a Game in the Majors. I was 7 Years Old when Nolan pitched his First Game. My father also told me about the Greatest Hockey Player 🏒 to ever play the Game Wayne Gretsky, a Year before the Oilers came into the League. Great Memories, as Long as I hear the Name of Nolan Ryan, I will Constantly be Reminded of my Father!! 👍💯⚾️🙏🔥
I think he was the greatest thrower of all time but not the greatest pitcher. With that said he probably comes very close to being the best pitcher because of the outrageous stats and physical stamina he possessed. He was indeed a freak of nature.
No, he doesn't come close at all. But he was extraordinary.
Nolan Ryan was the toughest man I ever saw play baseball. He was just a phenom. I saw him pitch a few times and you would see him go through his wind up and then hear what sounded like a gunshot when the ball hit the catchers mitt.
Why are you yelling?
I know he's really going for it. He sounds like my mom on long distance
Enthusiasim MORON!!
The radar gun was also mounted up in the press box, making it very inaccurate. Lord knows how fast that pitch was really going.
You would think someone could time a pitch, from video, from when it leaves his hand until the ball crosses the plate, and figure it out.
Ryan is pound for pound the better pitcher.
EVER!
Sandy Koufax: 12 seasons with 3 seasons where he started less than 15 games (5, 10, and 13 starts)
Wins 165
Losses 87
Winning pct .655
ERA - 2.76
Averaged 239.6 K's per year over 10 full seasons
4 No Hitters, 1 Perfect Game
3 Cy Young awards
1 NL MVP award
2 World Series MVP's
Led NL in ERA 5 times and MLB 3 times
Led MLB in K's 4 times, was 2nd 1 time
Led MLB in Wins 3 times
Led MLB in Winning pct 2 times, led NL 1 time and was 2nd 1 time
His 5 best seasons;
1962 - 14-7 2.54 ERA
1963 - 25-5 1.88 ERA
1964 - 19-5 1.74 ERA
1965 - 26-8 2.04 ERA
1966 - 27-9 1.73 ERA
111 W - 34 L during that span
Best 5 season average totals;
22.2 wins - 6.86 losses and a 1.986 ERA
Nolan Ryan: 27 seasons - 3 seasons with less than 15 games started (10, 13, and was in only 2 games in '66)
Wins 324
Losses 292
Winning pct .526
ERA - 3.19
Averaged 228.56 K's per year in 25 years (not counting '66 and' 93 when he played in only 2 games in '66 and 13 games in '93)
7 No Hitters
0 Cy Youngs
0 MVP's
Led the MLB in ERA 1 time.
Led MLB in K's 7 times and his league in K's 4 times
Did not finish higher than 4th in wins
Never finished higher than 5th in Winning Pc
His 5 best seasons;
1972 - 19-16 2.28 ERA
1973 - 21-16 2.87 ERA
1974 - 22-16 2.89 ERA
1977 - 19-16 2.77 ERA
1981 - 11-5 1.69 ERA in 21 starts in a strike shortened year
(He averaged about 31 starts in his career as a starting pitcher so he could have gone 16-7 in '81 with 31 starts)
92 W - 69 L (98 - 71 with '81 projections)
Best 5 season average totals;
18.4 wins - 13.8 losses and a 2.956 ERA
(or 19.4 - 14.2 if you include '81 projection totals)
Yogi Berra, who holds the MLB record for World Series games played at 75, said this after Koufax and the Dodgers beat the Yankees in game 1 of the 1963 World Series; "I can see how he (Sandy Koufax) won twenty-five games. What I don't understand is how he lost five."
Wins are irrelevant for a pitcher, Ryan was on shit teams his whole career for the most part.
Ha! The Dodgers didn't exactly kill the ball in those days.
When Koufax pitched one of his No-Hitters, the team had already sent Don Drysdale ahead of them to the next city on the schedule so he'd be well rested for his next start.
They called Drysdale at the hotel where he was staying and told him that Sandy had pitched a no-hitter.
Drysdale replied; "yes but did he win?"
Koufax was more successful. Ryan was better.
Success can be measured. Being better can be subjective.
Being the "best" is completely subjective, since there are so many styles to consider. Ryan's pitches had the most explosive action, or "stuff", for sure. But, when a pitcher doesn't have stuff like that, then being more creative becomes imperative for success. It's that creative process that determines who's the best pitcher. That's why I liked watching Buehrle and Maddux. If those guys had stuff to go with their command...
In an interview he did while still playing, Ryan said that the record he was most proud of was the 383 strikeouts in 1973. 1973 was the first year of the DH in the AL, so he did it without getting to face the opposing pitcher.
How many of Koufax’s 382 victims were pitchers?
Sandy Koufax the goat wym
sandy koufax was my dads fav player mine were as far as pitchers go id say since clemens was roided up id have t o say nolan is number one and greg maddux is number two as far as my era i never saw bob gibson and i hear koufax had a short career so just my two cents
@@halfogre7843
if u look at post season AND season play u could make a VERY good argument for Bob! 3 for 3 in WORLD SERIES, shut out pitching in two of the three series... and even hit two homers himself! two time MVP in the world series! not to mention 1968, arguably the greatest season ever pitched!
yah when they lower the mound cause you are so dominate you know you are a badass
This video should be titled "Very Little Evidence & No Proof That Nolan Ryan Was the Greatest Of All-Time!" These nuggets are nice, but most certainly do not prove Ryan was the best.
Nolan Ryan without a doubt
Nolan Ryan was so good that they should have an award named after him. I'm not saying rename the Cy Young award but name an award after him, he deserves it.
ryan never won a cy young, so what award would you give to him? the best .500 pitcher in baseball? the guy who walked a lot of people? the guy who pitched a long time? those are some weird awards to give out but suit ryans profile i guess
Walked the most batters in history. Almost 1000 more walks then the #2 pitcher. Threw 277 wild pitches which is 2nd only to a guy who ended his career in 1894. 757 bases were stolen against him. That's 40% more than the pitcher that comes in 2nd. Not counting his rookie season, Ryan led his teams outright in wins only 5 times in 26 seasons. In 11 of his 27 seasons, Ryan had a winning percentage that was LOWER than his teams. He lost more games then anyone except Cy Young. He led the league in ERA twice and one of those seasons was the strike shortened 1981. He finished his career with a .895 fielding percentage, had the most errors by a pitcher since CY Young and is probably the worst post war fielding pitcher ever. To paraphrase someone else, he is one of the most extraordinary pitchers ever, but he is not even close to being the greatest.
clash5j I think we can all agree here that Nolan Ryan has incredible velocity that spanned his whole career with some also great individual statistics that many have cited.
Others have cited Khofax and Gibson ad the best pitcher. Let's just appreciate all of these guys and the rich pageant they bring to the game of baseball.
We could all sit here for endless hours debating countless statistics while missing the richness of each of the guy's greatness in pitching! Each one is beautiful in his own right; sit and just watch videos pf each one pitching and relish it.
clash5j yes, you are correct in your assessment of this video. It has a bit of a statistical bias for some measures, however does highlight some of his "interesting" facets and wins despite playing on many losing teams.
He played on winning teams as well. I know the Astros won two divisional titles during his nine years there and they had winning records more often than not during the 1980's.
The Braman's - Remember, Nolan is a good ole boy from the South, while Gibson is Black and Koufax was Jewish - both facts won't play well in the South. And don't if you listen to the good ole boys debate Nolan Ryan vs others.
Oh please. Play the race card whenever you get a chance. I'm from Louisiana and am a long time Astro fan. Gibson and Koufax were both better than Ryan. Are you happy? Can't even have a baseball debate without some fool making it political.
Nolan Ryan is the epitome of a REAL MAN.If he had hit me in my back with a fastball I would have said "Thank you Sir, may I have another!?"
You have GOT to include the agelessness of Ryan as well, 27 years in MLB, and he was 47 when he retired, still throwing 90+ mph HEAT!! It don't get no better than that.
Nolan Ryan was the greatest pitcher of all time! In my opinion.
And thank you Makelt Wayne for the great video! You did an awesome job on it!
Some very good points here. I would like to see some serious discussion about deadball versus post-deadball pitchers. I personally feel that deadball era pitchers had a much greater advantage. Some points against that may be poorer fielding gloves in deadball era, but obviously, there are a lot more extra-base hits and homers in live ball era.
As for your main point, I can agree he should be top five, but the number of walks can't be ignored.
Would love to see a Top 30-50 list of post-deadball pitchers with a few other factors figured. What about a stat which shows how much a pitcher carried a team, like wins as a percentage of total team wins per season? What about fielding percentage/Golden Glove Awards (Greg Maddux dominated that hands down)? What about the small handful of pitchers that had impressive numbers both as starters AND relievers?
the arguments against him being "the best" are pretty straight forward and easy to understand. 1 he never won a single cy young in 27 years only came close really twice due to some of the obvious glaring weaknesses in his game 2 he walked an average of 6 batters a game and could be hopelessly wild hitting lots of guys and uncorking a ton of wild pitches 3 he was a number 1 pitcher for a very brief period , by 1978 the angels replaced him at number 1 with frank tanana and after that ryan was almost always in the 2 or 3 spot behind guys like mike scott and joe niekro. how can the best ever be pitching in the 2 hole or worse most of his career? 4 he couldnt field, he was god awful and couldnt throw or catch very well . 5 he couldnt control the running game, 8 times he led the league in allowing stolen bases . 6 he never learned. ryan was deemed uncoachable by many even whitey ford said of ryan "he seems to be content to be a thrower and not a pitcher ". Ryan is in the hall because he pitched hard for a long time but thats all he brought to the table. he is a .500 pitcher who never lead a team to playoff greatness and never won a single cy young. thats who he actually was.
You nailed it.
I saw a youtube video of someone's Top 10 Pitchers of All - Time where Ryan wasn't listed ? I responded that whomever made the video WAS SMOKING CRACK. I saw him pitch LIVE ! 27 year career, fastest fastball, most K's, lowest BA against and 7 no - hitters....you can't argue with that ! The guy is the best or at least top 5 all time
Awesome! Thank you for the post bud!
The Express is my all time favorite pitcher in MLB and you fashioned a great argument on his behalf. Your voice is quite grating on the ears though. 😳😂
Val Lester you’re right his is.
Ryan is in the Guinness book for the fastest pitch ever recorded @ 108.4 mph. That demands respect in itself. The rest of the list adds to the intimidation factor. He's my idol. I pitched for 15 years. It's hard to come close to that level of greatness
Woa, nice introduction! I hope you are making some money MakeitWayne on RUclips. You sound like the tens of thousands who review music, cars, movies, voice reactions, etc etc. I know several, some of whom do a really not have to work, must be nice
randy johnson holds the record for strike outs per 9 innings, with 10.6... and he was LEFT HANDED in the steroid era!
8-16 1987 with Houston he could have won a Cy too if not for the losing record.
When Nolan Ryan broke Sandy Koufax's single season strikeout record of 382 in 1973 by a single strikeout to set the record at 383, Koufax mentioned that Ryan gave up a LOT more BBs than he did (162 Ryan / 71 for Koufax) in HIS record setting season in 1965. However, Ryan pitched fewer innings in 1973 than Koufax did in 1965 (326.0 Ryan / 335.2 Koufax). PLUS, Ryan threw his 383 strikeouts in the American League the first year of the DH, while Koufax faced pitchers in the season he threw 382 strikeouts. So, IMO, Ryan's 383 strikeouts in 1973 was FAR more remarkable than Koufax's 382 strikeouts in 1965.
He still has that cattle herd too. They sell Nolan Ryan beef in Kroger here in Texas, and it is great quality. Funny to see that brought up in this video. He has made way more money in the ranch industry than he ever did from baseball. Thats crazy considering he was also the first player to earn $1 million a year too.
Yes! Loved seeing Nolan Ryan pitch. With two strikes on a batter crowd would go crazy wanting the strike out. Number two pitcher all time is Bob feller from my state Iowa.
Dude... Absolutely awesome video!!! I am a die hard White Sox fan, but I am also a die hard baseball fan and Nolan Ryan is my absolute favorite player of all time!!!!
Nolan is the best of all time! He has so many records that will probably never be broken and others that will definitely never be broken!
I like Ryan a lot. However, his control problems keep him just outside the top 10 of all time IMHO
That’s photo of him with the bloody lip wasn’t from the fight, it was from Bo Jackson’s line drive he took to the face.
He gives all the money he collects for autographs to charity. All of it.
I grew up watching Nolan Ryan pitch it's nice to see younger guya like yourself appreciate his talent