Harvey Frommer on
Sports
Nolan Ryan - -The
Way to
Go!
(From the Vault)
The news that Nolan Ryan will be running the show for
the Texas Rangers and also be part owner of the team is good news all the
way around - -for him, for fans of the Rangers, for baseball fans in general.
The former power pitcher is now properly positioned to make things happen.
As an author who was privileged to have the opportunity
to get to know him and his family while writing
"Throwing Heat," his autobiography, I became intimately aware
of how he began and what he has accomplished. The life and times of Nolan
Ryan is truly the story of the realization of the American dream.
He grew up in the small town of Alvin, Texas, and still
makes his home there. As a teenager Nolan delivered the Houston
Post. In
"Throwing Heat," he said, "Some
people claimed that I developed my arm throwing the
Houston Post. That was not the
case. It was a short throw from a car, and I made the throw back-handed with
my left hand while I steered my '52 Chevy with my right hand. But I did develop
the knack of being able to roll and tie fifty newspapers in just about five
minutes, and that probably helped me develop strong fingers and wrists."
The strong fingers and wrists were part of the reason
for Ryan's great success. A tremendous work ethic was another. Nolan had
992,040 votes to rank first among all pitchers on the All-Century team. He
was followed by Sandy Koufax (970,434), Cy Young (867,523), Roger Clemens
(601,244), Bob Gibson (582,031). That's elite company.
One can only wonder what went through Nolan's mind out
there on the field next to Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, and Sandy Koufax. Aaron
was one of Ryan's idols in his growing up years, and Koufax was a pitcher
he truly admired.
"One Sunday between my junior and senior years in high
school we went to see the Houston Colt .45's play the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sandy Koufax was pitching, and I was a big Koufax fan. It was the first time
I had ever seen Sandy pitch. I was truly amazed at how fast he was and how
good a curveball he had. I think he was the most overpowering pitcher I had
ever seen."
The all time strikeout record has belonged to Ryan for
quite a while now. But once upon a time, and for a long period, it belonged
to Walter Johnson.
One day early in the 1969 season, Nolan was sitting in
the Mets' dugout when Jim Bunning recorded his 2,500th strikeout. He asked
Tom Seaver what the all-time record for strikeouts was and was told that
it was 3,508 and held by Walter Johnson.
"That Johnson record will probably stand forever," Ryan
told Seaver. Baseball fans know it didn't. Nolan broke it, and is the all-time
strikeout leader with 5,714. That Ryan record will probably stand forever,
as will a few other records Nolan picked up along the way.
He holds the record for most strikeouts in a major league
season with 383, which he set while playing for the Angels in 1973. He struck
out 100 in a season 24 times, another record. He also set the record for
most consecutive seasons with 100 or more strikeouts, doing it 23 times in
a row. He also holds the record for most career no-hitters with seven.
It is the records that are most associated with the man
they called "The Ryan Express." For me it will always be his character. He's
a great family man, a person who extends kindness to strangers, a guy who
always remembers his friends.
Bravo,
Nolan!
Harvey Frommer is his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books. The author of 40 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer's newest work an oral and narrative history of Fenway Park will be published in 2010.
Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
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