First Chuck: 6:40 PM (new anthem each week!)
The Tube: Twins.TV
The Dial: Treasure Island Baseball Network
Spies ‘R Us: Royals Review
Usually, tonight’s Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals clash would be serenaded with a Matt Monitto song selection. I’m filling in for Matt tonight, so we’ll have a different sort of medium to sort through—print—on this game thread edition of Twinkie Town Book Club.
I recently read Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original by Tim Brown. Because Ryan’s career took place entirely before my baseball-watching time and is seemingly such a contradiction in terms, he has always been a fascinating
subject to me.
In this tome, Brown looks at Ryan very much through the lens of Texas myth-making. Fair, in that there are few (if any) other MLB players as associated with a state as Ryan with TX. When I was last in the Lone Star State for baseball, I can certainly corroborate…
Brown also digs into Nolan’s unique career arc, which saw him be one of the first pitchers to embrace weight training for endurance purposes and one of the first true “max effort” hurlers (i.e. everything he had went into every pitch—nothing saved for later). This all set up an overall line that is somewhat baffling.
On one hand, his career (773 games started, 807 total appearances) with the Mets, Angels, Astros, & Rangers produced a 1.247 WHIP. Solid—but not necessarily spectacular. He also holds the all-time MLB record for walks allowed—2,795. On eight occasions he led the league in BB—with that number twice eclipsing 200!
On the other hand, his workhorse status was unparalleled. Pitching from 1966-1993 would be unprecedented even if one possessed a noodle arm. Ryan was of course the exact opposite, maintaining 90+ mph velocity on his Ryan Express (fastball) into his mid-40s. His 5,714 strikeouts are an all-time MLB high, as is his 6.6 hits-per-nine innings. He completed 222 games (61 of those shutouts!) and tossed in three saves for good measure!
Ryan tossed seven no-hitters, twelve 1-hitters, eighteen 2-hitters, & thirty one 3-hitters. One could make a compelling argument that when possessed with control over his arsenal (if a somewhat fleeting circumstance career-wide), Nolan was the most un-hittable pitcher to ever ascend the bump.
Getting back to Brown’s text for a moment, it is a solid—if unorthodox—look at the entirety of Ryan’s oeuvre. The Texas imagery may wear on the reader at times, but when the prose shifts to Nolan’s on-field performance, rapport with teammates, and general personality, it shines. Worth a read if you are interested in better understanding the literal dominance, legend, and even limitations of Nolan Ryan.
One thing is for sure: neither starter in suburban Kansas City this evening will likely get even half way to the reported (though not officially verified by Baseball-Reference.com) total of 235 pitches Ryan heaved on June 14, 1974 at the Big A in Orange County!
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