WTHBALLS GUM PACK CUSTOM SET: NOLAN RYAN

Up on the blog today, we post up my Nolan Ryan mini "Gum Pack" custom card, from my set released a few months back:

Just a fun set to design and release, using a fun packaging idea that came to me one day as I was in the candy/gum aisle of a super market.

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I love thinking about the fact that he did most of his damage in the American League with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total? More?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

1971 "BASEBALL'S GREATEST MOMENTS": NOLAN RYAN TOSSES 15K ONE-HITTER

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card for uber-star Nolan Ryan, who was just starting out his historic baseball carer as a member of the New York Mets:

In the ninth-game of the 1970 season, the reigning World Champion Mets had their young starter put in the type of game he would become famous for later on in his Hall of Fame career, tossing a 15-strikeout one-hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies, absolutely dominating the game aside from his six walks.

A day after being shut out by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, the Phillies found themselves victims of an even more dominating performance, this time by the young righty from Texas, allowing only a Denny Doyle single on his way to his first Major League Shutout.

Well, as we all know, it certainly would NOT be the last shutout of his career!

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I used the 1974 template since he was fresh off his record-breaking 383 strikeout season of 1973, his second consecutive 300+ strikeout season, and on his way to make the Mets regret BIG TIME for letting him go.

I love thinking about the fact that he did all of this in the American League, with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

1960'S SPECIAL SET: DEDICATED ROOKIE: 1968 NOLAN RYAN

On the blog today, a card from my custom 1960's special set, "Dedicated Rookies" released a few years ago already. One of the more popular sets I printed up over the years. This one a 1968 card for the great Nolan Ryan:

Ryan appeared in two games for the New York Mets in 1966 as a 19-year-old, tossing three innings and going 0-1 with a 15.00 earned run average with six strikeouts and three walks.

He would spend all of 1967 in the Minors before making it back for good in 1968, going 6-9 over 21 appearances with a 3.09 ERA in 134 innings, starting 18 and completing three.

Of course, the rest, as they say, is history, as he would go on to put in one of the most amazing careers in Major League history.

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I used the 1974 template since he was fresh off his record-breaking 383 strikeout season of 1973, his second consecutive 300+ strikeout season, and on his way to make the Mets regret BIG TIME for letting him go.

I love thinking about the fact that he did all of this in the American League, with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1979 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, as we near the end of this long-running thread of "expanded league leaders", we get the the top three American league strikeout pitchers of 1978, displayed on a 1979 expanded leader card:

Of course, if we're talking strikeouts in the American League during the 1970s we're most likely talking about all-time great Nolan Ryan, who prevented the New York Yankees Ron Guidry from a pitching triple crown by striking out 260 batters to Guidry's 248.

For Ryan, it was his sixth strikeout title in seven years, incredibly with another five to come, four of those during the late-80's/early-90's!

The man was not human, as he would go on to whiff 5714 batters over 27 seasons, with 15 seasons of 200+ K's under his belt. Just bonkers.

In second place with the aforementioned 248 K's, the Yankees Ron Guidry, who had a season for the ages in 1978, winning 25 games (against only 3 losses), with nine shutouts and a microscopic 1.74 earned run average.

Not only did he take home the Cy Young that year, but finished second behind Hall of Famer Jim Rice for the league MVP Award, which some may argue he should have won anyway.

In third place with 183 strikeouts, Kansas City Royals ace Dennis Leonard, who put in another great year for the American League West champs.

Leonard posted a career best 21 wins that season, completing half of his 40 starts while posting 294.2 innings of work, tossing four shutouts and posting an ERA of 3.33.

Three aces of the era led by one of the all-time greats in Nolan Ryan. Not too shabby!

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1978 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

Up on the blog today, we have a 1978 “expanded league leader” card that features the top three strikeout pitchers in the American League for 1977:

 

Of course we begin with the king, California Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan, who led the A.L. with his 341 strikeouts, almost ONE HUNDRED more than the runner-up!

It was the fifth time in six years Ryan reached the 300-strikeout plateau, something he would do one more time TWELVE years later when he’d K 301 with the Texas Rangers at the age of 42 in 1989. Just mind-boggling!

He would top 200+ strikeouts 15 seasons over his incredible Major League career, finishing with 5714 and atop the all-time list, something we may never see matched or broken.

In second place with 244 strikeouts, former Kansas City ace Dennis Leonard, who reached the 200-K mark for what would be the only time in his career.

Leonard also won 20 games that year, his first of three such campaigns for the perennial A.L. West powerhouse Royals of the late-70’s/early-80’s, while posting innings totals that would destroy a pitcher of today, with a high of 294.2 in 1978, which followed a 1977 season of 292.2.

Sadly arm troubles cut his career short by 1982, and he was out of baseball by 1986 after only 45 appearances the final three years of his Big League tenure.

In third place with 205 strikeouts, Nolan Ryan’s teammate Frank Tanana, who was still a fire-balling pitcher before he’d change his game to becoming a true “pitcher” after arm issues set in.

For Tanana, it was his third straight 200-strikeout campaign, leading the league with his 269 K’s in 1975 before a follow-up season of 261 in 1976.

What a one-two pitching punch Ryan and Tanana were for the Angels back then! Must have been something to witness.

There you have it! The top three power-pitchers of the American League in 1977, on an “expanded” league-leader card for 1978.

 

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADER: 1978 A.L. E.R.A.

On the blog today, we move on to the American League and the top three pitchers in regards to earned run average for the 1977 season, displayed on an “expanded league leader” card:

 

We begin with young power-pitching stud Frank Tanana, who was building an impressive career in just a couple of seasons in the Big Leagues, leading the American League with his 2.54 ERA for the California Angels.

Still only 23 years of age, the man was already a strikeout king in 1975 with his 269 K’s, a 19-game winner the following year, and now an ERA leader along with a league-leading seven shutouts in 1977.

He’d continue this into 1978 when he posted 18 wins, though his strikeouts decreased from 205 in 1977 to 137, a sign of things to come.

In 1979 he’d appear in only 18 games, with arm trouble settling in, but he managed to successfully turn his pitching style into one of “pitcher” instead of “flamethrower”, incredibly putting in another 15 years in the Major Leagues, retiring in 1993 with 240 wins and 2773 K’s, along with 34 shutouts over 638 games.

In second place with a 2.72 ERA in 1977, a pitcher who seemed to be in second place in many categories over the decade, Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who put in another “typical” Blyleven-esque season with 14 wins, five shutouts and 182 strikeouts, the first time he didn’t reach 200 in over seven years.

Another absolute stud from that era who was grossly overlooked, thanks in part because of pitching at the same time as guys named “Seaver”, “Palmer” and “Carlton”, among many others.

Blyleven also pitched more than 20 years in the Majors, finishing up in 1992 after 22 years, with 287 wins and 3701 strikeouts, along with 60 shutouts and a very nice 3.31 ERA.

In third place with a 2.77 ERA in 1977, yet ANOTHER pitcher who played for over 20 years, the great Nolan Ryan, who put in a staggering 27 seasons under the Big League sun!

His 1977 season was another successful one for the “Ryan Express”, posting 19 wins along with a league-leading 22 complete games and 341 strikeouts, giving him a third place finish in the Cy Young race, one of three such finishes over the course of his career.

By the time he was done in 1993, all he did was post 324 wins over 807 appearances, with a 3.19 ERA and 61 shutouts, with an astronomical 5714 strikeouts over 5386 innings. Just insane.

What a trio of pitchers here! Perhaps a record for total number of years shown on a three-panel card!

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1977 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

Next up in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, the 1977 card celebrating the top three American League strikeout pitchers of 1976:

 

Of course, if we're talking strikeouts during the decade of the 1970's, we talk about the great Nolan Ryan of the California Angels, who led the league once again with his 327 K's.

It was the fourth time he topped the magic "300" in five seasons, all league leading totals, while also topping the league with his seven shutouts, while also ironically leading the league with 18 losses against 17 wins, with a 3.36 earned run average.

The man was a machine in his prime, and would go on to lead his league in strikeouts another seven times before he was done some 17 years later at the age of 46!

Behind him with 261 strikeouts, his teammate and the league leader in 1975, Frank Tanana, who put together another wonderful year, going 19-10 with a 2.43 ERA over 34 starts, with two shutouts and 23 complete games with 288 innings of work.

Those numbers got him a third place finish in the Cy Young race by the end of the season, while making his first All-Star team, something he'd do in the successive two seasons.

By the time HE was done in his Major League career, he'd have 2773 strikeouts and 240 wins over 21 seasons, reinventing himself from "power" pitcher to "professional" pitcher after injuries almost derailed him in the late 1970's.

In third place with 219 K's, Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who split the season between the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.

It was the sixth consecutive year he topped 200 strikeouts, while posting a record of 13-16 over 36 starts, with six shutouts and 18 complete games.

By the time he hung them up in 1992 at the age of 41, he'd finish with 3701 K's with 287 wins and 60 shutouts, enough to get him into Cooperstown, albeit many years later in 2011.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1975 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

On the blog today, we move on to the American League and their top three strikeout pitchers of 1974, proudly displayed on a 1975 “Expanded League Leader” card, and boy are they some heavy duty arms:

 

 

The first of the three Hall of Fame pitchers is the top K-man of 1974, legend Nolan Ryan of course, who topped the Junior Circuit with 367 strikeouts, following up his historic 1973 season when he set the (still) standing Major League record of 383 K’s.

I mean, the man did this EVEN with the introduction of the Designated Hitter! Can we theoretically add about 10-20 more strikeouts per season for the man had he also faced pitchers batting in the ninth spot? Could he have reached 400 strikeouts in 1973? Just staggering.

Almost 120 strikeouts behind Ryan for second place, another Hall of Famer, Bert Blyleven of the Minnesota twins, who STILL managed to whiff a very nice 249 batters in 1974.

It was his fourth straight season of 200+ K’s, on his way to eight such seasons before he was done in 1992, finishing up with 3701 strikeouts over his incredible career.

In third place, another legend, who had no problem adjusting to a new league, Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, who made the most of his first season with the Texas Rangers after coming over in a blockbuster trade from the Chicago Cubs, striking out 225 batters while also tying for the league lead with 25 wins, his seventh and final 20+ win season of his amazing career. It was also his last season with 200+ K’s, the sixth of his career, on his way to 3192 strikeouts, while also becoming the first pitcher to ever finish his career with 3000+ strikeouts with LESS than 1000 base on balls, in his case just under the mark with 997.

Three of the era’s best pitchers on one nifty “expanded league leader” card right here!

CUSTOM SPOTLIGHT: 1967 NOLAN RYAN

Today on the blog, we take a closer look at my “missing” 1967 card for Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who made his Big League debut in 1966 but didn’t get a Topps card until 1968:

 

 

The card was part of my “Whole Nine” custom set released last year, focusing on “missing” cards beyond the decade of the 1970’s, which was a fun exercise for me to work on stuff outside my “comfort zone”.

Ryan appeared in two games for the New York Mets in 1966 as a 19-year-old, tossing three innings and going 0-1 with a 15.00 earned run average with six strikeouts and three walks.

He would spend all of 1967 in the Minors before making it back for good in 1968, going 6-9 over 21 appearances with a 3.09 ERA in 134 innings, starting 18 and completing three.

Of course, the rest, as they say, is history, as he would go on to put in one of the most amazing careers in Major League history.

What really needs to be said about a guy who has become more myth than baseball legend?

300+ wins, 5700+ strikeouts, 60+ shutouts, and oh yeah SEVEN no-hitters, two of which came when he was well into his 40’s while with the Texas Rangers!

I used the 1974 template since he was fresh off his record-breaking 383 strikeout season of 1973, his second consecutive 300+ strikeout season, and on his way to make the Mets regret BIG TIME for letting him go.

I love thinking about the fact that he did all of this in the American League, with the designated hitter. Now imagine how many strikeouts he could have had in his prime pitching in the National League where the pitcher batted?!

Would it be safe to say you could add 20-30 strikeouts a season to his total?

Hey, you never know…

Nevertheless, the man became a baseball God, eventually finding his place in the Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility as an absolute no-brainer.

I just thank the skies above that I got to see him pitch in-person!

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS- 1975 A.L. VICTORIES

On the blog today, we move on to the American League and their top winning pitchers for 1974, on a 1975 “expanded league leader” card:

 

 

The top spot with 25 victories was shared by two future Hall of Famers, Jim “Catfish” Hunter and Fergie Jenkins, who both had monster seasons and finished first and second respectively in the Cy Young race by season’s end.

For Hunter, he finally brought home the Cy Young Award after going 25-12 for the Oakland A’s, helping them win their third straight World Championship, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He also led the league with a 2.49 earned run average, starting 41 games and completing 23, with six shutouts and 143 strikeouts in 318.1 innings of work, edging out Jenkins 90 points to 75 for pitching’s greatest award.

For Jenkins, he just missed out on becoming the first pitcher to take home the award in both leagues, as he would go 25-12 with a 2.82 ERA over 41 starts, completing 29 while tossing six shutouts himself, striking out 225 batters for the surprising Texas Rangers.

It was the last of his seven 20-win seasons in the Majors, as he would go on to finish with 284 wins over his stellar 19-year Big League career.

In third place with 22 wins apiece are four solid starters from the decade, including one Hall of Famer: Nolan Ryan, Mike Cuellar, Steve Busby and Luis Tiant.

All four of these guys put in Cy worthy years for their respective teams, with Ryan leading the league with 367 strikeouts, Cuellar leading the league with his .688 winning percentage, Tiant leading the league with his seven shutouts and Busby tossing the second no-hitter of his young career, becoming the first pitcher to ever toss two no-no’s in his first two full seasons in the Majors.

Well there you have it! SIX top-notch pitchers of the era represented on a fun card to create for the blog!

 

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS-: 1974 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

The next card in line in my on-going "expanded league leaders" sub-set is the A.L. 1974 strikeout leaders card:

 

Of course we begin with the great Nolan Ryan and his record breaking 1973 campaign, when he broke the MLB strikeout record by one, with 383 K's.

Ryan was beginning his insane run at the record books, reaching 300+ strikeouts for the second straight year, in what would be five times out of six seasons between 1972 and 1977.

In addition to the strikeouts, he reached 20 wins for the first time in his career with 21, while posting a 2.87 ERA and four shutouts over 41 appearances, 39 of those starts.

Behind him with 258 strikeouts is another future Hall of Famer, Minnesota Twins ace Bert Blyleven, who reached 200+ K's for the third of what would be six seasons between 1971 and 1976.

Blyleven also reached 20 wins, the only time he would do so over his long career, tossing a league-leading nine shouts and posting an ERA of 2.52 over 40 starts.

Incredibly, after his 1976 season, he wouldn't reach 200-K's again until 1985 when he'd lead the A.L. with 206 in a season split between the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins.

In third place in the American League with 241 strikeouts in 1973, is another California Angels pitcher, Bill Singer, who had a great first season with his new team.

Coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Singer posted his second 20-win season, going 20-14 over 40 starts, with a 3.22 ERA and two shutouts, and helping set a new Major League record for strikeouts by teammates with Nolan Ryan, an astounding 624 between the two.

The record would stand until almost 30-years later when two dudes by the name of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling would seemingly strike everyone out in 2001, reaching 665 K's between them.

Well there you have it! The three top strikeout pitchers in the American League for 1973, expanded on a 1974 League Leader card.

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 A.L. STRIKEOUTS

Next up in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, where I give each league a dedicated league leader card with the top-3 finishers in each statistic as opposed to one card featuring the top in both leagues, is the 1973 A.L. strikeout leader card, with some top-notch arms:

 

First up, the arrival of Nolan Ryan, who made his first season as a California Angel a big one, striking out 329 batters in 1972, something we would all get used to for the next TWENTY years!

Ryan would go one to post an incredible six 300 strikeout campaigns, the last of which was in 1989 when he was 42 years old!

I mean, come on!

By the time the "Ryan Express" was done after a magnificent 27 year career, he'd make a joke out of the strikeout category, finishing with an astounding 5714.

The man posted fifteen 200+ strikeout seasons over his career, while going on to win 324 games, throwing seven no-hitters and 61 shutouts.

Just absurd.

Behind him in second place was a man who once held the Major League record for career strikeouts by a left-hander, Detroit Tigers ace Mickey Lolich, who whiffed 250 batters in 1972, the fifth time he reached 200 strikeouts in a season.

Lolich was coming off a 1971 season that saw him lead the league with 308 strikeouts, while also leading the league with 25 wins, good for a second place finish in the Cy Young race behind wunderkind Vida Blue of the Oakland A's.

By the time Lolich retired after the 1979 season, he finished with 2832 strikeouts, the most ever collected by a left-hander in MLB history.

Coming in third place in the A.L. with 234 strikeouts was Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry of the Cleveland Indians, who took home the Cy Young Award with his 24-16 record, with a 1.92 ERA and five shutouts, while tossing an amazing 342.2 innings over 41 appearances, all but one starts.

It was the fifth time for Perry reaching the 200-mark in strikeouts, something he'd do another three times before he was done, finishing with 3534 for his career.

Three super-stud arms finishing 1 through 3 in strikeouts, making for what would have been a nice card to add to the collection had it been done differently by Topps.

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- NOLAN RYAN

****UPDATE: REVISED CARD WITH IMAGE REVERSED****

Thank you "Unknown" for the heads up on the Ryan Image! I never even realized it was flipped!

Here's the corrected card below.

On the blog today, a wonderful addition to my on-going 1971 "Minor League Days" sub-set, adding the great Nolan Ryan, celebrating his great career:

Ryan was a 20-year-old flame-throwing kid when this photo was taken in 1967 while with the Jacksonville Suns.

He split the season in the Minors between three teams, appearing in only 12 games & posting a record of 1-1 in limited play.

Of course, he was well on his way to what would turn out to be a 27-year Big League career, pretty much making a joke out of "Father Time" by pitching into the 1993 season.

I know I don't have to state the obvious here, but we're talking: 300+ wins, 5000+ strikeouts, seven no-hitters, 11 strikeout titles with six of them being 300+ seasons, two E.R.A. crowns and an almost unanimous Hall of Fame induction.

The man was a machine! Just incredible...

 

1974 SPECIAL- THE RECORD-SETTING STRIKEOUT DUO OF NOLAN RYAN AND BILL SINGER

If you’re about my age (50) and remember the baseball days before some guys named Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling came along, you’ll remember the historic pitching duo of Nolan Ryan and Bill Singer seemingly striking everyone and their mothers out during the 1973 season.
Here’s my 1974 “special” celebrating their feat:

Found a very nice photo of Ryan and Singer, along with the most used catcher that season by the Angels, Jeff Torborg, and immediately thought of this card creation.
Of course, when you have Nolan Ryan’s record breaking 383 strikeouts, you’re off to a great head-start to set any kind of Major League record.
Now go and throw in Bill Singer’s 241 K’s, and you have a combined 624 punch-outs, setting a new Big League record that wouldn’t be surpassed until Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2001 with an incredible 664 K’s.
I always remember when Baseball Digest would have little specialty stats every so often like “40+ homers in three or more consecutive seasons”, “100+ homers in two consecutive seasons”, and the most strikeouts by teammate pitchers in a single season.
I loved grabbing each new issue when released and devouring all the info within like a sponge, leading to much mocking by my childhood friends calling me the “encyclopedia” and throwing baseball questions at me LITERALLY every day, and to this very day some 40 years later.
Anyway, it was a great season for these two guys, as they each won 20+ games, combined for those record-breaking strikeouts, threw six shutouts between them and logged 300+ innings each over 81 starts!
Those were certainly different times...

1973 SPECIAL- TOM SEAVER AND NOLAN RYAN

Here’s a “special” 1973 card I’ve been meaning to create for some time now, a Tom Seaver/Nolan Ryan edition with these two young pitching studs in their prime:

What can be said about these two that hasn’t already been stated a million times over?
“Tom Terrific” would go on to win three Cy Young Awards, top 300 wins and 60 shutouts, and strikeout over 3000 batters, while his former flame-throwing teammate “The Ryan Express” would demolish the Major League record for career strikeouts with over 5000, also win over 300 games and throw a record seven no-hitters while pitching into his mid 40’s.
Just an incredible pair of pitchers who marched straight for the Hall of Fame.
I won’t start listing their insane stats here since I’ve probably done so on the blog a couple dozen times before, but these two guys were, are and always will be legends of the game.

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: NOLAN RYAN. JUNE 1ST, 1975

Ho-Hum.
Time for another No-Hitter entry, and yep, it’s another gem tosses by legend Nolan Ryan, who threw his record-tying fourth such game on June 1st, 1975, matching the great Sandy Koufax for the most in one career:

Facing the Baltimore Orioles on a bright Sunday afternoon, Ryan went on to strike-out nine batters, while walking four, winning the game 1-0 thanks to a Dave Chalk third-inning single that brought speedster Mickey Rivers home.
Baltimore pitchers Ross Grimsley and Wayne Garland fought the good fight, allowing that one run while only walking one other batter, but alas, the “Ryan Express” was in full-swing in the mid-70’s, and just like that, in the course of a few seasons, he had four No-Hitters under his belt.
That Baltimore line-up was no slouch either!
Leading off for them was Ken Singleton, and they also had Al Bumbry, Don Baylor, Bobby Grich, Lee May and Brooks Robinson starting that day, with former two-time batting champ Tommy Davis pinch-hitting!
Just amazing.
Little did we know that Ryan still had three more no-no’s in that arm left, and he’d be slinging BB’s for another 18 years before hanging them up!

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: NOLAN RYAN. SEPTEMBER 28TH, 1974

The next no-hitter through the 1970’s profiled on the blog is the third such gem spun by the legend himself, Nolan Ryan, who reeled off another masterpiece, this time against the Minnesota Twins on September 28th, 1974:

“I knew this would probably be my last start of the season,” remarked California Angels speedballer Nolan Ryan. “I said to [catcher] Tom Egan , ‘I think I’ll let it all hang out. What do I have to lose?’”
Ha!
Having already thrown two no-hitters in 1973, Ryan came back and added to what would become one of the legendary careers in Major League baseball by striking out 15 batters (while also walking eight), keeping the Twins hitless for the third no-no in two seasons.
Just incredible.
And yet, little did any of us realize that the man would not only throw another FOUR no-hitters before he was done, but that the seventh and final no-hitter of his astonishing career would be SEVENTEEN years after this one, in 1991.
I mean, where do you even begin to explain to someone not familiar with baseball just how extraordinary this is?!
“The Ryan Express” is not of this earth!

1976 SPECIAL- NOLAN RYAN AND FRANK TANANA

Here was a fun card to create, a 1976 special featuring what was a powerful one-two punch for the California Angels, flame-throwers Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana:

The two pitchers combined for 455 strikeouts during the 1975 season, while posting 30 wins and 10 shutouts, with Tanana leading the league with 269 K’s while Ryan had a “down” year with only 186.
Both would keep it up over the next three seasons before Ryan became a record-breaking free agent in 1980, heading for Houston, while Tanana developed arm troubles, becoming a “pitcher” instead of just a “thrower”, successfully pitching through the 1993 season.
Together the duo pitched for 48 combined Big League seasons, striking out over 8000 batters, while winning 564 games between them.
Sadly for the Angels, the bulk of it was away from Anaheim.
Nevertheless, incredible.

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: NOLAN RYAN, JULY 15TH, 1973

Fresh off of Nolan Ryan’s first no-hitter profiled here on the blog, we have his second, thrown just two months later on July 15th against the Detroit Tigers, forever made famous when Tigers’ slugger Norn Cash came to the plate with two-out in the ninth wielding a table leg instead of a bat:

Cash had the right idea since Ryan was on a brutal roll, mowing down batter after batter not only that game, but that season, when he would finish with a (still) Major League record 383 strikeouts while posting 21 wins and a 2.87 ERA.
On this Sunday in particular, Ryan faced the Tigers at Tiger Stadium and proceeded to strikeout 17 batters against “only” four walks, striking out every Tiger batter at least once, shutting them out 6-0.
According to game re-caps, Ryan didn’t even need any great plays behind him to keep the gem going. Only a sharp line drive off the bat of Gates Brown with one out in the ninth was even considered a “sure hit” if not for Rudy Meoli shading him a bit to the right, snaring the drive about a foot over his head.
The “Ryan Express” was steaming his way into the record books, and to think he STILL had 20 more seasons to go before he was done!
Amazing.

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: NOLAN RYAN, MAY 15TH, 1973

The next no-hitter in my on-going thread celebrating the gems of the decade will be the first of four such beauties by none other than Nolan Ryan, “The Ryan Express”:

In what would be an astonishing seven career no-hitters over the course of his incredible Hall of Fame career, Nolan Ryan set down the Kansas City Royals one-by-one, facing the minimum 27 batters even though he walked three.
Over those nine innings he whiffed 12 Royals, including clean-up hitter John Mayberry all three at-bats, picking up his fifth victory against three defeats, lowering his season earned run average to 2.71.
It was early in the record-breaking 1973 season for Ryan, as he would go on to post 21 wins with an ERA at 2.87, with four shutouts and a STILL MLB record 383 strikeouts over 41 appearances and 326 innings.
Thing about it: the man was in his seventh Major League season, and still had another 20 to go, as he would win 324 games, strikeout a ridiculous 5714 batters, and throw 61 shutouts to go along with those seven no-hitters.
His career still boggles my mind.