Jesus David Castellano / @_JDCastellano
Nolan Ryan and the word punch were practically best friends for years, the ferocity and explosiveness with which he threw were unique to the point that in 2010; At 63 years old, he threw a ceremonial pitch at 85 miles per hour. And the art of what is learned is never lost, and with one of the best pitchers of his generation, that was the case.
This Saturday, April 27, marks the 41st anniversary of his 3,509th strikeout, with which he surpassed Walter Johnson as the gunman with the most lifetime guillotines in the Major Leagues.
He did so after throwing out five batters in the Astros’ victory over the Montreal Expos in his third start of 1983, breaking a record that stood for more than five decades; precisely since 1927, when Walter Johnson played the last of his 21 seasons with the Washington Nationals (not to be confused with the current Nationals).
The fourth strikeout; The one with whom he matched Johnson was catcher Tim Blackwell, who made a failed swing at a fastball on a count of 3 and 2 to cause uproar among those present that day at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. “Everyone went crazy when he struck out Blackwell,” said Expos pinch-hitter Brad Mills, who was up next after Blackwell. “But he had been in the tunnel for three entries, so he didn’t know where he was.”
He froze Mills with a curveball
Mills; who was batting for Doug Flynn, quickly went down in the count, and with one ball and two strikes, Nolan Ryan changed the dose and frozen him with a curveball to complete the historic strikeout.
Baseball from Nolan Ryan’s 3,509th strikeout. (Photo: Milo Stewart Jr./National Baseball Hall of Fame)
As for Walter Johnson; The one born in Humboldt (state of Kansas), is considered by many the best pitcher of all time, such was his imprint that a hitter of Ty Cobb’s caliber even declared that he “shivered” and “hissed with danger” with his explosive four-seam fastball.
Guns that measure speed weren’t invented until decades later, but a scientific study at a munitions lab clocked his fastball at 91mph, something masterful for the time. We will never know if he really reached such a level with his fastball, but what is certain is that Johnson wreaked havoc during his time in the best baseball in the world and that he was the fastest pitcher in the Dead Ball Era.
To date, he is the all-time leader in shutouts (110), he managed to accumulate eight consecutive seasons leading both Leagues in goals – averaging 212 Ks per season – and his lifetime effectiveness of 2.17 is the lowest with a minimum of 5,000 episodes of labor.
“Without a doubt, the best pitcher who ever scraped a rubber with his nails,” Frank Graham told Baseball Magazine in 1947.
He took the brand to other dimensions
Now, Johnson’s record seemed almost unbreakable, that it required an entire career – at least 21 years pitching at the highest level – to dream of the record, but “The Express” ended all kinds of myths, it not only broke the mark , but eliminated 2,037 opponents during his next 10 seasons; to take his exposure to levels unimaginable for any pitcher.
There were more than five thousand strikeouts; 5,714 to be exact. No one has been close to that barrier. Other virtuosos of the art of guillotining one rival after another, such as Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens or Steve Carlton, fell short. For others, health has not been so good, as in the cases of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw or Pedro Martínez; to name some of our times.
That harvest started late
The curious? Ryan began that 1983 season on the injured list, missing the first 21 days of that season. There was even a risk that he would not make the aforementioned third start against the Expos, his physical inconveniences only delayed the inevitable, as he entered 1983 with 14 Ks left to surpass Walter Johnson.
“I had to drain the blister after the seventh inning,” Nolan Ryan said that day, “and I knew there was a good chance I wouldn’t get a chance to pitch the ninth.” something that actually happened, since he pitched eight innings in that game.
Steve Carlton, in fact, also surpassed Walter Johnson in 1983. And a total of seven pitchers also surpassed him. But, nothing like Ryan’s milestone, just as Hank Aaron made great history by breaking Babe Ruth’s decades-old mark, “The Express” also did just enough by surpassing the record of a legendary like Walter Johnson.
They are one of those feats that have a special dimension, due to the mysticism that is created around the men behind those previous achievements and the natural resistance of seeing such old brands fall.
References consulted
- Baseball-Reference
- baseballhall
- SABR
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2024-04-27 23:00:08
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