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Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. (born January 31, 1947) is a former American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played in a major league record 27 seasons for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers, from 1966 to 1993. more...

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Ryan, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, threw pitches that were regularly recorded above 100 mph, even past the age of 40. The media tagged him, or more specifically his pitching, as "The Ryan Express" (a reference to the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express).

Ryan was an eight-time MLB All-Star, and his 5,714 career strikeouts rank first in baseball history. He leads the runner-up, Roger Clemens, by over 1,000 strikeouts as of the end of the 2007 season. Clemens and Randy Johnson are both active and who are both over the 4,600-strikeout mark. Similarly, Ryan's 2,795 bases on balls lead second-place Steve Carlton by 962—walking over 50% more hitters than any other pitcher in Major League history.

Ryan is the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven, three more than any other pitcher. He is tied with Bob Feller for the most one-hitters, with 12. Ryan also pitched 18 two-hitters.

Early life

Ryan was born in Refugio, Texas, the youngest of six children, but his family moved to the Houston suburb of Alvin when he was 6 weeks old. As a young boy, he enjoyed throwing objects at any target. His father thought that baseball was a better usage for his arm, therefore he encouraged Nolan to play the game.

Ryan joined Little League Baseball when he was nine, and pitched the first no-hitter of his life a few years later. Ryan also played various positions besides pitcher.

Playing career

New York Mets

In 1965, after graduating from high school, Ryan signed a professional baseball contract with the New York Mets, and was assigned to a minor league team in the Appalachian League called the Marion Mets in Marion, Virginia. When Ryan was called up to the New York club, he was the second-youngest player in the league. He would end his career as the oldest player in Major League Baseball. His first strikeout victim was Pat Jarvis, and he gave up his first major league home run to Joe Torre, future manager of both the New York Mets and Yankees.

Ryan spent 1967 back in the minor leagues because of his inability to find the strike zone. Ryan did not stick in the majors for good until the 1968 season. Despite a blazing fastball, even then he was unable to crack the Mets outstanding pitching rotation, led by Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. Ryan was used more as a reliever and spot starter by the 1969 Mets. To deal with frequent blisters on his throwing hand he frequently soaked his fingers in pickle brine, although the technique's effectiveness was questioned both by Ryan's teammates and coaches.

Read more at Wikipedia.org