I watched a game where he no-hit the Giants through 7+ innings,.. his fastball was blazing with pinpoint accuracy, and the batters were helpless when he mixed in his wicked curve,.. he was so great I couldn't help but root for him against my own team,.. I've only done that one other time, I'm ashamed to say who.
Ryan was a threat to pitch a no hitter every time he stepped on the mound. Besides 7 no hitters he pitched 12 1 hit games. He was my favorite ever pitcher to watch. I wss lucky enough to see him live a few times when he was with the Astros.
Verlander struck out 15 in 7 innings last night. Ryan would have stayed in the game and got 17 or 18.
Nolan Ryan threw 17,309 fastballs during his career and not a single one was clocked at less than 90 miles per hour. Aroldis Chapman is credited with the fastest pitch ever at 105 but when adjusted for radar gun placement Ryan had a 108 mph fastball in 1974. He also had a devastating 12 to 6 curve.
Speaking of homeruns, LSU has a couple of Geauxrilla Ball era records that will never be broken. The 1997 b2b national championship team hit 188 HRs, obliterating the previous record of 161 by BYU in 1988 and included a HR in every game that year (70). The streak extended another 18 games into 1998. So they homered in 88 straight games, which is another record that will never be broken. Even in a regular season 28-2 loss to national runner up Alabama, the 2 runs were courtesy of 2 solo blasts by Brandon Larson, who hit 40? that year, I think.
Tony Gwynn faced Maddox 107 times and had a batting avg of .400 and never struck out. If he couldn't break it...
You would think 40 would get you the college HR title but the same year Lance Berkman of Rice hit 41.
True, but in head to head matchup in the CWS, Larson hit one that probably hasn't even landed yet. That one should count for 2 and he should be tied with Berkman at 41.