Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 17, 1990                   TAG: 9004170235
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

SEEING RYAN PITCH IS LIKE LOOKING AT ART

Ryan is on the road to 300 career wins and he stopped at Yankee Stadium over the weekend to pick up No. 291. After a homestand in Arlington, his next stops are Kansas City, Chicago and Cleveland.

Watching Nolan Ryan pitch a baseball game is like going to a museum to see a Van Gogh, or to the concert hall to hear a Mozart symphony.

First, Ryan catches your senses and then your breath.

When Ryan is on the mound, history is right there with him.

He has pitched in four decades, and each of his 42 major-league records seem to have a story to tell.

The 43-year-old Ryan has pitched a record five no-hitters, yet none may have been his best game.

"I still think one of the best games I ever pitched was against Boston," Ryan said. "I retired the last 26 hitters in a row.

"I led the game off with a walk, struck somebody out, and then Carl Yastrzemski hit a ground ball through the hole between short and third."

Ryan drops names like Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays like friends trying to get together for a pickup game in Central Park.

He has struck out 44 MVP winners and 19 Hall of Famers with more to come.

Ryan has also fanned Bobby and Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey and Ken Jr. He also struck out brothers Jesus, Felipe and Matty Alou.

His last appearance at Yankee Stadium before Saturday was July 25, 1979, and that had a story, too.

"I hurt myself in the first inning," Ryan recalled. "I struck out two and hurt my elbow on a pitch to Reggie Jackson and that was my last pitch."

Ryan's marquee numbers are easy. He is the all-time strikeout leader with 5,084 and nine wins short of the magic 300 mark. Next on the strikeout list is Steve Carlton with 4,136.

To put it in perspective, for a pitcher starting out to reach Ryan's totals, he would have to average 20 wins and 339 strikeouts for 15 seasons.

Despite his many records, Ryan's critics, only until recently, said he was just a .500 pitcher (291-263).

"I think it's the nature of the teams I've played on," Ryan said. "Of all the clubs I've been with, this club has the offensive potential to be the best team I've ever played on."

After eight seasons and four no-hitters in California, Ryan spent nine years in Houston before signing as a free agent with the Texas Rangers last year.

At 42, Ryan was 16-10 with a major-league high 301 strikeouts in 1989. Five times he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Five times it didn't seem possible, either.

Keywords:
BASEBALL