Some thoughts on the subject...
Baseball fandom
IS emotion. You can’t possibly quantify what makes a player so beloved that his cards are
‘overvalued.’
With
Nolan Ryan, there’s a truckload of reasons for the adoration and here are a base
(pun intended) few:
•
Miracle Mets
He started his career as a
Met, in the huge
New York market, and was part of their
1969 championship, which for the longest time
(perhaps still?) was the greatest
World Series victory ever. That cast a long shadow that still follows him to this day. We
Mets fans are nutjobs. His
“Folo card” (first solo) is from that
1969 championship year
(which intangibly adds to its value) and is highly sought after everywhere you go.
•
Multigenerational
Some players lasted long enough that fathers and sons both were able to cheer for them in their younger days, but it’s a very rare event when someone is
multi-multigenerational (probably not a word). Grandfathers, their sons, and their grandchildren all could’ve been actively rooting for
Ryan in their times. He played on and on and on, and never seemed to lose his...
•
Fastball
Like power hitters and their monster home runs, so is a blazing fastball strikeout to a pitcher. You want him to
'K' the batter, and the bigger the name of the hitter, the better.
Ryan was perceived as throwing the ball faster than any human being alive ever. No way to quantify that, of course, but that’s what fans thought every time he took the mound.
But even the word
"fast" doesn’t really cover it. He threw super
hard, which is a word that combines blazing velocity with stopping power. You'd think anyone stepping into the batter's box would feel intimidated and backed into a corner facing him. They'd have to keep their front foot at the ready for a quick bail out, all the while thinking,
"If he hits me, I'm dead!!!" 
•
Silent Warrior
His approach to the game is something that should be emulated by all players these days. He went out every fourth day and did his job. There was no
showboating or
look-at-me-ism. If he was able to pitch, he went out and pitched. We all remember when his
no-hitter and
Rickey Henderson’s record-breaking stolen base occurred on the same day.
Rickey declared himself
“the greatest,” and
Nolan simply smiled and doffed his cap to the crowd. That work ethic combined with modesty goes a long way, especially in a hard-working state like
Texas.