You know, so many collectors and statisticians think because of this number, that number, this percentage, and the ninth split hair, this guy should be worth more money, or should have won this or that award.
I turned nineteen in 1973, and when I wasn't long distance running, or thinking about girls, I occasionally watched to see what was going on in baseball. I never heard Jim Palmer's name mentioned that year. On the other hand, I frequently heard Nolan Ryan's name mentioned. He seemed to be capturing the imagination of all of baseball. People, fans love underdogs. They admire them. They root for them. My dear Mom was that way, and so I became that way, too.
Nolan Ryan DOMIMATED baseball in those years. His sourpuss critics whined he walked too much, in the same way Babe Ruth and later Mickey Mantle were said to strike out too much.
I think he should have won the Cy Young award in 1973. Maybe the Angels weren't a last place club; they may as well have been. To achieve what Nolan did IN SPITE OF ..... raunchy run support, was a sight to behold.
Years earlier, somehow Dean Chance was able to put an amazing year together in spite of lousy run support from his Angel teammates(five 1-0 wins!).
Nolan Ryan made a career out of pitching amazing games with low run support. In fact, Major League Baseball ought to retire the Cy Young Award and make it the Nolan Ryan Award! The Cyclone won 511 games. Nolan won over America and struck out a million batters! Of course, I over-exaggerated a little, but even when he lost, people just loved seeing him pitch. The batters? Well, I liked what Dale Murphy said---that Nolan was the one pitcher you started to think about TWO DAYS BEFORE YOU HAD TO FACE HIM. That's what I call fear, and respect.
I will conclude with a story. Back in the early 90s, when I was living in northern Indiana, I met a young teen at church. We were talking about baseball cards, and he told me he wanted to show me his most cherished card. It turned out to be a 1975 Topps Mini Nolan Ryan. That's one beautiful card, guys. Well, I oohed and ahhed over it; I didn't have that one.
So, it just goes to show what a young collector prized back then. It wasn't Palmer, Brooksie or Frank, Pete, Oh Henry, the original Reggie bar, or even Charlie Hustle, Dale Murphy, Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, or Rotten Barry Bogus Bonds. No sir, it was Nolan Ryan! Long live his fame--award or no award. Nolan Ryan won something much, much harder----the love and respect of fans everywhere, and the love and respect of his wife and children.
After all that, he went out in style: got a pitch a little too close to Robin Ventura, and THE RYAN EXPRESS proceeded to put the bully in a headlock and punch his lights out. Way da go, Nolan----YOU ROCK!
After all this, I think I'll go and buy a Nolan Ryan baseball card!
--- Brian Powell