OSJ Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Ryan was a freak of nature. I was at the game when that magnificent arm had finally had enough and snapped. You could hear the "pop" in the stands. No, he wasn't the greatest pitcher ever, probably not in the top ten, but he was always a joy to watch as you never knew what was going to happen. I don't know how many time I saw him pitch out of a bases loaded situation (that was mostly his fault) with one out by striking out the next two batters. A starting pitcher with the mind of a closer, that was Ryan. Funny memory, in the early 1970s some buddies at the bar and I were going to go see the Angels beat up the hapless M's. We had to chose between Friday and Saturday night, so we went with who was starting for the Halos. We went Friday to see Frank Tananna as he was obviously a better pitcher than Ryan... (And for a couple of years this was true.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Ive always thought Ryan was probably helped by being injured early in his career, which saved wear and tear on his arm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Was reading an article about pitcher's arms and one of the commenters mentioned a June 14, 1974 game featuring Luis Tiant vs Nolan Ryan. The game went 15 innings, with Ryan throwing the first 13 innings, while allowing 3 runs, striking out 19 and walking 10. Supposedly he threw 254 pitches. Tiant meanwhile pitched a 14-1/3 inning complete game, losing the game in the bottom of the 15th. The game lasted just 4:02. Ryan went out and threw 6 shutout innings against the Yankees four days later. Here is the boxscore of said game Ryan actually gave up 2 runs in the top of the 9th. The fact that the Sox got more men on base via walk than hit is really sad though it makes me giggle so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 I like how John throws out "probably belongs in the HOF" And - while I am not necessarily disagreeing with you in regards to "best player on team" comment - are you using a blanket statement that it was always Mariano? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cristobal Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 I think he was probably the best player on the team in that 98/99 period where he'd eclipsed Bernie and Tino but before the emergence of Soriano and Posada, or when Giambi and later Rodriguez came in. I don't remember them having any top-notch pitching in those years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabe Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Best player in 99 probably but Bernie was better in 98. Better year at the plate and a lot better defensively. Other than 99, Bernie was pretty much always better. But, yeah, Jeter is a HOF'er.- and yet I'm not convinced Bernie is. Shows how important position is, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Dont mess with Justice Sontamayor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Jordan still got the call didn't he. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Find it funny that Baba Booey and the Cookie Monster has the same policy on keeping the hitters honest than Nolan Ryan. Maybe the Pirates should sign them to help on their ever increasing hit batter stat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 People are sleeping on Santa Claus, and his nasty sinker. You see it, you swing, and then it's just gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Also, Verne Troyer's rising fastball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabe Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Pretty sure Greg Maddux chose to not throw a strike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Pretty sure Greg Maddux chose to not throw a strike. We can't judge his until we have the entire at bat's worth of pitches. The data should be in sometime around 2027 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 This leaves out the ugly hooker I saw him with in Seattle.Don't be so hard on Jay Buhner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyWhioux Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Gotta admit, I'm impressed with Dubya's "Bring it on!" Challenge Fastball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesterCopperpot Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Edwin Encarnacion is just flat out nuts right now - 16 homers this month. Kansas City have 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Jose Bautista has got a god damn cannon It's not every day you see 9 - 3 on your scoring sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 A lot of things worked together to help that work, but I assume Butler's slow as hell to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Gotta admit, I'm impressed with Dubya's "Bring it on!" Challenge Fastball. The guy he threw it at didn't want it and threw it back. So Dubya threw it at him harder and he ducked it. So Dubya got a whole basket of balls and kept throwing them at the guy until he didn't have enough strength left to keep dodging and just took them for awhile until George got tired and left. And then the guy gathered up all the balls and started throwing them at other people. It's called Baseball Democracy. Sadly, when George got home and his family wanted to play some catch he realized he was all out of balls and told them to go make their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabe Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Jose Bautista has got a god damn cannon It's not every day you see 9 - 3 on your scoring sheet. See that a couple times a year. It's not so much that he has a great arm - which he does - but that he plays on turf, the ball was hit straight at him, and a slow runner didn't hustle out of the box. I've seen Ichiro make the same play. It's pretty embarrassing for the hitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 Poor poor slow ass Billy Butler... we have all been there brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Poor poor slow ass Billy Butler... we have all been there brother Inner dialog: Hey, cool. I needed a hitno no no no no NO NO NO NONONONO!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesterCopperpot Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Jose Bautista has got a god damn cannon It's not every day you see 9 - 3 on your scoring sheet. You can see it tonight again - by Bautista again http://www.thescore.com/news/511626 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChesterCopperpot Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 3 Red Sox managers and a pitcher tossed tonight vs Tampa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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