Hey Bill, I resemble that remark. Theres gotta be something in between. Nolan Ryan didn't pitch in the 50s and they didn't lean out over the plate on him. He would place a 95 mph fastball under their chin. Not hit em but they knew he owned the plate. Now they would warn him and if he did it again theyd throw him out of the game. Maybe in need to watch silent movies. They are just hard to hear. Doug
Doug,
Back in Nolan Ryan's day, the strike zone wasn't 3 feet wide by 3 inches tall. If, today, they started calling a plate wide, letters to the numbers strike zone (like they should), Nolan Ryan could come out of retirement and win 15 games a season with that rising fastball of his.
Ryan was one, incredible, athlete. A freak of nature.
I was browsing his stats the other day and found a game in which he threw 235 pitches. 235 EFFING' PITCHES!!! IN ONE EFFING' GAME!!!
I think it was Oscar Gamble who said a good night facing Ryan was going 0 for 3 with a walk. That meant you didn't go 0 for 4. Another big leaguer said a good night was going 0-4 and not getting hit in the head by a pitch...
His last pitch in the major leagues, with an arm that was toast, was in the mid-nineties.
They don't make them like him anymore...one incredible human being.
And bugger all you naysayers...baseball is a great game. I love it!
Justin