Pitchers then and now (MLB)

[IndyHawk]

There is no forum close to this but the Mariners (sorry)
Anyway, some of you have seen me complain about high PCs and IPd.
This article really captures some of the stuff I remember and really no
reason why it should be different today, other than you're thinking scared.

What defines an ace in 2025? Breaking down what success looks like for today's star pitchers

Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are having great seasons within the context of modern baseball. But how do they compare to aces of the past? Let's find out.

www.espn.com

 

[Ostatehawk]

Nolan Ryan - that is all.

• Ryan pitched 807 games; more than Carlton, Maddux, and Warren Spahn,
• He threw 222 complete games
• He threw 61 shutouts.
• His 5,714 career strikeouts came in 5,386 innings…more than one an inning.
• Ryan holds the all-time record for the lowest number of hits allowed—6.6—per nine innings pitched (1,000 innings minimum). Right behind him? Sandy Koufax.
• He is also tops in the Majors in “opponents batting average” at .204 (that’s what all batters hit against him). The runner up? Mr. Koufax.
• He holds the single-season strikeout record with 383, breaking the existing record, held by Sandy Koufax, by one.
• He led the league in strikeouts 11 times (seven out of eight times from ’72-’79).
• He led the league in Ks when he was 40 years old….and 41, 42, and 43.
• He struck out more than 300 in a season six times, tying him with Randy Johnson.
• At the age of 42 in 1989, Nolan Ryan struck out 301 hitters. No…let’s call them batters.
• His first no-hitter came on May 15, 1973, his second season with the California Angels.
• No-hitter number two came just two months later, with a win over the Tigers.
• He threw his next and third no-hitter the next year (’74) in late September with a win over the Twins.
• In June of 1975, Ryan pitched his 4th no-no against Baltimore. His four no-hitters, all with the same team, no less, tied him with…Koufax.
• Six seasons later in 1981 and now with Houston, he passed Koufax with a 5-0 no-hitter against…the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Skip ahead nine seasons this time to June of 1990, when Ryan tossed no-hitter number six against Oakland.
• Ryan, at age 44, became the older pitcher to throw a no-hitter with a his seventh against the Blue Jays in May of 1991.
• A case of “Ryanitis”
  
  There were players, it was said, who would come up with a one-day temporary “illness” that may have prevented them from playing on nights when Nolan Ryan was slated to pitch. It was called “Ryanitis,” and all MLB batters understood. Everyone who faced Nolan Ryan was well of what awaited them when they stepped in the batter’s box, even the greats.
  
  • Reggie Jackson: "(Nolan) Ryan's the only guy who puts fear in me. Not because he could get me out, but because he could kill me. You just hoped to mix in a walk so you could have a good night and go 0-for-3."
  • Pete Rose: “At the age of 41, Nolan Ryan is the top power pitcher in the league. You can talk about Dwight Gooden, you can talk about Mike Scott, you can talk about whoever you want, but none of them throw as consistently hard as Ryan does.”
• Ultimate, and fitting, recognition.
  
  In 1999 Nolan Ryan was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, his first year of eligibility. He received 98.79% of the vote and was only six votes short of a unanimous election.

 

[Ostatehawk]

And I'd like to know who the six douchebags were that didn't vote for Ryan.

 

[Ostatehawk]

I read story somewhere about Ryan a while back - sadly cannot find it again - but it was something like this:

He was 38 years old - pitching a complete game shut out in a 0-0 game in the 11th inning. He gave up a hit and his manager came to the mound to pull him. Ryan ignored him until it was obvious he wasn't leaving then Ryan turned to him and told him to go back to the dugout. he did. Ryan then struck out the next three batters and the game was won in the bottom of the inning.

 

[Ostatehawk]

For what is is worth - Greg Maddux also a freak of a pitcher.

 

[IndyHawk]

And I'd like to know who the six douchebags were that didn't vote for Ryan.

Koufax pitching his last 5-6 years with a torn UCL and dominated,
only Ryan came close to him.

 

[IndyHawk]

For what is is worth - Greg Maddux also a freak of a pitcher.

How many pitches in that complete game? 56 or something?

 

[Ostatehawk]

Right? Some ridiculously low number I am sure.

 

[RiverDog]

Ryan and Koufax are definitely on my Top 10 list, but you can't mention those guys without saying something about Bob Gibson.

Gibson did something that almost certainly won't be broken in our lifetimes. In 1968, Gibson posted a 1.12 ERA while pitching 26 complete games, winning 22 and losing 9. That year in the World Series, Gibson pitched 27 innings and posted an ERA of 1.67, having pitched 27 innings, ie 3 complete games.

Ryan became one of my personal heroes when Robin Ventura, nearly 20 years younger than Ryan, charged the mound and got more than he bargained for:

 

[Ostatehawk]

Ryan and Koufax are definitely on my Top 10 list, but you can't mention those guys without saying something about Bob Gibson.

Gibson did something that almost certainly won't be broken in our lifetimes. In 1968, Gibson posted a 1.12 ERA while pitching 26 complete games, winning 22 and losing 9. That year in the World Series, Gibson pitched 27 innings and posted an ERA of 1.67, having pitched 27 innings, ie 3 complete games.

Ryan became one of my personal heroes when Robin Ventura, nearly 20 years younger than Ryan, charged the mound and got more than he bargained for:

Gibson - an all time great.

Robin Ventura is still mad about this ass whipping he took. Rumor is Ventura wont sign any photos of that event if asked. HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

 

[RiverDog]

Gibson - an all time great.

Robin Ventura is still mad about this ass whipping he took. Rumor is Ventura wont sign any photos of that event if asked. HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

I haven't followed it that closely, but my understanding is that Ryan and Ventura have been together on the same talk show and joked about it. Ryan himself, immediately after the fight, said that he holds no hard feelings and understood why Ventura charged him, said it was a heat of the moment thing.

One of the things about Gibson is that, like Don Drysdale, he would hit batters. If you hit a home run off him, you'd better not do a bunch of celebrating or else the next one would be in your ear.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

Much needed Geno HR, glad to see him snap out of this slump.

 

[Double Tribble]

That took mad stones by Ventura to do that. Wow.