Nolan Ryan, baseball player, 1966-1993

Nolan Ryan

⭐ Hall of Fame 1999

Born: 1/31/1947 in Refugio, TX, USA

MLB Debut: 1966-09-11 | Final Game: 1993-09-22

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'2" | Weight: 170 lbs

Full name: Lynn Nolan Ryan

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Biography

Nolan Ryan, born in 1947, was a legendary pitcher whose career spanned from 1966 to 1993. Known for his blazing fastball and durability, Ryan finished his career with a remarkable record of 324 wins and 292 losses, accompanied by a 3.19 earned run average. He amassed a staggering 5,714 strikeouts, cementing his status as one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers in Major League Baseball history. Over his 27-year career, Ryan was selected to the All-Star Game eight times and became a symbol of pitching excellence, particularly during an era that valued power pitching. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, Ryan's influence extended beyond his statistics. He was a pioneer in the use of advanced training and conditioning methods, contributing to his longevity in the game, which was unusual for pitchers of his time. His fierce competitive spirit and iconic no-hitters—seven in total—have made him a revered figure not just in Texas, where he spent a significant portion of his career, but across the entire baseball landscape. Ryan's legacy is not only defined by his impressive numbers but also by his impact on future generations of pitchers and the game itself.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
324 292 807 773 222 61 3 5386.0 3923 1911 321 2795 5714 3.19 0

Career ERA 3.19 vs. league average 3.77 across their career seasons — 15.3% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1966 NYN NL 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 3.0 5 5 3 6 15.00 — 0.0
1968 NYN NL 6 9 21 18 3 0 0 134.0 93 46 75 133 3.09 2.98 (-4%) -1207.7
1969 NYN NL 6 3 25 10 2 0 1 89.3 60 35 53 92 3.53 3.61 (+2%) 2078.7
1970 NYN NL 7 11 27 19 5 2 1 131.7 86 50 97 125 3.42 3.89 (+12%) -481.5
1971 NYN NL 10 14 30 26 3 0 0 152.0 125 67 116 137 3.97 3.47 (-14%) -1761.6
1972 LAA AL 19 16 39 39 20 9 0 284.0 166 72 157 329 2.28 3.26 (+30%) -
1973 LAA AL 21 16 41 39 26 4 1 326.0 238 104 162 383 2.87 3.75 (+23%) -
1974 LAA AL 22 16 42 41 26 3 0 332.7 221 107 202 367 2.89 3.63 (+20%) -
1975 LAA AL 14 12 28 28 10 5 0 198.0 152 76 132 186 3.45 3.71 (+7%) -
1976 LAA AL 17 18 39 39 21 7 0 284.3 193 106 183 327 3.36 3.51 (+5%) -
1977 LAA AL 19 16 37 37 22 4 0 299.0 198 92 204 341 2.77 4.00 (+31%) -
1978 LAA AL 10 13 31 31 14 3 0 234.7 183 97 148 260 3.72 3.69 (-1%) -
1979 LAA AL 16 14 34 34 17 5 0 222.7 169 89 114 223 3.60 4.00 (+10%) -
1980 HOU NL 11 10 35 35 4 2 0 233.7 205 87 98 200 3.35 3.84 (+13%) 5805.5
1981 HOU NL 11 5 21 21 5 3 0 149.0 99 28 68 140 1.69 3.58 (+53%) 4986.0
1982 HOU NL 16 12 35 35 10 3 0 250.3 196 88 109 245 3.16 3.86 (+18%) 4363.0
1983 HOU NL 14 9 29 29 5 2 0 196.3 134 65 101 183 2.98 3.87 (+23%) 3989.1
1984 HOU NL 12 11 30 30 5 2 0 183.7 143 62 69 197 3.04 3.81 (+20%) 5462.0
1985 HOU NL 10 12 35 35 4 0 0 232.0 205 98 95 209 3.80 3.89 (+2%) 6038.2
1986 HOU NL 12 8 30 30 1 0 0 178.0 119 66 82 194 3.34 3.97 (+16%) 4194.8
1987 HOU NL 8 16 34 34 0 0 0 211.7 154 65 87 270 2.76 4.29 (+36%) 10072.6
1988 HOU NL 12 11 33 33 4 1 0 220.0 186 86 87 228 3.52 3.73 (+6%) 3977.8
1989 TEX AL 16 10 32 32 6 2 0 239.3 162 85 98 301 3.20 3.71 (+14%) 7522.1
1990 TEX AL 13 9 30 30 5 2 0 204.0 137 78 74 232 3.44 3.86 (+11%) 5257.0
1991 TEX AL 12 6 27 27 2 2 0 173.0 102 56 72 203 2.91 3.91 (+26%) 5219.5
1992 TEX AL 5 9 27 27 2 0 0 157.3 138 65 69 157 3.72 3.75 (+1%) 2720.4
1993 TEX AL 5 5 13 13 0 0 0 66.3 54 36 40 46 4.88 4.19 (-17%) -411.8

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
807 852 40 94 10 2 2 36 3 38 371 0.110 0.148 0.134 0.282 -7323.9

Career AVG .110 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — 57.0% below league average.

Career OBP .148 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 54.1% below league average.

Career SLG .134 vs. league average .382 across their career seasons — 64.9% below league average.

Career OPS 0.282 vs. league average 0.704 across their career seasons — 60.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1966 NYN NL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1968 NYN NL 21 44 2 5 0 0 0 2 0 2 29 0.114 — — — — 0.0
1969 NYN NL 25 29 3 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 14 0.103 — — — — 0.0
1970 NYN NL 27 45 2 8 0 0 0 0 1 0 21 0.178 — — — — 0.0
1971 NYN NL 30 47 4 6 0 1 0 1 0 3 21 0.128 — — — — -371.1
1972 LAA AL 39 96 4 13 5 1 0 3 1 2 48 0.135 .243 (-44%) .310 (-51%) .353 (-41%) .664 (-46%) -724.8
1973 LAA AL 41 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1974 LAA AL 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1975 LAA AL 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1976 LAA AL 39 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1977 LAA AL 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1978 LAA AL 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1979 LAA AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1980 HOU NL 35 70 5 6 0 0 1 6 0 7 29 0.086 .264 (-68%) .326 (-49%) .387 (-67%) .714 (-59%) -697.6
1981 HOU NL 21 51 3 11 1 0 0 1 0 5 18 0.216 .255 (-16%) .320 (-11%) .368 (-36%) .688 (-24%) -181.6
1982 HOU NL 35 83 5 10 0 0 0 3 0 5 37 0.120 .261 (-54%) .324 (-47%) .388 (-69%) .712 (-59%) -811.5
1983 HOU NL 29 69 3 5 0 0 0 2 0 2 29 0.072 .260 (-72%) .324 (-70%) .389 (-81%) .714 (-76%) -866.5
1984 HOU NL 30 61 3 6 2 0 0 1 1 2 26 0.098 .259 (-62%) .322 (-61%) .384 (-66%) .707 (-64%) -642.5
1985 HOU NL 35 63 2 7 2 0 0 4 0 4 21 0.111 .257 (-57%) .323 (-50%) .390 (-63%) .714 (-57%) -620.3
1986 HOU NL 30 59 1 6 0 0 0 5 0 1 22 0.102 .257 (-61%) .325 (-64%) .395 (-74%) .720 (-70%) -685.8
1987 HOU NL 34 65 2 4 0 0 1 4 0 1 22 0.062 .262 (-77%) .331 (-77%) .415 (-74%) .746 (-75%) -855.7
1988 HOU NL 33 70 1 4 0 0 0 2 0 4 34 0.057 .254 (-78%) .317 (-66%) .377 (-85%) .695 (-76%) -866.6
1989 TEX AL 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 TEX AL 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1991 TEX AL 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1992 TEX AL 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1993 TEX AL 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
9 16 2 3 0 0 0 0 2 6 0.188

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1986 NLCS HOU 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000
1981 NWDIV HOU 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.250
1980 NLCS HOU 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0.000
1979 ALCS CAL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1969 NLCS NYN 1 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.500
1969 WS NYN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 2 9 7 1 58.7 39 20 14 63 3.07

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1986 NLCS HOU 0 1 2 2 0 14.0 9 6 1 17 3.86
1981 NWDIV HOU 1 1 2 2 0 15.0 6 3 3 14 1.80
1980 NLCS HOU 0 0 2 2 0 13.3 16 8 3 14 5.40
1979 ALCS CAL 0 0 1 1 0 7.0 4 1 3 8 1.29
1969 NLCS NYN 1 0 1 0 0 7.0 3 2 2 7 2.57
1969 WS NYN 0 0 1 0 1 2.3 1 0 2 3 0.00

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 807 773 220 547 90 27

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1966 NYN P 2 1 1 0 0 0
1968 NYN P 21 18 5 11 4 0
1969 NYN P 25 10 0 4 1 0
1970 NYN P 27 19 11 10 4 2
1971 NYN P 30 26 5 15 3 2
1972 CAL P 39 39 7 28 6 2
1973 CAL P 41 39 11 28 2 1
1974 CAL P 42 41 12 48 6 1
1975 CAL P 28 28 12 18 7 3
1976 CAL P 39 39 14 34 7 1
1977 CAL P 37 37 20 35 8 1
1978 CAL P 31 31 13 33 8 3
1979 CAL P 34 34 8 29 4 1
1980 HOU P 35 35 13 27 5 0
1981 HOU P 21 21 5 16 1 3
1982 HOU P 35 35 9 33 2 1
1983 HOU P 29 29 4 28 2 0
1984 HOU P 30 30 7 11 2 0
1985 HOU P 35 35 6 20 2 0
1986 HOU P 30 30 10 17 2 2
1987 HOU P 34 34 11 18 1 1
1988 HOU P 33 33 8 18 4 0
1989 TEX P 32 32 11 19 3 0
1990 TEX P 30 30 7 13 0 1
1991 TEX P 27 27 7 14 0 1
1992 TEX P 27 27 2 16 3 1
1993 TEX P 13 13 1 4 3 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 807

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1991 Player of the Week Week of 1991-05-04
1990 Player of the Week Week of 1990-06-16
1990 Player of the Week Week of 1990-08-04
1984 Pitcher of the Month May
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-05-25
1983 Player of the Week Week of 1983-04-29
1982 Pitcher of the Month August
1981 Player of the Week Week of 1981-09-25
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-07-13
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-04-20
1977 TSN All-Star RHP
1977 TSN Pitcher of the Year
1976 Player of the Month September
1975 Player of the Week Week of 1975-04-11
1975 Player of the Week Week of 1975-05-30
1975 Player of the Week Week of 1975-05-16
1974 Player of the Month August
1974 Player of the Week Week of 1974-08-16
1974 Player of the Week Week of 1974-09-27

Featured In Rankings

#17
Top 25 Starting Pitchers in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 17 of 25
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Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1993 TEX AL $3,757,000
1992 TEX AL $4,200,000
1991 TEX AL $3,300,000
1990 TEX AL $1,400,000
1989 TEX AL $1,800,000
1988 HOU NL $1,000,000
1987 HOU NL $1,225,000
1986 HOU NL $1,125,000
1985 HOU NL $1,350,000
Total Career Earnings $19,157,000

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1990 Most Valuable Player AL 25th 1.0 392 0
1989 Cy Young Award AL 5th 5.0 140 0
1989 Most Valuable Player AL 23th 2.0 392 0
1987 Cy Young Award NL 5th 12.0 120 0
1983 Cy Young Award NL 9th 1.0 120 0
1981 Cy Young Award NL 4th 28.0 120 3
1981 Most Valuable Player NL 16th 23.0 336 0
1977 Cy Young Award AL 3rd 46.0 140 6
1977 Most Valuable Player AL 24th 3.0 392 0
1974 Cy Young Award AL 3rd 28.0 120 1
1974 Most Valuable Player AL 14th 24.0 336 0
1973 Cy Young Award AL 2nd 62.0 120 9
1973 Most Valuable Player AL 17th 20.0 336 0
1972 Cy Young Award AL 8th 2.0 120 0
1972 Most Valuable Player AL 30th 2.0 336 0