Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

So once in a while for old times' sake I'll throw in my VHS copy of Nolan's 300th win. It had been a long time since I watched it, so I put it in recently to remember the greatnest that was Nolan. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Thought you guys would get a kick out of some of the highlights, old taped sports events are awesome:

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Live, from Milwaukee's County Stadium, it's ESPN's Sean McDoughnogh and Ray Knight!

- Milwaukee's starting lineup - Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Gary Sheffield, Dave Parker, Greg Vaughn, Jim Gantner, Mike Felder, Charlie O'Brien, and Bill Spiers. Pretty good top 5 of the order!

- Interview with Gary Sheffield about how he's nervous facing Nolan. Afterward, Knight talks about how he remembers Gary from when he was on the Mets, since Sheffield is Dwight Gooden's nephew. He can't understand how anyone would have a problem with a nice young guy like Gary! (Sheffield had clashed with manager Tom Treblehorn the year before)

- Top of the first, Nolan strikes out Sheffield to end the inning. That makes him like strikeout victim 1607, or something like that. Meaning that's the 1607th DIFFERENT player Nolan has K'ed. Claudell Washington is number one on the list, striking out 38 times.

- IN GAME UPDATE: From the Sportscenter studio! Yankees slugger Kevin Maas hits a blast unti the RF porch, giving the Yanks the lead. Yankees fans are excited about this new young slugger, I'm sure he's bound for a great career.

- Promo for the upcoming American Bowl with the Broncos and Seahawks. Lots of questions in this one, as the Broncos are wondering if they'll ever win the Super Bowl with John Elway. The Hawks on the other hand, are exploring life without Curt Warner and Brian Bosworth.

- Nolan strikes out Greg Vaughn for the first time, up to 1608 now.

- Awesome commercial: Chevy's new 1991 S-10 pickup. This thing looks sweet, it totally crushed the Ford and Toyota trucks driving up this big hill!

- BIG TRADE OF THE DAY: Ray Knight breaks it down - Ron Kittle to the Orioles, with Phil Bradley back to the White Sox. Ray thinks another trade must be in the works, because the White Sox already have a good OF including Ivan Calderon, and some young up and comer named Sammy Sosa.

- Short interview piece with Rangers co-owner and managing partner George W Bush, on Nolan's 300th, and the Rangers chances. He likes their shot at catching Oakland, despite being 12 games back.

- The Rangers take a 4-1 lead after a big Jeff Huson triple!

- Another Awesome commercial: This lady is in the airport, and needs to get some work done, but how can she connect with her office? AT&T to the rescue - they have this new card where you can connect your computer, THROUGH THE PHONE LINE, and get work done. I don't see this kind of gimmick catching on, personally.

- Nolan cruises through the middle innings. Through 7 innings, 7 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K's.

- Some trouble for Nolan in the 8th, after 2B-man Julio Franco's two errors lead to a slim 5-3 margin. The Rangers bring in flamethrowing reliever Brad Arnsberg, to stop the damage. Nolan leaves after a mere 145 pitches, to a standing O.

- Sweet extended shot of George W Bush in the front row, this time picking his nose twice. Seriously.

- Julio Franco redeems himself with a grandslam in the top of the 9th, bringing the lead up to 11-3!

- A look at the AL standings! Toronto and Boston are fighting it out at the top of the AL East. The Yankees bring up the rear, 15 games back of the pack. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

- Brad Arnsberg gets the last three outs, including getting Robin Yount to pop out to end the game! Nolan and his two sons celebrate in the dugout, before he comes out on the field and tips his hat to the crowd.

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Nolan was the man. I like stats at much as the next guy, but watching him in this game was a great reminder of how awesome his fastball was. He made Greg Vaughn especially look foolish a number of times, feeding him nothing but heat. The greatness of a ballplayer cannot be measured by stats alone! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

awesome post

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

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awesome post

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Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

Great post. You should forward the W nose picking to Stuey for future avitar use.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
The greatness of a ballplayer cannot be measured by stats alone!

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Your post (only the 4th in this forum this month) would be much better without this. At best, it's a total non-sequitur. At worst it's baiting. I'll give you the benefit of doubt since you're supposed to be a moderator.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

Awesome post.

Another part of Ryan I remember was him getting his 5000th K off or Rickey Henderson on an outside corner fastball in which Rickey bangs his bat against homeplate after the swing and miss.

Guess he didn't want to be remembered for this. Sorry Richard.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The greatness of a ballplayer cannot be measured by stats alone!

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Your post (only the 4th in this forum this month) would be much better without this. At best, it's a total non-sequitur. At worst it's baiting. I'll give you the benefit of doubt since you're supposed to be a moderator.

[/ QUOTE ]wow, way to ruin a nice post.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The greatness of a ballplayer cannot be measured by stats alone!

[/ QUOTE ]

Your post (only the 4th in this forum this month) would be much better without this. At best, it's a total non-sequitur. At worst it's baiting. I'll give you the benefit of doubt since you're supposed to be a moderator.

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Gee, thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt.

My point in the whole post was merely that Nolan was awesome because he was fun to watch. He has a mix of awesome stats, and crappy stats, but he's an all-time great in my book because he was an exciting player to see pitch.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

Agree with the rest, awesome post. Even though I'm a Reds fan, Nolan was my favorite player as a kid. I kept score of this game while watching on television, and I made a tape of it that I think my dad still has. I even remember the Kevin Maas hype, though not necessarily from that game.

Man, I just remembered that I used to be a huge day-to-day fan of baseball, memorizing stats off my Topps and Donruss cards, following the standings in the newspaper, watching all the Cubs and Braves games I could just because they were on.

It's too bad that the Strike killed that part of me and left just another bandwagoning casual fan doofus.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The greatness of a ballplayer cannot be measured by stats alone!

[/ QUOTE ]

Your post (only the 4th in this forum this month) would be much better without this. At best, it's a total non-sequitur. At worst it's baiting. I'll give you the benefit of doubt since you're supposed to be a moderator.

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Gee, thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt.

My point in the whole post was merely that Nolan was awesome because he was fun to watch. He has a mix of awesome stats, and crappy stats, but he's an all-time great in my book because he was an exciting player to see pitch.

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I agree with you that he was a very exciting pitcher to watch. I'll also grant that he was an all-time great. However, he was exciting to watch because he was an all-time great, not the other way around.

I could post so much more but it would derail the topic even further and I don't know if I have it in me to write that much.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The greatness of a ballplayer cannot be measured by stats alone!

[/ QUOTE ]

Your post (only the 4th in this forum this month) would be much better without this. At best, it's a total non-sequitur. At worst it's baiting. I'll give you the benefit of doubt since you're supposed to be a moderator.

[/ QUOTE ]

Gee, thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt.

My point in the whole post was merely that Nolan was awesome because he was fun to watch. He has a mix of awesome stats, and crappy stats, but he's an all-time great in my book because he was an exciting player to see pitch.

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I agree with you that he was a very exciting pitcher to watch. I'll also grant that he was an all-time great. However, he was exciting to watch because he was an all-time great, not the other way around.

I could post so much more but it would derail the topic even further and I don't know if I have it in me to write that much.

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I don't disagree with you at all there. It's a chicken/egg thing a bit I would say.

Anyway, was just surprised at the tone of your previous post. Glad someone is watching my post count though!

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

nolanfan,

i feel like bragging. i was at nolan's 5000th strikeout and his 300th win, terrible seats for the 5K game (couldn't even see what pitch ricky was swingin' at), ok seats for the 300th win.

gloating,

~td

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

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My point in the whole post was merely that Nolan was awesome because he was fun to watch. He has a mix of awesome stats, and crappy stats, but he's an all-time great in my book because he was an exciting player to see pitch.

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another thing: there are guys with as much courage and/or heart on the hill as nolan but never any with more and that isn't on a stat sheet.

one of the greatest memories of my short life so far is when i played in the big 12 tournament (we lost to texas in the championship, then 2 and Q in the world series--texas won it all that year FWIW) and before the tourny started nolan spoke at our formal dinner...then afterwards he hung out with us and talked with anyone that wanted to chat. he told some great stories and he is a class act...i love guys that will out work you to death (left the game throwing a mere 145 pitches!!!).

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

Well, I think a lot of people conflate entertaining with great. That, and the ability to do one or two things really well has a tendency to make people overrate a player. The best example of that playing today is Ichiro.

I think Nolan Ryan was a very big beneficiary of the same things. Very fun to watch, very good at sriking people out, and he was just a freak of nature (in a very good way). Still, it's a shame when people like Bert Blyleven (who was probably better than Nolan) are forgotten when Nolan is called by many the greatest of all time.

Much <3 to Nolan, but you can't grow up in Louisiana without meeting a bunch of people who are a bit too fanatical . It's like a Mike Vick/Derek Jeter/Tom Brady thing, I guess.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

but nolan wasn't really a freak of nature, he was the hardest worker in the game which converted into a longer career than anyone else...a la roger clemens. if that makes you a freak of nature, then yeah i guess he was.

no, he isn't the greatest ever. but i have more respect for him than most. he pitched through anything, blood, injuries, [censored] teams, etc. its not fanatical to enjoy watching courage. it is fanatical to think mike vick is the saving grace of football or that he truly is a great QB.

what nolan did was great, b/c he may not have certain numbers that you stat geeks drool over but when i am teaching my son the game of baseball as my father taught me i will break out my old nolan tapes. he taught more than WHIP, he taught more than BB/K ratio. i know you are going to disagree and thats the beauty of the arguement b/c both sides are correct. a stat minded person is correct b/c he isn't even top 5 ever, i know this...but what he did on the field was special no matter how you break it down.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

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b/c he may not have certain numbers that you stat geeks drool over

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I really can't say much to your whole post, but just for future reference this is not a very good way to refer to someone.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

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I really can't say much to your whole post, but just for future reference this is not a very good way to refer to someone.


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why not? i consider myself a stat geek as well, this is why i agree to an extent to what you say in regards to nolan. i am not on the level you are with stats but i love the numbers part of sports, i really don't see how that is insulting?

my point was that typically "statisticians" get too one tracked, especially in this forum. sorry if i offended you, i will call you "the stat doctor" from now on [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img].

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

Over the net it's pretty easy to confuse tone. "stat geek" isn't always meant as a term of endearment. no hard feelings :P

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

I think part of the problem is that Nolan just has this whole mythology surrounding him, some of it true some of it misleading no doubt. I'm just so tired of hearing about every media darling how much heart and courage they have. It's a bit tiring to see anyone be put on a pedestal.

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

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I'm just so tired of hearing about every media darling how much heart and courage they have.

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yeah the media is very annoying, but watching him pitch after taking a ball back up the middle from bo jackson and splitting his lip open (needing stitches) is something that i respected as a kid, to me that is heart...no matter what the media said, cause back then i didn't have the internet and i rarely paid attention to what the media said.

i remember watching him pitch (i was at the game) one night, he was in his mid 40's, he got roughed up in the first 2 innings and the pitching coach had already made one mound visit and nolan gave up a double down the line that made the score 0-5 and the pitching coach was out of the dugout to make his way to the mound (obviously to take him out since you only get two mound visits) and nolan motions for him to go back. my mom charted all the games we went to (she said it helped make the game pass) and he ended up getting to the 8th inning, throwing something like 140+ pitches and when he left the game the score was 5-5.

see i got so much out of watching that that someone reading the sports page wouldn't the next morning. the guy reading the sports page thinks, "hmmm nolan didn't get a win and his ERA went up and he walked 6 guys, good thing the rangers came back and saved his butt." what i saw was a middle aged man leave his heart on the field and give his team a chance to win the game and save his bullpen for the rest of the series. yeah he walked 5 guys in the first 2 innings and gave up 5 runs but he didn't quit and he didn't fold and there were plenty of pitchers on those early 90's ranger teams that would, cause i watched.

anyway, i like talking about nolan cause he was a childhood hero of mine (i guess nolanfan and i have something in common [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]).

Re: Nolan Ryan wins 300th game!!
 

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I think part of the problem is that Nolan just has this whole mythology surrounding him, some of it true some of it misleading no doubt. I'm just so tired of hearing about every media darling how much heart and courage they have. It's a bit tiring to see anyone be put on a pedestal.

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That was actually an interesting part of watching the broadcast. So much more subdued than today's type of coverage. Clearly there was a lot said about Nolan, a lot of nice things, etc, but it wasn't fanatical the way it can be about Brady, Favre, etc. In the big moments of the game, like when Nolan was taken out, and when the last out was made, McDoughnogh just simply stayed quiet and let the moment happen. Too many broadcasters these days would have been gushing with commentary.

Nolan is an interesting statistical case as well. His K/9 and HR/9 numbers are outstanding at the peak of his career. And of course his BB/9 is off the charts in the other direction. Quite the dichotomy.