Let’s flip the lens. If we judge Ryan purely by wins, we’re missing the real story. He has seven no-hitters—more than any other pitcher—and he threw his last one at age 44. Forty-four! That’s older than most of my furniture.
And the strikeouts? He’s still the all-time leader by over 900. It’s like he’s playing a completely different game from everyone else. That’s why baseball nerds (myself included) love to say: “Ryan didn’t lose games; his team lost them for him.”
Ironically, his win total also includes a few seasons where his ERA was over 4.50. See? The stat is a liar. It gives you credit for what your bullpen and hitters do, and it blames you for their mistakes.
“The Express” vs. The All-Time Greats
Compare Ryan to, say, Warren Spahn (363 wins) or Greg Maddux (355). Those guys had better offensive support and played on consistently good teams. Ryan? He pitched for the Angels, Astros, and Rangers—franchises that, shall we say, enjoyed mediocrity.
Here’s a wild side note: Ryan has a losing record in seven separate seasons despite having an ERA under 4.00 in most of them. If that doesn’t make you want to throw a beer at a scoreboard, I don’t know what will.
So when Dave finally shut up about the “winningest” thing, I pointed out that if Ryan had played for the Yankees or Braves in the ’90s, he’d probably have 400+ wins. His jaw dropped. It was beautiful.
This Day In Sports: Nolan Ryan, baseball's forever strikeout king
