Nolan Ryan’s 7th No-Hitter – May 1, 1991

As we celebrate ‘Nolan Ryan Day here at ’30-YOC’, we will pay homage to Ryan’s incredible 7 No-Hitters!!

Nolan Ryan’s 7th No-Hitter – May 1, 1991

Where:  Arlington Stadium, Texas

Attendance:  33,439

Time of Game: 2 hours, 25 minutes

Result:  Rangers 3, Blue Jays 0

Notes from the game:  Nolan Ryan’s 7th and last no-hitter may be his most impressive.  At the age of 44, and in front of his home crowd, Ryan was spectacular.  He struck out 16 batters and walked just 2.  This was also the only time in Ryan’s 7 ‘No-No’s’ that he struck out each batter at least one time!!

Nolan Ryan’s 6th No-Hitter – June 11, 1990

As we celebrate ‘Nolan Ryan Day here at ’30-YOC’, we will pay homage to Ryan’s incredible 7 No-Hitters!!

Nolan Ryan’s 6th No-Hitter – June 11, 1990

Where:  Networks Associates Coliseum, Oakland

Attendance: 33,436

Time of Game: 2 hours, 49 minutes

Result:  Rangers 5, A’s 0

Notes from the game:  Still dominant at age 43, Ryan no-hit the mighty A’s who at the time were the defending World Series champions.  In typical Ryan-form, Nolan struck out 14 batters while giving up just 2 walks.  At age 43, Ryan fired 130 pitches on this special night!!

Nolan Ryan’s 5th No-Hitter – September 26, 1981

As we celebrate ‘Nolan Ryan Day here at ’30-YOC’, we will pay homage to Ryan’s incredible 7 No-Hitters!!

Nolan Ryan’s 5th No-Hitter – September 26, 1981

Where: Astrodome, Houston

Attendance: 32,115

Time of Game: 2 hours, 46 minutes

Result: Astros 5, Dodgers 0

Notes from the game:  Ryan’s first no-hitter in the National League took a bit longer than his earlier ones, but that is because his offense was giving hm a ton of support.  And that was all Ryan needed to capture his 5th career no-hitter.  Going 9 innings while striking out 11 and walking 3, Ryan dominated an All-star filled Dodgers lineup.

Nolan Ryan’s 4th No-Hitter – June 1, 1975

As we celebrate ‘Nolan Ryan Day here at ’30-YOC’, we will pay homage to Ryan’s incredible 7 No-Hitters!!

Nolan Ryan’s 4th No-Hitter – June 1, 1975

Where: Angel Stadium, Anaheim

Attendance: 18,492

Time of Game: 2 hours, 1 minute

Result: Angels 1, Orioles 0

Notes from the game:  121 minutes for this dominant performance.  With the Angels offering little support this time around, Ryan took it upon himself to keep the team in the game.  Giving up 4 walks while fanning 9, Ryan controlled this low scoring affair from the start through to the end of the game!

Nolan Ryan’s 3rd No-Hitter – September 28, 1974

As we celebrate ‘Nolan Ryan Day here at ’30-YOC’, we will pay homage to Ryan’s incredible 7 No-Hitters!!

Nolan Ryan’s 3rd No-Hitter – September 28, 1974

Where: Angel Stadium, Anaheim

Attendance: 10,872

Time of Game: 2 hours, 22 minutes

Result: Angels 4, Twins 0

Notes from the game:  In his last appearance of the 1974 baseball season and with the Angles more than 30 games below .500, there was just over 10,000 fans in the stands to see Ryan’s 3rd career no-hitter.  In this game he struck out 15, walked 8, and captured his 22nd victory of the year.  Amazingly Ryan won 22 games while the ’74 Angels won just 68.

Nolan Ryan’s 2nd No-Hitter – July 15, 1973

As we celebrate ‘Nolan Ryan Day here at ’30-YOC’, we will pay homage to Ryan’s incredible 7 No-Hitters!!

Nolan Ryan’s 2nd No-Hitter – July 15, 1973

Where: Tiger Stadium, Detroit

Attendance: 41,411

Time of Game: 2 hours, 21 minutes

Result: Angels 6, Tigers 0

Notes from the game:  Exactly 2 months after his 1st ‘No-No’, Ryan did it again – this time in Detroit!  A little more dominant than his first no-hitter, Ryan struck out 17 batters while walking 4 in this 9-inning romp.  And while he allowed 4 base runners in this contest, none of them got past first base.

Nolan Ryan’s 1st No-Hitter – May 15, 1973

As we celebrate ‘Nolan Ryan Day’ here at ’30-YOC’, we will pay homage to Ryan’s incredible 7 No-Hitters!!

 Nolan Ryan’s 1st No-Hitter – May 15, 1973

Where: Kaufman Stadium, Kansas City

Attendance: 12,205

Time of Game: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Result: Angels 3, Royals 0

Notes from the game:  Ryan wrapped up his first no-hitter in very quick time.  Going the distance, while striking out 12 batters, Ryan was dominant.  He allowed just 3 walks un the 9-inning performance and only allowed 1 batter to get to second base.

Happy Birthday Nolan Ryan!!!

Nolan Ryan turns 63 years old today.

One of the most dominant and competitive pitchers that the game has even seen, Nolan Ryan was a player admired by many.  His hard work and dedication to his craft made him a very well respected player with his teammates, peers, and fans.

For Mr. Ryan’s birthday I will continue the ’30-YOC’ trend of honoring him with a full day’s worth of posts.  But I will throw in a little twist this time.  You see, any time I think of Nolan Ryan, I think ‘No-Hitters’!!!   Yes, he is a Hall of Famer.  And a member of the 300 Wins Club.  And he is the all-time leader in strikeouts.  But for me, and I don’t think that I am alone with this, when his name is mentioned I go straight to his 7 incredible “No-No’s”.

So check back with me throughout the day.  I will be celebrating each and every one of these great moments from Nolan Ryan’s career and baseball history!!

“I Won A Contest, I Won A Contest!!!!”

With child-like enthusiasm, I was very excited to win a recent contest sponsored by Chris from the blog On Card Autos.

The premise of the contest was simple – help Chris develop a new name for his ‘mailday’ posts.  Yet while the idea was a simple one, coming up with a new name for this series of posts is not so easy…

After a few days, I went with ‘From The Friendly Confines Of My Mailbox’.  You see Chris is a Cub’s fan(me too!) and with that came the idea of tying the Cubs or something Cubs related to my contest entry.

My entry took a spin off of a famous sign at Wrigley Field…

And I won!!! 

The prize?  50 cards of any team of your choosing.  And an added bonus of either a relic or certified autograph card featuring a player on that team.

I chose the Marlins.  I could have gone a few ways with my pick, but I settled on the Marlins as I want to do some TTM-graphing of my favorite home team this Spring.

 

Chris hooked me up!!!  I got some Hanleys, some Ugglas, some Conines, and handfuls of other guys wearing Teal & Black.

Thanks for the great contest Chris.  Tons of Fun!!!!

‘Same Card, Different Paths’ – Card #37

‘Same Card, Different Paths’ – Card #37

1965 Topps – Card #477 – AKA – ‘The Steve Carlton Rookie Card’

Fritz Ackley – Ackely’s career spanned 2 seasons and just 5 games.  He left the sport with a perfect winning percentage as he went 1-0.  Ackley pitched a total of 19.1 innings during his major league career.  And in that time he allowed 10 runs while giving up 17 hits.  His career total of 17 strikeouts and 11 walks allowed round out his career numbers along with his 4.19 ERA.

Steve Carlton – One of the most decorated pitchers to ever play the game, Steve Carlton was a true gamer.  As a team player, Carlton was a member of 2 World Series championship teams – the 1967 Cardinals and the 1980 Phillies.  As an individual, Carlton won 4 Cy Young awards.  He is also a member of the 300 Wins Club with his 329 victories and he ranks in 4th place on the all-time strikeout list with 4,136 K’s.  Carlton was a 10-time All-star and he also won the 1972 Triple Crown of pitching with his 27 wins, 1.97 ERA, and 310 strikeouts!!