29 years ago today:

[dorndawg]

 

[Faustdog]

What was Ventura's plan there? I think he thought better of what he was doing about half way out and just kind of buried his head in Nolan's chest.

Not a solid plan.

 

[aTotal360]

Nolan Ryan is simply a badass. At age 63, he came out of the stands wearing khaki pants and loafers and threw a 86 MPH first pitch before game 1 of the ALCS.

Ryan's arm gave out in Seattle on September 22, 1993, when he tore a ligament. The injury ended his career two starts earlier than planned, at age 46. Ryan briefly attempted to pitch past the injury, and he threw one additional pitch after tearing his ligament. With his injured arm, his final pitch was measured at 98 miles per hour. (wikipedia)

 

[dorndawg]

What was Ventura's plan there? I think he thought better of what he was doing about half way out and just kind of buried his head in Nolan's chest.

Not a solid plan.

Yeah I think Ventura realized about halfway out there he'd 17'd up but also that punking out would be worse. So credit where credit's due, he get his *** kicked with some honor.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

[No message]

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

There is a excellent movie now available to rent on Prime called Facing Nolan. It covers his Baseball career.

There was a weird thing I noticed though. Seems that Will Clark now looks like Nolan Ryan. There was a shot in the movie where Nolan is doing some curls when he is about 42. I truly thought it was Will.


View attachment 24815

 

[dorndawg]

There is a excellent movie now available to rent on Prime called Facing Nolan. It covers his Baseball career.

There was a weird thing I noticed though. Seems that Will Clark now looks like Nolan Ryan. There was a shot in the movie where Nolan is doing some curls when he is about 42. I truly thought it was Will.


View attachment 24815

Hitting a dinger off Nolan Ryan in his 1st MLB at bat might be the coolest thing Will Clark ever did.

 

[MS-halfstep]

Everyone knows Nolan punched Ventura six times. But what people don't know is that Nolan wasn't ejected. He retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced and threw seven innings. He also picked off the guy who pinch ran for Robin.

 

[MSUDC11]

Was surprised to read recently that among all of Ryan’s great accomplishments, he somehow never won a single Cy Young.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

Nolan Ryan is simply a badass. At age 63, he came out of the stands wearing khaki pants and loafers and threw a 86 MPH first pitch before game 1 of the ALCS.

That's actually an old wives tale. I was at the game as a season ticket holder. It was stiff first pitch, but it was 68mph. Maybe everyone got the numbers flipped. He threw out the 1st pitch again in game 3 of the World Series and bounced it in front of the plate, but Pudge saved him. It too was 68 mph. Loved Nolan though. Super accessible to the fans in 08-13 before the shitstain Jon Daniels ran him off.

See video below at 20:00 minute mark for both pitches and radar on Fox. Bonus footage at 1:04:00 as Mitch Moreland hits a 3 run missile into the right field stands about 20' away from my seats after a 9 pitch battle.

 

[Yeti]

I was living down in Houston. They played this on sports talk all the time. Enjoy. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=btjly7GNDHI

 

[eckie1]

I was there that night…

Undoubtedly my coolest in-person sports memory. Nolan’s last season and one of the last at the old Arlington tee ball park.****

We walked up and got tickets at the box office, easy breezy. Was awesome.

 

[FISHDAWG]

When he was still with the Astros I was sitting behind home plate several rows up when they came to Atlanta ... even through the din noise of the crowd I could hear an enormous grunt with every pitch he made then the WHACK when it hit the catcher's mitt ... for me he will always be one of the very best

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Was surprised to read recently that among all of Ryan’s great accomplishments, he somehow never won a single Cy Young.

I came across this realization about 6 months ago as well. He had a phenomenal career but never really one great season; especially compared to the Cy Young winner's years when he would be in contention. This video is long, but it explains it pretty well.