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Originally Posted by DaddyO
View Nolan Ryan's career: http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/ryanno01.shtml
As someone who watched Nolan Ryan's career from its inception, and a lot growing up as a Dodgers and Angels fan, Nolan Ryan was exactly what Syd Thrift says UNTIL he began to morph from a thrower into a pitcher. Check out the drop in walks that starts to happen around 1979 and then really asserts itself when he moves to Houston. During that same time he stops having seasons with 16+ losses that offset his wins.
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To me, that's what makes Ryan pretty amazing is that he made this transition, made it on mediocre teams, and made it around age 32-33. In fact he got better from the one year to the next. That's pretty good considering it's not uncommon for many players to begin to wear out, particularly one like Ryan who was throwing so hard. The fact that he adapted his game like he did when he did is remarkable since I don't see alot of guys doing that.