Quote:
Originally Posted by justpatrick
When Ryan signed with the Astros after the 1979 season, in which the Angels won a division title and Ryan finished 16-14, I think it was Buzzie Bavasi who said that to replace Ryan all he needed to do was find two 8-7 pitchers.
The following season the Angels lost 95 games, proving 8-7 pitchers are hard to come by.  |
While I do not necessarily think it was that easy to replace Nolan Ryan, I have to agree, he was not the dominating pitcher that you see in someone like Kershaw, Gibson, or Koufax. He did have issues at times, granted because of the walks, but the walks were a huge issue the first 10 years or so of his career. Around the time he went to Houston, he started to bring the walks down a little, and made himself into a much better pitcher. He wasn't Greg Maddux, but at least he brought his walks down to less than 1 every 2 innings.