Nolan Ryan: From Alvin to Cooperstown

434 Pages·1999·8.33 MB·English

by  Rob Rains

Page i

The Sporting News Presents Nolan Ryan :
title:
From Alvin to Cooperstown
author:
publisher: Sports Publishing, Inc.
isbn10 | asin: 1571672583
print isbn13: 9781571672582
ebook isbn13: 9780585137582
language: English
Ryan, Nolan,--1947- , Pitchers (Baseball)--
subject United States--Biography, Baseball players-
-United States--Biography.
publication date: 1999
lcc: GV865.R9S66 1999eb
ddc: 796.357/092
Ryan, Nolan,--1947- , Pitchers (Baseball)--
United States--Biography, Baseball players-
subject:
-United States--Biography.
presents
Nolan Ryan
From Alvin to Cooperstown
www.SportsPublishingInc.com
©1999 The Sporting News
All rights reserved
Coordinating Editor: Rob Rains
Developmental Editors: Joanna L. Wright, Terrence C. Miltner
Director of Production: Susan M. McKinney
Interior Design: Scot Muncaster
Interior Layout: Michelle R. Dressen
Dustjacket and Photo insert design: Terry Hayden
ISBN: 1-57167-258-3
Printed in the United States
www.SportsPublishingInc.com
Page 1
Contents
CHAPTER 1 WARMING UP 2
CHAPTER 2 IN THE BIG APPLE 8
CHAPTER 3 THE EXPRESS ARRIVES 26
CHAPTER 4 HEATING UP 44
CHAPTER 5 RYAN KEEPS ROLLING 61
CHAPTER 6 LEAVING CALIFORNIA 80
CHAPTER 7 RETURNING HOME 90
CHAPTER 8 THE LEGEND GROWS 109
CHAPTER 9 INTO THE SUNSET 146
CHAPTER 10 THE LEGEND LIVES ON 154
Page 2
1
Warming Up
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr., of Alvin, Texas, played his first full season of
professional baseball in 1966 for the Greenville (South Carolina)
Mets. He had spent the end of the 1965 season with the Mets'
Appalachian League team, and reported to St. Petersburg over the
winter for the Florida Instructional League. When he threw his first
pitch, he acquired the fireballer reputation that would stay with him
forever. In 1967, a former teammate of Ryan's made the following
prediction about the young pitcher: "When he gets the curve over for
a strike, he will be another Sandy Koufax."

Page 3
Ryan Racing to Flash Start as Met Greenie at Greenville
by JIM ANDERSON
MAY 28, 1966
GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINATwo years ago, Lynn Nolan
Ryan, Jr., was pitching for the Alvin High School team in Texas, was
dating Ruth Holdorff and dropping by the Dairyland or Oasis for a
snack after a movie.
That's the full excitement for teenagers in the town of about 10,000
people in the oil country20 minutes' drive from Houston.
Now Nolan Ryan is in his first full season of organized ball, wears the
uniform of the Greenville Mets and ranks as one of the parent New
York club's top mound prospects.
He started the Western Carolinas League season by tossing 25
scoreless innings and, in six games, compiled 62 strikeouts and a 4-0
record.
Ryan began pitching eight years ago when an older brother, a catcher,
needed someone to pitch to him at home.
"I guess he made me a pitcher," Nolan said of his brother Robert, now
an Air Force lieutenant in Okinawa.
Nolan went through Little League ball to the Babe Ruth League and
on to the high school team in Alvin, where his father is supervisor
with the Pan American Petroleum Co. In high school, he pitched two
no-hitters and his prep record was 20-4. "The only thing I had was a
fastball," he said.
Murff Spotted Talent
Mets scout Red Murff first saw Ryan pitching in his junior year.
"He seemed to see something in me no one else did," said Ryan.
Ryan pitched Alvin to the runner-up spot in the Texas Triple A
baseball playoffs. Needing to win the last two games from
Waxahachie, Nolan pitched a two-hit, 2-0 shutout and tried to come
back the next day and start again. He was lifted in the first inning
because of wildness.
After the playoffs, he was drafted by the Mets as a free agent.
"I wasn't sure I was going to sign," he said.
"Several colleges had offered me scholarships and I was planning on
going to Sam Houston." But Murff talked Ryan into signing for a
modest amount.
"Now I'm glad I signed," said Nolan. "Now that I've been in baseball,
I like it better than I thought I would."
Ryan reported late to Marion, Virginia, in the rookie Appalachian
League last year. He appeared in 13 games and had an unimpressive
3-6 record and 4.38 earned-run average. But he struck out 115 batters
in his 70 innings.
Nolan knew he had a control problem when he reported to the Florida
Instructional League at St. Petersburg last winter. Working with him
were coach Bunky Warren and Murff.
"They had me throw more overhanded," he said. "It helped my curve a
lot. I believe I picked up speed. I know I got a lot more confidence." A
change-up pitch was added to his assortment and increased his
effectiveness.
Needed Fattening Up
Ryan weighed only 155 pounds when he signed. Eddie Stanky, then
director of player personnel for the Mets, had him drink rich things
along with eating all he could.
"It didn't help," he recalled.
He now carries 168 pounds on his 6-2 frame and can't add another
pound no matter what he eats.
Greenville manager Pete Pavlick knew early at spring camp in
Homestead, Florida, that he wanted Ryan for one of his pitchers.
Pavlick had managed Ryan at Marion and was impressed by the
youngster's winter showing at St. Pete.
Nolan will have to go into the Army Reserve six-month program next
winter. Whatever time he has in the off-season will be spent bird-
hunting with his pointer, "Harry Thomas."
Oh, yes, and dating Ruth Holdorff with stops at Dairyland or the Oasis
in Alvin.