Nolan Ryan.

Nolan Ryan. Nolan Ryan, born in 1947, American professional baseball player, who retired in 1993 with the major league record for most career strikeouts (5,714) and most career no-hitters (7), and who is considered one of the greatest pitchers in major league history. He was born Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr., in Refugio, Texas. He attended Alvin Community College until he was drafted by the New York Mets in 1965 at the age of 18. Ryan played for the Mets through the 1971 season, contributing to their 1969 World Series victory. From 1972 to 1979 he pitched for the California Angels. As a free agent Ryan joined the Houston Astros in 1980 and the Texas Rangers in 1989. He retired from the Rangers after the 1993 season. Ryan was known as a durable power pitcher who until his retirement consistently threw fastballs clocked at more than 144 km/h (90 mph). He also set and broke numerous records throughout his major league career. He led the American League (AL) in strikeouts nine times (1972-1974, 1976-1979, 1989, 1990) and the National League (NL) twice (1987, 1988); in 1973 alone he recorded 383 strikeouts, surpassing the record set by Sandy Koufax for strikeouts in a season. Ryan also broke Koufax's record of four career no-hit games when he pitched his fifth no-hitter in 1981. Ryan pitched two more no-hitters--one in 1990 and the last in 1991--at the age of 44, becoming the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Ryan also broke the record for career strikeouts; he is the only pitcher to have reached 5,000 career strikeouts, and he retired with a total of 5,714. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.