# What team do you associate Nolan Ryan with? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 27, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048 "2010-03-27T20:03:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/1 "2010-03-27T20:03:05Z")
Very simple poll. If you hear, “Nolan Ryan” which team do you associate him with? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/2 "2010-03-27T20:11:58Z")
Baseball. He’s a pitcher I think. That’s all I got. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/3 "2010-03-27T21:21:40Z")
This is an interesting question. Here just for kicks, with any addition error being mine, are Ryan’s W-L record with each team Mets 29-38 Angels 128-121 Astros 106-94 Rangers 51-39 At the moment, Astros is winning by a 2-1 margin over the Rangers with the Angels, where he won the most games, getting no votes at all. I voted for Houston myself, but with me it was close call between Houston and California. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/4 "2010-03-27T21:28:52Z")
I voted Rangers. And I wouldn’t charge the mound against him to this day 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/5 "2010-03-27T21:51:25Z")
Rangers, but only because he’s associated himself with them post-career. His prime was as an Angel more than anyone else, though, ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/6 "2010-03-27T22:25:37Z")
In a Venn diagram showing the intersection of me paying attention to baseball and Nolan Ryan’s career, the intersection would be his time with the Angels. However, my mental picture of Ryan today is him in that Ogforesaken, hideous [Houston Astros uniform](http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/multimedia/photo_gallery/0804/mlb.3000.strikeouts/images/ryan.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/7 "2010-03-27T23:29:37Z")
When I learned how to play baseball and started watching it, he was a Ranger. I didn’t even know he played for any other team until after he had retired. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/8 "2010-03-27T23:41:01Z")
Well, he did grow up near Houston. I remember him doing Whattaburger commercials. back in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/9 "2010-03-28T00:15:02Z")
I remember him best as an Astro because he was one when I started watching baseball. If I were doing his Hall of Fame plaque though, he’d be an Angel. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/10 "2010-03-28T01:09:06Z")
I voted for the Texas Rangers. And I agree with Oakminster. I didn’t see \*who \*charged the mound against him, and I don’t even like baseball, but I remember he kicked \*somebody’s \*butt. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/11 "2010-03-28T02:28:54Z")
When I was a kid getting into baseball he was an Astro, so Astros it is. And it was Robin Ventura he beat up. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/12 "2010-03-28T02:44:55Z")
Since I’m a Mets fan, that how I remember him – the good being his appearance in the 1969 World Series (in relief) for his only World Championship appearance. BTW, I don’t think the Mets were wrong in trading Ryan: if you look at his record his final year with them – especially the second half of the season – it shows a stinko pitcher who was losing his skills. He was never going to do them much good (and Ryan has admitted as much), so it made sense to trade him for the best shortstop in the American League. Things didn’t work out in the long run, but the deal cannot be faulted as a mistake. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/13 "2010-03-28T03:44:15Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Things didn’t work out in the long run, but the deal cannot be faulted as a mistake. Sure it can. It falls into the category of “Mistakes that seemed like a good idea at the time, such as the Ford Esdel and New Coke.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/14 "2010-03-28T05:30:32Z")
As a New Yorker I also voted Mets, though of course the highlights of his career were elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/15 "2010-03-28T07:29:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > And it was Robin Ventura he beat up. Who was 26 when he was beat up by the 46 year old Ryan. The baseball card I have depicting the brawl is one of my most prized possessions. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/16 "2010-03-28T11:41:58Z")
I recognize the name, but would have no idea who he played for. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/17 "2010-03-28T14:08:19Z")
I voted Angels. That’s where he threw most of his no-hitters and his record-setting strikeout season. He had a great career with the two Texas teams as well, but I’ll always think of his feats as mainly being Angels-related. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/18 "2010-03-28T15:00:56Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Sure it can. It falls into the category of “Mistakes that seemed like a good idea at the time, such as the Ford Esdel and New Coke.” No. It was a trade that didn’t work out, not a bad trade. Two different things. There isn’t a baseball expert in the world, given the data at the time and not knowing the future, who thought it was a bad idea. People at the time were complaining that the Angels had been robbed. Look at the statistics: Ryan stunk up the ballpark the previous year and was clearly regressing on all fronts. There was absolutely not reason to believe he would be anything other than a guy with a great, wild fastball and little else – a Dick Radatz, or, at best, a Sam McDowell. Fregosi at the time had better career statistics than Derek Jeter at a comparable point in his career. One can argue Jeter is overrated, but, in any case, giving up a bunch of minor leaguers and a wild pitcher who never lived up to his promise for Jeter would be considered a great deal for whatever team got Jeter. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/19 "2010-03-28T17:30:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There isn’t a baseball expert in the world, given the data at the time and not knowing the future, who thought it was a bad idea. People at the time were complaining that the Angels had been robbed. #1. Have you got a cite for that? Here’s SI’s 1972 baseball preview issue which doesn’t back that up: [Cite.](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/toc/8275/index.htm) > [@](#): > > The California Angels, who spent much of 1971 fighting among themselves, are now prepared to take on outside opponents. They may be overmatched. At least their troubles this season are physical—no power—not mental. Gone are Alex Johnson, Tony Conigliaro, General Manager Dick Walsh and Manager Lefty Phillips, four of the protagonists of last year’s ugly drama. But gone also with Johnson and Conigliaro is the hitting the team sorely requires. In new General Manager Harry Dalton and Manager Del Rice the Angels have at least acquired two leaders who are accustomed to winning. “I did not leave the Orioles to come into a bad situation,” says Dalton. “This won’t be one.” So far, at least, it is not. > > “There’s real unity here,” says Pitcher Andy Messer-smith, who won 20 games for last year’s disunited malcontents and, until the changes were made, wanted to be traded. “Everyone is trying now. It’s great to be on this team.” > > Messersmith is one of the good Angels. So is lefthander Clyde Wright, who pitched the same number of innings (277) as Messersmith and had the same ERA (2.99) but four fewer wins. Nolan Ryan, obtained from the Mets in a trade for Jim Fregosi, will be another starter if he ever locates the strike zone. Rudy May is a good Angel and he knows where the strike zone is. It’s just that he is about as unlucky as his namesake on the Royals. What else can you say about a man who injures his shoulder, as May did last year, tripping over his own dog? > > The Angel infield will benefit from both the bat and the glove of Leo Cardenas at shortstop, who came to California from Minnesota in a trade for Pitcher Dave LaRoche. He joins an apparently set infield of Jim Spencer at first, Sandy Alomar at second and Ken McMullen at third. The outfield is less settled, but scheduled for left and adding zest will be Vada Pinson, who came from Cleveland in the Alex Johnson transaction. > [@](#): > > Seldom has a team been written out of a pennant race as quickly as the New York Mets. Such judgments could prove very wrong. New York thrives on its pitching and seems to die with its hitting; at least that was the ease last year when the team’s pitchers worked 73 games in which they gave up two runs or less. Unfortunately, in 70 games the hitters produced two runs or less. (Imagine the possibilities if Met pitchers got a whack at Met hitters.) > > Attempts to help the attack generated a trade with the California Angels that brought Jim Fregosi to New York as a third baseman. Fregosi, six limes the AL’s All-Star shortstop, hurt a thumb this spring and now must overcome the injury, learn to play a new position and adapt to National League pitching. > > Beyond that, the basic east of characters is unchanged. With Fregosi or Wayne Garrett at third, the infield will be composed of Ed Kranepool, Ken Boswell and Bud Harrelson, hardly names to wake up any echoes of the 1929 Yankees. Still, the same cast played in a World Series. Jerry Grote will catch and is trying to alter his obstreperous reputation. Cleon Jones hit .319 but drove in only 69 runs, and Tommie Agee’s homer production dropped from 24 to 14, although his average was a solid .285. Either Ken Singleton or John Milner will play right field. > > One worry for Manager Gil Hodges prior to the opener was the condition of Tom Seaver’s arm. Seaver’s five-year record is 95-54 and any continuation of arm trouble might cause the franchise to slip into the muck of Flushing Bay. “Anytime you can run Seaver through the league 35 to 40 times you’ve got a chance,” says Montreal’s Gene Mauch. Behind Seaver comes Gary Gentry, seemingly more mature but the holder of a lifetime record of only 34-32. The Mets are still concerned about Jerry Koosman’s left arm. Following his first two seasons of 36-21, the next two produced only 18-18 and the team wants him to use his fastball more than Koosman wants to use it. Tug McGraw and Damn Frisella formed one of the best bull pens in either league last year. No offense to Fregosi whatsoever, but one would think that Fregosi in ‘72 was as highly regarded as Jeter is now, that his absence would be mentioned in the first paragraph, not the third of the Angels’ preview, and would’ve been reported more enthusiastically in the Mets’ preview. In short, it was a trade for a old guy tailing off for a young guy with a ton of potential who hadn’t produced yet. Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio was the same type of trade. Ask any Cub fan if that was a bad trade. 1. Oh please. Baseball and sports “experts” are very frequently absolutely wrong, as any one who’s watched the talking-head-shows on ESPN can tell you. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048/20 "2010-03-28T17:37:09Z")
As a New Yorker, Texas, Rangers first, then Astros. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-team-do-you-associate-nolan-ryan-with/534048.md?page=2)