| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 | [February 6] Named president of the Texas Rangers. [February 2008] |
| 2 | Inducted into the ESPN Dallas Hall of Fame in 2011 (inaugural class) with Emmitt Smith, Tom Landry, Troy Aikman, and Roger Staubach. |
| 3 | Texas Rangers All-Time WHIP Leader (1.126). |
| 4 | His record breaking, 5th no-hitter, was against the previous record holder, Sandy Koufax's team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ryan's 5th no-hitter is his also only no-hitter for an National League team, Houston Astros. His six other no-hitters were as a member of Americal League baseball teams. First four were as a California Angel & 6th and 7th no-hitters were a Texas Ranger. |
| 5 | About his seven no-hitters, the first four were as a California Angel. Record breaking fifth was as a Houston Astro. Sixth and seventh were as a Texas Ranger. The 7 games' dates and opposing teams and final scores were; 1st: Thursday, May 15th, 1971: California Angels at Kansas City Royals. Final, California Angels 3 & Kansas City Royals 0. 2nd: Tuesday, July 15th, 1973: California Angels at Detroit Tigers. Final, California Angels 6 & Detroit Tigers 0. 3rd: Saturday, September 28th, 1974, Minnesota Twins at California Angels. Final, California Angels 4 & Minnesota Twins 0. 4th: Sunday, June 1st, 1975, Baltimore Orioles at California Angels. Final, California Angels 1 & Baltimore Orioles 0. 5th: Saturday, September 26th, 1981, Los Angeles Dodgers at Houston Astros. Final, Houston Astros 5 & Los Angeles Dodgers 0. 6th: Monday, June 11th, 1990 - Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics. Final, Texas Rangers 5 & Oakland Athletics 0. 7th: Thursday, May 1st, 1991, Toronto Blue Jays at Texas Rangers. Final, Texas Rangers 3 & Toronto Blue Jays 0. All seven no-hitters were shut-outs, also. The record-breaking 5th no-hitter occurred during a National League baseball game, while the other six, first four & last two were in American League baseball games. |
| 6 | Played during the administrations of Lyndon Johnson, 1966, 68-69, Richard Nixon, 1969-1974, Gerald Ford, 1974-1977, Jimmy Carter, 1977-1981, Ronald Reagan, 1981-1989, George H.W. Bush, 1989-1993, and Bill Clinton, 1993 - seven U.S. Presidents total - equaling a mark that had been set by Jim Kaat. |
| 7 | As a boy, he had a paper route delivering The Houston Post. |
| 8 | Birthplace of Refugio ("Refuge" in Spanish), Texas, interestingly enough, is widely pronounced "Re-fury-o" in Texas, despite the correct pronunciation being "Re-foo-hee-o". |
| 9 | Some critics consider Ryan to be a .500 pitcher (his career won-lost record is 324-292 for a .526 winning percentage). However, his career ERA was only 3.19. Ryan also spent much of his career playing for teams that were very mediocre, so his high number of losses stems more from lack of run support. In the 1987 season, Ryan led baseball with a 2.76 ERA and 270 strikeouts, but a lack of run support resulted in Ryan having a record of 8-16. The Astros that year had a team batting average of .253 and finished third in the National League Western Division with a 76-86 record. The team scored rarely, while allowing 678 runs. |
| 10 | Celebrated his return to the National League by hitting his first major-league home run in his first start with the Astros on Saturday, April 12, 1980, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The homer was in the eighth inning and gave the Astros a 5-4 lead. The Dodgers won that game in extra innings. |
| 11 | Struck out 383 batters in 1973, still a major-league record for a single season. The previous record was 382, set by Los Angeles Dodger pitcher, Sandy Koufax, in the 1965 season. |
| 12 | Set a Met record with 15 strikeouts in one game on Saturday, April 18, 1970, only to see teammate, Tom Seaver break it four days later, on Wednesday, April 22, 1970 when he struck out 19. |
| 13 | Was credited with the win in Game 3 of the 1969 League Championship Series, clinching the pennant for the Mets, when he came on in relief of Gary Gentry in the third inning. Relieved Gentry once again in Game 3 of the 1969 World Series and preserved a 5-0 Met victory, striking out Paul Blair with the bases loaded for the last out. |
| 14 | Recorded his first career strikeout on Sunday, September 11, 1966 when he fanned Pat Jarvis of the Braves. Gave up his first home run to Joe Torre. Torre later became a baseball team manager, after his playing career. |
| 15 | Traded by the Mets along with pitcher Don Rose, outfielder Leroy Stanton and catcher Francisco Estrada to the California Angels on Friday, December 10, 1971 for infielder Jim Fregosi in what is generally regarded as the worst and most disastrous trade in Major League Baseball history, especially to the Mets' team. |
| 16 | Was clocked in 1974 at throwing a fastball at 100.8 mph. First major league pitcher ever to be clocked at over 100 mph. |
| 17 | Was still throwing fastballs in the upper nineties well into his forties. |
| 18 | On Thursday, May 1, 1991, at 44 years old, he became the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter when he beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0. This was his major-league record 7th and final no-hitter. |
| 19 | Although he has Major League Baseball record of 5,714 strikeouts in his career, arguably his most famous "punch-out" was one that did not appear in the box score. On August 4, 1993, during a Chicago White Sox versus Texas Rangers baseball game, Robin Ventura, who was 26 at the time, decided to charge the mound and try to attack Ryan, who was 46, after being hit by a pitch. Ryan, a rancher, saw Ventura, as he quickly charged to the mound, was prepared for him coming, grabbed Ventura, putting his head into a headlock and punched him several times in the head, as he defended himself. Umpires ejected Ventura and Chicago White Sox manager, Gene Lamont from the game. Ryan was not ejected, he was not fined either. |
| 20 | Member of 1969 New York Mets World Series Championship team |
| 21 | Major League Baseball's all-time strikeout king with 5,714. |
| 22 | Threw a Major League record seven no-hitters, one shy of doubling previous record holder, Sandy Koufax, he had four no-hitters. |
| 23 | Pitched for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers |
| 24 | Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame, 1999 |
$60 Million
