Nolan Ryan what if's

[Touch'EmAll]

Runscott - I did compare him to the pitchers who won in Ryan,s better years - please see my 2nd post to this thread - I compared him to Palmer's stats in 1973, Hunter's stats in 1974, Perry's stats in 1972, and Valenzuela's stats in 1981.

Also note when looking at Ryan's stats - the 1970's were when all the absurd walks numbers came from. In the 1980's, Ryan gained better control and walked far fewer batters. In fact, he led the league in Strikeout/walk ratio in the mid-1980's.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by 100backstroke

Runscott - I did compare him to the pitchers who won in Ryan,s better years - please see my 2nd post to this thread - I compared him to Palmer's stats in 1973, Hunter's stats in 1974, Perry's stats in 1972, and Valenzuela's stats in 1981.

Also note when looking at Ryan's stats - the 1970's were when all the absurd walks numbers came from. In the 1980's, Ryan gained better control and walked far fewer batters. In fact, he led the league in Strikeout/walk ratio in the mid-1980's.

True, but you left out very key information in order to build up Ryan.

Originally Posted by 100backstroke

Found some stats:

1973 - Ryan pitched 2 no hitters, won 21 games, ERA 2.87, struck out 383 (new record) in 326 innings pitched. Palmer won it with 22 wins, struck out 158 in 296 innings.

Not picking on you, but for instance,

In 1973 Ryan led the league in walks and lost 16 games. You left this out, as well as Palmer's ERA. Palmer lost only 9 games and led the league with a 2.40 ERA. Unless you consider K/Innings ratio to be more important than ERA, and you minimize the difference in wins and losses (Hunter had the edge in both), Hunter easily takes the Cy Young in '73.

In 1974 Ryan was 22-16, Hunter was 25-12 with a 2.49 ERA. Again, you left out the losses and Hunter's ERA. Hunter led the league in both ERA and wins. So Ryan led the league in K's - he also led the league in BB's. The Cy Young deservedly went to Hunter.

I was into baseball very heavily during all the years you mentioned, I was a huge Ryan fan, and I always wanted him to win the Cy Young. He didn't, and I don't feel he ever deserved it. I'm very happy that his career continued to improve, he lasted a long time, and he made the HOF. I love strikeouts and no-hitters as much as the next guy, but while he had a few years that would have warranted the Cy Young if he had been up against lesser candidates, you haven't shown me any years where he deserved it.