FREE ESSAY ON NOLAN RYAN

NOLAN RYAN

Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr., more commonly known as Nolan Ryan, developed the position of pitcher
in baseball more than anyone else in the history of America's favorite past time. With
his flaming fastballs and his deadly curve ball, he was able to mesmerize batters like no
other. Nolan also defied the age barrier by playing 27 years in the MLB. Beyond his
amazing baseball skill, he was an incredible role model to anyone that met him. He
handled himself with a poised and friendly manner that made the fans believe that there
was still good athletes that cared about the fans. 
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. was born January 31, 1947, in Refugio, Texas. He was the youngest of
six children. He grew up playing Little League baseball, his father coaching, and later
played in high school. It was there when a New York Mets scout saw him and signed him to
play Minor league baseball in Virginia. It was not until he was brought up to the Mets
pro team that he finally married his high school sweetheart, Ruth. He has three children,
Reid, Reese, and Wendy. Unlike many other celebrities, his entire family is devout
Christians. He continues to do a lot of charity work, realizing how lucky he is to have
such a great ability of pitching. He lives in Austin, Texas, presently, with Ruth and his
daughter Wendy. 
Baseball has been America's game for generations. But until Nolan came around, no pitcher
had ever been watched so closely as he was. He defied the age 
barrier, playing in the majors for 27 years, and his awesome ability to regularly throw
90 miles per hour the entire game defied the speed limitations of pitchers. He also had
the accuracy of a sniper, able to pitch anything he wanted, a fastball, curve, changeup,
anything, and get the batter to swing a it. Through the duration of his career, he struck
out 5,714 batters, had seven no-hitters, and holds 15 other MLB records, such as the
oldest man to pitch a no-hitter, single-season strikeout record and he was the first man
to be given a $1 million dollar contract, given to him by the Houston Astros. Ryan kept
his awesome pitching performances going until 1993, when he retired, feeling that he had
nothing left to offer in the Major League Baseball. He set many benchmarks pitching, and
a few that will never be broken, but he gave other pitchers the drive to try to beat his
records, making him one of the best baseball players ever.