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Why did Nolan Ryan NEVER win a Cy Young Award?

posted 3 years ago by TMC-4 (19447)
2 replies | jump to latest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0QWE_jVamo

When asked to list the greatest pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball, there are a few names that immediately come to mind. Names which are synonymous with excellence, the stuff of legend. Gibson. Pedro. Maddux. Koufax. And, more often than not, Nolan Ryan. However, there is one thing that the first four possess which Ryan lacks. One accomplishment that, upon achieving it, places a pitcher among the truly elite: a Cy Young Award.

How could it be possible that Nolan Ryan, a pitcher so dominant that opposing batters would pretend to be sick in order to avoid facing him, never won a Cy Young Award in his nearly three-decade-long career? The answer, as you'll soon find out, is a stunning combination of bad luck, poor timing, and in one case, outright robbery.

[–] redban (5251) 3 years ago

He accumulated a lot of strikeouts, played a long time, drew a lot of fanfare because he threw 100 mph, won 300 games.

But the truth is that Nolan Ryan wasn’t that dominant. He won 300 games, but he lost nearly 300 games too. His career ERA+ is just 112. People like Clemens, Randy, Pedro, and Maddux have an ERA+ around 130-140.

Ryan has maybe 2 or 3 seasons fit for a Cy Young winner. In those years, there were usually other pitchers who had better years

[–] stevewyzard (1260) 3 years ago

His most dominating years were with the Angels, when they struggled every year just to stay out of last place.

I should know. I was at that stadium a lot between 1975-79.

He still had good years after he left the Angels, but was never quite as dominating.