The Story of Smokin' and the Rangers

There is no better story this year in baseball than the Texas Rangers. A bankrupt franchise sold to the highest bidder mid-season that made more strategic moves down the stretch than their well financed peers. Their recovering crack addicted All-Star outfielder led the majors in hitting. Their recovering coke addict manager guided the franchise to their first playoff series win beating the Yankees on their way to the World Series. Their ace pitcher was traded for the third time in two years at the deadline is undefeated in the playoffs for the last two years. Timmy Lincecum might think he is a bad boy blowing some weed while driving 80 in Washington. Brian Wilson might think he is an animal for growing a pirate beard. The Rangers are the real story. The Giants might take issue with that declaration but this is the Yard and they are the Giants.

The author behind the story that is the Rangers success can be traced to one man-Smokin' Nolan Ryan. Ryan is the embodiment of the old school toughness that has grinded the Rangers through the challenging baseball season. The 162 games are tough enough but having creditors and trustees haggling over the future, the Rangers season is all that more remarkable as is Nolan Ryan’s leadership. He is part owner and team president of this halfway house of baseball excellence. The face of the franchise took the team to a place no one saw them visiting.

Nolan knows all about magic in the bottle. In his 27 year career, Ryan pitched for all four of the baseball expansion franchises of the 1960’s-The Mets, Angels, Astros, and Rangers by way of DC. The only one of those teams that he did not lead to the playoffs was Texas. Ryan won his only World Series title as part of the 1969 Miracle Mets. He was later traded to the then California Angels for Jim Fregosi who would later return to manage him. The trade was largely ignored at the time as the Mets went on to win another title in 1973, But Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi? Really? It is amazing to think about it now considering Ryan’s legacy and the Met’s idiocy.

During the early 1970’s, Nolan Ryan was the biggest story in local baseball. The Dodgers were still finding their way after the retirements of Koufax and Drysdale. The Angels were hopping along under the shadow of the Gene Autry era. In 1973, Smoking Nolan won 21 games and pitched 26 complete games. In 1974, he won 22 games and pitched another 26 complete games. While you wrapping your head around 52 complete games over two seasons, factor that the entire Giant pitching staff had six complete games this year. Nolan threw four no-hitters and tied this Sandy Koufax record during his Angel days. He would break Koufax’s season strikeout record with 383 in 1973. As Koufax would joke,”He broke my strikeout record by one and exceeded my base on balls total by 91. I suspect half those guys swung rather than get hit.”

It was never pretty but Ryan was a battler much like his team. Ryan led the majors in strikeouts seven of the eight seasons he played in Anaheim. He also led the league in walks in six of those years. He is the only pitcher to walk 200 batters in a season and he did it twice. The Angels were terrible during those years making the playoffs only once as the tortured Cowboy tried to find the right pieces to surround a player who should have been the face of the franchise yet never was. Autry and Ryan were kindred warriors who would have fought to a championship if history and Buzzie Bavasi had allowed them to ride off into the sunset together.

Ryan was 26-27 in his last two years with the Angels and then General Manager Buzzie Bavasi let him go without even making an offer to keep him. Bavasi quipped to the LA times that he could replace Ryan with two 8-7 pitchers. He was sadly mistaken and declared letting Ryan go his biggest mistake as a baseball executive. Ryan went on to pitch another 14 seasons, strike out another more 2800 batters and pitch three more no-hitters. He had a Hall of Fame Career with the Angels and another one after he left to finish his life in Texas.

Ryan threw seven no-hitters as a major leaguer and an amazing 12 one-hitters. He only pitched four games in his career that he did not walk a batter. He is the only pitcher to strike out the side on nine pitches in both leagues. Nolan was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1991 and proudly wears a Rangers uniform even though his greatest statistics were with the Angels. The Angels are still waiting for their first HOF inductee. The Angels did elect Ryan to their team HOF and retired his #30. The Astros and Rangers have done the same making Ryan the only Major Leaguer to have his jersey retired by three teams.

In one of the final starts of his career on August 4, 1993, he hit Robin Ventura with an inside fastball. Ventura charged the mound with an unconcerned Ryan barely moving from the pitching rubber waiting for him. First of all, baseball players named Robin should not charge the mound under any circumstances. Ventura was 26 years old and he was racing to his destiny with the 46 year old Ryan. He just did not know it at the time. Nolan put a head hold on him and pummeled his face repeatedly before Pudge Rodriguez dragged him off the youngster. If it was in the Octagon, they would have stopped the fight. The video is still on You Tube and Ventura never quite lived up to his budding superstar billing after suffering that shellacking by the Smokin’one.

During the summer while the Rangers future was decided by the bankruptcy trustees, Ryan shepherded the franchise to the AL West Title. He took a chance on Josh Hamilton and recruited Vlad Guerrero to DH. He found starters CJ Wilson in his bullpen and Corby Lewis in Japan. Vlad Guerrero was not re-signed by the Angels and Nolan provided him exile in the Ranger batting order. He traded for Cliff Lee at the trading deadline.

The Yard loves this Ranger team. Not just because of the Giant vitriol gurgling in our esophagus because they are good and a great story. Josh Hamilton was tatted and out of baseball messed up on drugs by the time he was 22 years old. He is sober and a leading MVP candidate for Ryan’s red necks. Bengie Molina has the distinction of getting a World Series ring no matter who wins. He was the Giants starting catcher before he was shipped to Texas to make room for Buster Posey. He is the only starting catcher in major league history to face his team after being traded during the season. He is a difference maker as he showed during the Yankee series. His three run home run sunk the pinstripes. His post game comment of “It’s not a bad for a fat Mexican kid that everybody makes fun of when he runs,” was hilarious. Cliff Lee struggled to a 12-9 record and a 3.18 regular season but he is money in the playoffs. He is 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA the last two seasons in the playoffs. The Giants will see him twice. Manager Ron Washington apparently only snorted blow one time in his life and tested positive a few days later. He must have been really unlucky and Nolan stuck with him.

Nolan is guiding the ship from the land of Misfit Toys on their way to Oz.


Inside the lines: Shock story of the week was the Maria Sharapova and Sasha Vujacic gave her a $250,000 engagement ring. Not the ring, we just thought Sharapova had more sense. She seems like a classy broad and Sasha seems like a load.

Extra Innings: One of the Rangers creditors was NY Yankee Alex Rodriguez! The Rangers owe him $26 million in deferred compensation. A-Rod had to get out Texas and get to NY City because the Rangers were never going to win anything. Six years later, A-Rod has played in one World Series and the lowly Ranger knocked him out this year. Priceless!