BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Will Critics Still Dare to Challenge Ryan?

Even now, with six no-hitters and more than 5,000 strikeouts and 294 victories, there are those who might question the Hall of Fame credentials of Nolan Ryan.

Bob Feller and Jim Palmer are among those who have raised the question, suggesting that Ryan is more thrower than pitcher; that his interest has been in strikeouts rather than easier outs, and that he has failed to establish his case as a big winner.

Quite to the contrary. In addition to that remarkable velocity and work ethic, he has been a more consistent winner than the teams on which he has played. If he seemed preoccupied with strikeouts, in some cases it might have been because he couldn’t trust the defense and couldn’t risk giving up more runs than his often anemic teams could produce.

Consider:

--In 14 of his previous 22 seasons Ryan had a better winning percentage than his team.

--In seven seasons he had a better-than-.500 record with teams that finished under .500.

--In eight seasons he won 16 or more games and certainly would have done it more often if he hadn’t been on the disabled list eight times.

Ryan’s teams, including the Texas Rangers through Saturday, had an 1,801-1,766 record, a .505 percentage. Ryan’s 294-267 record equates to .524.

A closer look:

--Ryan was 21 when he broke in with the New York Mets in 1968. He had National Guard obligations in each of his four seasons there and was always the odd man out of an otherwise set rotation that featured Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. The Mets, catching lightning with their amazing 100 victories of 1969, had a 339-309 record in those four years, a .523 percentage. The young Ryan was 29-37, a .439 percentage, the last time it was poorer than that of his team.

--In the first six of his eight seasons with the Angels, Ryan was 18 games better than .500 for a team that was 76 games under. He won 16 or more games in six of those seasons, compiling a 138-121 record for a .533 percentage, compared to the Angels’ .481 percentage (619-669).

--It can be argued that Ryan should have done better in his nine seasons with the Houston Astros, but his .530 percentage (106-94) was still better than the Astros’ .521 mark (733-674). Ryan was on the disabled list in three seasons and probably should have been on it in four or five because of the elbow injury that restricted the number of pitches he was allowed to throw. And there was always the pressure of knowing the Astros probably wouldn’t score more than three runs a game.

--In his second season with Texas, in the often suffocating heat of Arlington, at an age when most would find the ranch an attractive alternative and now with a stress fracture in his back, Ryan has compiled a 21-13 record for a .618 percentage. The Rangers have a .493 percentage (110-113) over that period. In six of 43 starts with Texas, Ryan has taken a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

Even Feller concedes that Ryan’s accomplishments and endurance have now reached epic proportion.

“The amazing thing is that he has carried his velocity, ability and agility longer than anyone else,” said the man once known as Rapid Robert. “To see him at this age gives a lot of encouragement and shows what can be done, with dedication.”

Said Merv Rettenmund, the Oakland Athletics’ hitting instructor and a former Ryan teammate with the Angels: “They should just open the door to the Hall of Fame and put him in now. He shouldn’t have to wait.”

Said Seymour Siwoff, head of the Elias Sports Bureau, which compiles and protects the game’s statistics: “Nolan should go in the first time he’s up, and he should go in unanimously. Maybe they should just put him in the Smithsonian. He’s an American institution, too.”

Ryan has teamed with a different catcher for each of his six no-hitters, and they were pretty much a collection of no-hitters themselves.

The four with the Angels were caught by Jeff Torborg, Art Kusnyer, Tom Egan and Ellie Rodriguez.

Alan Ashby caught the one at Houston, and John Russell was behind the plate in Oakland the other night, an improbable development considering Russell was released by the Atlanta Braves in spring training and began the season as a volunteer assistant with a Philadelphia high school team.

“It was like being in a tunnel,” Russell said of catching the no-hitter. “It was like there was no one out there except Nolan and me.”

Said Torborg, the Chicago White Sox manager who caught four no-hitters: “It’s a nerve-wracking experience. You want it so bad for him that you just hope you put down the right fingers for the right pitch. It’s something you never forget. It is special.”

That much more special considering Torborg was a .214 career hitter, Kusnyer a .176 hitter, Egan a .200 hitter, Rodriguez and Ashby each a .245 hitter and Russell, through Thursday, a .208 hitter. Their composite average: 232.

The early favorites for the National League’s two expansion franchises are Tampa-St. Petersburg and Denver, but neither is a shoo-in. In fact, Tampa-St. Pete is probably not the Florida area the National League would prefer.

That would be Orlando, with its booming growth, ties to the Disney and Universal tourist attractions, proximity to the major cities in northern Florida and the South Atlantic states and its DuPont money as represented by William DuPont III, owner of the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Assn.

Orlando already has a nickname for a major league baseball team, the Sunrays, but no stadium, though the DuPont organization believes that if the NL made a decision this September rather than in September 1991, it could get one built by 1993.

Tampa-St. Pete has the stadium, the Suncoast Dome, and deposits on 25,000 season tickets. Therein lies a problem for the NL, which would prefer an open-air stadium in the Orlando area, doesn’t think much of the Suncoast Dome’s configuration and construction and is concerned about limited traffic access from Tampa to St. Pete.

However, having a stadium in place is a major plus. To snub that area after its aggressive efforts to attract a franchise might be considered a major betrayal.

Denver, which would give the NL a foothold in the Rockies and a geographical steppingstone to the West Coast, will vote Aug. 10 on a sales tax increase to fund a 45,000 seat open-air stadium for baseball only.

If that fails, it is uncertain where the NL would turn. Phoenix is without a stadium, Washington is a two-time loser and Buffalo, which has produced a minor league renaissance built around an attractive stadium that can be doubled in size, is of concern to the NL because of its proximity to three big league cities--Cleveland, Toronto and New York.

From Dave Stieb, the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher: “I don’t see Boston keeping up the pace. (The Red Sox) don’t have the pitching we do, and they don’t have the team.” . . .

The St. Louis Cardinals have temporarily lost Lee Smith with tricep tightness and Jose DeLeon with a hamstring strain. “We have no excuses. We were terrible before we got hurt,” Manager Whitey Herzog said. . . .

The Kansas City Royals’ continuing problems and Bo Jackson’s inability to make contact reportedly have convinced management that this would be the proper time to trade Jackson for a package of prospects. . . .

With second baseman Jim Gantner returning from his devastating knee injury of last August, Paul Molitor nursing a shoulder injury that may require postseason surgery and Greg Brock struggling with a .236 batting average and one home run since April 30, the Milwaukee Brewers are thinking about benching the ex-Dodger and going with Molitor at first. The Brewers’ larger problem involves the return of Ted Higuera to the disabled list with a groin strain, joining two other starting pitchers on the DL, Bill Wegman and Tom Filer. . . .

Dave Smith has saved each of the Astros’ five victories against the Dodgers this season and couldn’t be happier about it. “It’s great because I hate them,” Smith said. “They’re all over there yelling about how I cheat. It’s great to be able to look at them and say nothing.” . . .

A’s Manager Tony La Russa, on Jose Canseco’s move to the disabled list because of a back injury: “We’ve won when he’s been out, but I’m never comfortable without him.” . . . Much of the surprising White Sox’s success stems from a bullpen that had a 15-4 record and 24 saves entering a four-game weekend series with the A’s. However, it had pitched 36% of Chicago’s innings, and some believe it may wear out during the second half. . . .

The White Sox haven’t dazzled A’s left fielder Rickey Henderson, who said: “I’m not impressed. They don’t have anybody in their lineup. I just think they need a little more help.” . . .

Would the Mets have come alive, as they seem to have, without a managerial change? “I think eventually, but not as quickly,” Harrelson said. Added Ron Darling: “I don’t think anything Buddy has done has been much different than what Davey (Johnson) did, but we were a team that was dead--dead and forgotten.”