Ryan Steals the Thunder : At 44, He Strikes Out 16 in Record 7th No-Hitter, Beating Blue Jays, 3-0

Nolan Ryan, feeling every bit the 44-year-old man, began Wednesday with an aching back.

He finished with another piece of history.

Ryan, going “into a zone where normal people don’t go,” according to Ranger pitching coach Tom House, pitched the record seventh no-hitter of his career, beating the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0, before 33,439 fans at Arlington Stadium. No one else in major league history has thrown more than four no-hitters.

“This was the furthest thing from my mind,” Ryan said. “When I woke up, I had more aches and pains. I physically had a bad day. Old age.

“I never say I have no-hit stuff. I know all it takes is one pitch. I took each inning as it came along. When I went into the ninth, I just felt like I was going to go right at them and be real aggressive and try not to make a mistake.”

Ryan struck out 16 and missed a perfect game--retiring 27 consecutive batters from start to finish--by two walks on full-count pitches. He asked his defense to come up with one difficult play, and center fielder Gary Pettis ran down Manny Lee’s shallow fly ball for the second out of the sixth inning.

Ryan was so dominant the Blue Jays hit only four balls out of the infield. Ryan compared the quality of his pitches to his second no-hitter: a 17-strikeout performance against Detroit on July 15, 1973. The Blue Jays must live with the memory of this game until Tuesday, when they will face Ryan again at the Toronto SkyDome.

“I had the best command of all three pitches. This is the best,” Ryan said of his no-hit collection. “This is my most overpowering night.”

Said Ranger shortstop Jeff Huson: “They were overmatched and it was no fault of theirs. They just got in the way of a train.”

Ryan, with the crowd on its feet in a full-throated frenzy, finished by throwing his 122nd pitch--a hissing 93-m.p.h. fastball--past a swinging Roberto Alomar for a strikeout. As they did last year when Ryan pitched a no-hitter against the defending World Series champion Oakland Athletics, the Rangers charged from the dugout and carried Ryan off the field.

In the clubhouse, the Rangers had their private celebration. Manager Bobby Valentine broke out a bottle of champagne that had been on the wall of his office since 1986. Valentine had vowed not to open the champagne until the Rangers reached a World Series. This was no time to wait on an even bigger miracle.

“I’m just relieved it’s over with,” said Ryan, who also has 12 one-hitters and has combined for two other one-hitters.

“I had hoped I’d get in this position to do it at home for these fans. I’m just thankful it worked out.”

To grasp the magnitude of what Ryan accomplished, consider his final victim. When Ryan pitched his first two no-hitters with the Angels in 1973, his second baseman was Sandy Alomar. Roberto Alomar is Sandy Alomar’s 23-year-old son, who as a child asked Ryan to help him become a pitcher.

“I won’t be flipping baseballs when I’m 44,” said Toronto starter Jimmy Key, who allowed Ruben Sierra’s two-run home run in the three-run third inning. “The only thing I hope is I’m able to throw my kids batting practice.”

There were doubts Ryan would see the middle innings. He woke up with a stiff back and took mild pain relievers all day before coming to the park. They did not help.

Ryan went through extra pregame stretching and wore a heating pack on his back during the scouting meeting to go over hitters. While warming up, Ryan turned to House, another 44-year-old, and complained about his accumulated years.

“I don’t know how you feel at 44, but I feel old today,” Ryan said to House. “My back hurts. My finger hurts. My ankle hurts. I’ve been taking Advil since noon, and it isn’t helping.”

The aches were an omen. Ryan pitched his no-hitter last year shortly after coming off the disabled list because of a stress fracture in the back. As it did in that game, adrenaline took over.

“It kicked in in the first inning,” Ryan said, “and it went better as the game went along.”

Ryan carried an extra burden. This was his first start of the season on four days rest. He threw a draining 131 pitches in a loss to Cleveland on Friday.

Ryan grew stronger under the workload, becoming more effective with the fastball, which hit a high of 96 m.p.h. on a pitch to Joe Carter in the fourth. Ryan had nine strikeouts with the fastball, six with the curveball and one with the changeup.

He struck out five of the final 10 hitters.

Toronto presented a lineup full of Ryan fodder. Two of the starters--Glenallen Hill and Mark Whiten--had never faced Ryan. The other seven starters were a combined nine-for-66 lifetime against him.

Ryan had a few touchy moments in the first, going to two full counts and walking Kelly Gruber. Ryan escaped the first by getting Carter on a pop-up. In the second, Ryan gave signs of dominance.

He struck out the side, all on called third strikes.

The curveball froze John Olerud and Whiten. Hill could not react to a fastball low and away on the corner. Huson and third baseman Steve Buechele ran off the field together and shared the same thought.

“Right then, you could tell he could do it,” Buechele said. “This wasn’t like last year’s game. There was a lot of pressure in that game. This was like being a spectator, he was so dominant.”

ANOTHER GEM: A look back at each of Nolan Ryan’s no-hitters. C8

THE BOXSCORES: C8

MIKE DOWNEY: Where others make comebacks, Nolan Ryan never goes away. Where others fail, Ryan succeeds. Where others run out of gas, Ryan roars on. C9

COMMENTARY: Randy Galloway, Dallas Morning News columnist, called Nolan Ryan’s seventh no-hitter “simply the greatest event in the 29-year history of Arlington Stadium.” C9