@zach

20d

Ryan Throws His 6th No-Hitter: Today in Sports History

On June 11th, 1990, Nolan Ryan threw the Texas Rangers’ first no-hitter in franchise history, leading his team to a 5-0 win over the Oakland Athletics. The 43-year-old became the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter and the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter for three different teams. The ace tossed 130 pitches, the most Ryan threw in any of his no-nos. He struck out 14 batters and walked two. His pitch count ties him for the 11th highest mark of any no-hitter with pitching data.

Rangers

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The 2023 Rangers and how they defied all the odds

Sorry, Flame, but the idea popped into my head and I REALLY wanted to write about it Anywho, This story truly starts in 2016. The Rangers had gone 95-67 (don't you even dare.) and had won both the AL West and the top seed for the playoffs. Does not mean they succeeded, however. In the ALDS, they got swept by the 4 seeded Blue Jays. This was a sign of much disappointment to come from the Rangers. Jeff Banister was kept for the 2017 season. After their promising 2016 season, everything fell down like the old Cowboys stadium. In 2017, they went 78-84, finished their season with 1 regular season game in October, finished 4th in the AL West, and kept Jeff Banister in hopes that it was an off year for the team. It was not. In 2018, they went 67-95. And on September 19th, they fired Jeff Banister. 2 days later, they found his replacement in Don Wakamatsu. This is their seocnd manager over this DYK's timeline. Keep that in mind. They were also 36 games behind the 103-win As(s)tros. In 2019, they hired Chris Woodward. Manager 3. They preceded to go 78-84. Again. Under a different manager. The finished 3rd in the AL West, 29 games behind the 107 win Astros. In 2020, uh, well, 2020. They kept Chris Woodward, and went 22-38. This was also their first year at Globe Life Field. They finished last in the AL West and last in the AL. They literally had their best chance to make the postseason for the first time since 2016, and fumbled it like Dak Prescott in 2019. In 2021, Chris Woodward is, somehow, still here. They would go 60-102, finishing last in the AL West. Again. They had the third worst record in baseball, ahead of only the Orioles, and, conveniently, the Diamondbacks. However, in 2022, they went a total of 8 games better. Yay? They finished 4th in the AL West, and fired Chris Woodward on August 15th. Tony Beasly was named interm manager of the Texas Rangers the same day. I want to remind you this was their 50th season being named the Texas Rangers. And they went .420. And now 2023. Bruce Bochy was named manager of the Rangers. Their 5th manager in 8 years, including 2016 and 2023. September 30th. The season is starting to wind down to a close. The Rangers need this win to stay alive. And they get it. A 6-1 win against the Mariners let them clinch their first playoff berth since 2016. And you better believe they're gonna run the **** away with it. At the end of the season, the Astros and Rangers tied for the AL West. However, due to tie breakers, the Astros took the division. This dropped the Rangers from 2nd with a bye to 5th. They were only 2 games ahead of missing the postseason all-together and 1 game form being the 2 seed. That didn't stop them, though. Are you serious? October 3rd and 4th. Despite being the away team for both games, Montgomery and Eovaldi won both their games and leading the #5 Rangers to a clean sweep of the Rays. Series 2. ALDS vs the Orioles. The greatest team in baseball that year. The Rangers run was ove- oh, oh my god. Dunning, Bradford and Eovaldi recorded wins in yet another sweep of the Orioles. They ended it off at home in from of 40k with a dominant 7-1 win. ALCS. Against, comically, the Astros. 7 games. One world series berth on the line. And when I tell you the series went in reverse of what you expected, I mean it. The Rangers won the first 2 games... at Houston. Then the Astros won the next 3 games... at Texas. October 22nd. Down 3-2. Texas needs a miracle. Thankfully, the third coming of Jesus known as Nathan Eovaldi has come to the rescue, with a clutch 9-2 win. So it all came down to 9 more innings of baseball. Which Texas would win with virtually no competition. Montgomery would pitch some decent innings but the offense was the real show, showing up with 11 runs while Houston only managed 4. To earn their ticket to the world series. October 27th. Welcome to the World Series. Two of the worst teams from just two year ago would meet in the World Series. And we started out with a banger. 11 innings. The Rangers rallied in the 9th to tie it at 5 and send it to extra innings. Insert: Adolis Garcia. In the words of the generic MLB The Show 23 announces: " AND OH THAT IS BELTED, WAY BACK THERE, AND GONEEEE!!! RANGERS WALK IT OFF!" Will this be a sign of things to come? No. Not at all. The Diamonds backs proceeded to win 9-1, then the Rangers won 3-1 and 11-7. Just like Game 3, it was 3-1 in game 5. And once again, the third coming of Jesus Nathan Eovaldi was back. 5-0. And the Rangers won the World Series. From the crew back here at MLB The Show 23, Good night.

@FlameRaptorRaven

Why did you think that was a good idea?

You’ve surely seen this photo or the clip of Nolan Ryan putting Robin Ventura in a headlock. The Texas Rangers for a long time had virtually no good moments in their history. Prior to the 21st century, you could make a good argument that this fight was the best moment in their history. However, you may be wondering what the hell Ventura was thinking? Well, according to Robin himself, The Ryan Express hit him on purpose. To be fair to him, he’s not wrong. Nolan Ryan was 46 at the time and well-known for his intimidation tactics. Similar to Bob Gibson and Randy Johnson, if he threw a ball at you, you knew it was on-purpose. Whether he wanted you to back off or back down, throwing his famously hard pitches was the best way to get batters to do what he wanted. However, according to the Rangers’ pitching coach Tom House, there was a financial incentive. Apparently, the White Sox had a clubhouse rule where if Nolan Ryan hit them with a pitch and they didn’t charge the mound, they would get fined. If you watch the clip and wonder why Ventura is almost unsure if he wants to go fight Nolan, that may be why. Why did Nolan immediately grab him in a headlock and start hitting him? “Self-preservation” Nolan’s words not mine. There are more wrinkles to this story, guess who was on the White Sox in this game? Bo Jackson. According to Bo, he told Robin Ventura the following: “If you get hit by Nolan, don’t take your helmet off, use your helmet like a football helmet. When you charge the mound, don’t charge the pitcher… run him to second base, take him off the mound… don’t run up to the mound and stop.” When Bo saw Ventura take off his helmet, he remembers screaming “No!” It’s worth noting that there is no beef between Ryan and Ventura. They talked about it in 2012 with no hard feelings. For his part, Ventura said “I'm all right. He gave me a couple of noogies.” Btw, Nolan Ryan was not ejected for that incident and the Rangers went on to win that game.

@Landon

Max Max Muncy Muncy

Please take a moment to look at the picture up above. Yes, that is true. Though it seems like a glitch in the matrix it’s not. These two individuals share the exact same name, same profession, some position, drafted by the same team, mostly hit towards the bottom of the order, and don’t even know each other. Completely unrelated too! I’d love to see these two on the same team one day.