Ryan adds 300th win to list of memorable moments

Nolan Ryan’s career was one for the record books. One of the most dominant pitchers in the league, his path to Cooperstown was one of baseball legend.

On July 31, 1990, the 43-year-old future Hall of Famer earned his 300th win in an 11-3 victory as the Rangers took on the Brewers at Milwaukee County Stadium in front of a crowd of more than 51,000 fans.

Ryan secured his 299th win in a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on July 20. The Rangers-Brewers game wasn’t his first attempt at joining the 300-win club. In front of a sellout crowd at Arlington Stadium, Ryan and the Rangers faced the Yankees on July 25. Expectations were high, but despite a 9-7 victory for the Rangers, Ryan didn’t get a decision.

“I’d like to get it over with as soon as possible. I don’t want to disappoint people,” Ryan said in a news conference ahead of his second attempt. “I have a lot of people coming to this game. It’s an inconvenience for them but they want to be a part of it. They’ve shared in my career.”

George W. Bush – son of President George H.W. Bush and future United States President himself – along with 15 members of the Ryan family were present at the nationally televised game when Ryan made history. The win against the Brewers made Ryan the 20th pitcher in history to reach the 300-victory milestone.

“For a moment, indelibly and forever imprinted on our collective memories, Nolan Ryan gave us baseball the way it was meant to be last night at County Stadium,” wrote Jim Reeves in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “This was our living, breathing ‘field of dreams,’ the one we tell our children and grandchildren about; the one that sets baseball above other games and other sports.”

Ryan played 27 seasons in the big leagues, tying for the longest Major League Baseball career. During his tenure he played for the Mets, Angels, Astros and Rangers, winning a World Series title with the Mets in 1969. The Texas native finished with 773 starts, 324 wins and eight All-Star appearances. He holds the record for strikeouts and no-hitters, with 5,714 and seven, respectively – marks that are far and away the top totals in those categories.

Ryan was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Emma Harby is the 2024 public relations intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development