I have been a Nolan Ryan fan for as long as I can remember baseball. My first set of baseball cards were the Topps cards that showed stats from 1974. I read about this strike out phenomenon and was an immediate fan. Baseball drew me by its numbers, and Ryan had ridiculous numbers. In 1974 he started 41 games, completed 26 of them, pitched 332 innings, struck out 367 (less than he had the previous year), but walked over 200 batters. I suppose that may have been why he only placed third in the Cy Young award. Still, he was ripped off. Catfish Hunter? Whatever. I remember living in Little Rock, Arkansas when he was coming to the end of his incredible and long career. One of my life regrets is NOT heading down the highway to see him pitch in Arlington. Ah, well.
Oh, and I loved it when he did commercials a few years later--about aspirin, if I remember right. He was still blurring the ball past batters. A workhorse unlike anything that is on a mound these days.
In recent years, I've been captivated by the numbers and character of Albert Pujols. Though I'm not a Cardinals fan, I've cheered for them because of him. You may already know that I'm first an Indians fan, then a Reds fan (being an Ohio boy). Well, I spread out to the general Midwest after that (and cheer against the Left and East coast teams..... although I do still cheer for former Indians like Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, and Victor Martinez).
So... pulling together these two fan-ness's (totally botched that made up word, eh?), I'm hoping to see the Cardinals and the Rangers in the World Series. If they both make it, I don't think I'll care which one wins. If one of them doesn't, but the other does, I'll have a team to cheer for. If neither does... Brewers versus Detroit? Hmm... nah.
Go Nolan, go Josh Hamilton, and go Pujols.
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