ZRX1200 wrote:Frank hates Texans…and therefore America!
nuh huh, I love whistle.
I think Ryan was a unique talent, had an arm that was built to last a million miles, threw so hard that he was as difficult to hit as maybe anyone, but never took any team anywhere as an "ace", ala Koufax, or even Lonborg (see 1967 Red Sox).
Never had any seasons comparable to a half dozen Koufax years, more than a dozen for Spahn, several for Gibson, Marichal etc....
What I meant when I said not even the best pitcher on his own team many years, I'm thinking a few years he overlapped with Frank Tanana on the Angels, a few years he overlapped with Mike Scott on the Astros, was never gonna be more than #4 or 5 on the late 60's/early 70's Mets (which is why they traded him), and never mattered the last 100 years with the Rangers.
He was a physical freak, though. He'll hold records that will never be broken. But on the handful of teams he was on that even reached the post season, he wasn't the guy you'd want for the BIG game...in fact he lost all of the ones he started when the series was on the line.
I know this is a sin to say in New England, but his accumulation of career stats that got him into the Hall of Fame parallels Yaz, the Red Sox God who also played over 20 years (I think) and had over a dozen mediocre seasons...but the big difference was Yaz was one of the greatest clutch hitters EVAH...and Ryan, though known for several great individual performances, is not known for any special single performance that mattered to a team when the team needed it.
