Nolan Ryan Hospitalized

by Sarah Hope on Jan 27, 2007 7:28 AM CST

The article says that the condition was discovered during Ryan's double bypass surgery in 2000 and that "he takes medication for it".

"This is something I've lived with for the last seven years," Nolan Ryan said in a statement.

Ryan is in good condition.

********************************** ******************

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

Tweet Comment 17 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

All good wishes to him.

Ryan turns 60 on Wednesday. He shares a birthday with two other Hall of Famers -- Jackie Robinson and Ernie Banks.

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Jan 27, 2007 7:37 AM CST reply actions

I bet robin ventura still couldn't take him

Baby, you got a stew goin'

by Thelonious on Jan 27, 2007 8:04 AM CST reply actions

Heh.

n/t

UZI

We should be celebrating Oscar's "mexicanicity".

by Ozgreeder on Jan 27, 2007 8:10 AM CST up reply actions

Arguably the best pitcher

to ever throw a baseball. In my mind he is, get well soon Ryan.

TRAMMELL!

by Faith plus 1 on Jan 27, 2007 12:17 PM CST reply actions

I disagree

and I was planning on making a thread on just this subject after they had a similar thread over at minorleagueball. That thread was prompted by numerous baseball pundits proclaiming clemens as the greatest ever, which I also disagree with.

IMO, if you go by highest peak, it's Pedro (who has the best era + of all time), and if you go by a combination of dominance and longevity (my choice) the best is either Walter "Big Train" Johnson, or lefty grove.

If I'm not too lazy, I'll expand this into a full thread like I've been planning to for a month or so. Probably not...I have a prior committment to laziness.

Baby, you got a stew goin'

by Thelonious on Jan 27, 2007 12:30 PM CST up reply actions

The trouble is

I never saw Nolan pitch, I've seen Pedro throw, but never Nolan. However, seven no-hitters is hard to ignore.

TRAMMELL!

by Faith plus 1 on Jan 27, 2007 12:51 PM CST up reply actions

see the trouble with ryan...

is that he had the potential to be incredibly dominant (and frequently was), but he didn't maintain the consistent dominance like Pedro did over the peak of his career, or Big train, lefty grove, or even Clemens and Maddux have maintained over the majority of their careers.

Wins aren't normally a great stat, but I think they are incredibly telling when you talk about Ryan. His W/L percentage wasn't nearly as good as most of the other 300+ game winners, and for a guy that started as many games as he did, and pitched for as long as he did, 324 (or so: I didn't check) wins really isn't that many for the supposed best pitcher ever.

Hey, make a thread, and we can discuss further. Be quick about it, I don't have all day.

Baby, you got a stew goin'

by Thelonious on Jan 27, 2007 12:58 PM CST up reply actions

I'm lazy you do it

TRAMMELL!

by Faith plus 1 on Jan 27, 2007 1:01 PM CST up reply actions

I can't even have a tootsie pop without biting...

ask Mr. Owl to make the thread. He seems like an upstanding young gentleman.

Baby, you got a stew goin'

by Thelonious on Jan 27, 2007 1:05 PM CST up reply actions

Mr. Owl

tells me to bite or he'll kill my family. He's an evil bastard.

TRAMMELL!

by Faith plus 1 on Jan 27, 2007 1:09 PM CST up reply actions

I can't help but wonder if Nolan Ryan's illness

is related to steroids.

It's kind of funny - I used to marvel at guys like Ryan and Cal Ripken's ability to stay healthy and continue to perform so much longer and more frequently than their peers.

Now I look at the guys who are outliers and have to suspect that they were getting an extra boost from somewhere.

by 275 on Jan 27, 2007 2:00 PM CST reply actions

I'd be very surprised

Ryan retired in the early 90's well before they were rampant. He also never had the sort of body that makes you wonder. I can see where people question Clemens with his build. Ryan didn't look like that. Of course, I can't blame anyone for wondering these days.

by rlpete on Jan 27, 2007 2:13 PM CST up reply actions

True, but

Ryan was very close with Tom House, an admitted steroids user. They even co-wrote Nolan Ryan's Pitcher's Bible together.

Also, Ryan peaked later in his career. His best ERA+ full season came at the age of 40. That ain't normal.

I hear you on the body-type thing, but I think the muscles/steroids link in baseball players is fairly overstated. Look at the bodies of some of the people who have been caught. Guillermo Mota, the most recent average player busted, is 6'6" and weighs 210. That's far skinnier than Ryan's 6'2" and 195.

by 275 on Jan 27, 2007 2:18 PM CST up reply actions

Ryan was a...

... once-in-a-generation freak who was able to pitch that long. I think, as noted above, you'd have noticed a Clemensesque change in physique had he been doing 'roids. I doubt it.

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Jan 27, 2007 2:49 PM CST up reply actions

Change in physique

What do you base that on? Your argument against Ryan is based on nothing other than his physical appearance, but as you can see from the guys who have been caught, that's not the way to tell.

Here are the 14 MLB players who have been caught, They are not, as a group, particularly big guys.

Alex Sanchez
Jorge Piedra
Agustin Montero
Jamal Strong
Juan Rincon
Rafael Betancourt
Rafael Palmeiro
Ryan Franklin
Mike Morse
Carlos Almanzar
Felix Heredia
Matt Lawton
Yusaku Iriki
Guillermo Mota

by 275 on Jan 27, 2007 3:19 PM CST up reply actions

I hate to speculate,

because I don't want to bring bad luck or illness on anyone, but I would say it's diabetes.

WOODY!!!!

by Sarah Hope on Jan 27, 2007 3:31 PM CST up reply actions

Weird thing

Last night, swear to God, I had a dream that Nolan Ryan snubbed me for an autograph. I was in a hotel lobby and he walked in wearing his Texas Rangers uniform. I went up to ask him for an autograph and he just ignored me.

I haven't thought about Nolan Ryan in months. Think maybe I'm "on the list"?

A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants

by Josh Timmers on Jan 27, 2007 3:31 PM CST reply actions