Thursday, August 22, 1974

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Pag Eeen .

Ryan sets strikeout
marks for the lowly
California Angels

By The Associated Press
ANAHEIM - Nolan Ryan is
on the brink of becoming the
first pitcher in major league
baseball history to strike out
more than 300 batters in three
consecutive seasons in a year
he calls "overall somewhat
frustrating."
That may be the understate-
ment of the year in sports.
All Nolan has done in recent
weeks is loe a no-hitter - and
the game - with two outs to go
at Chicago; and strike out 19
Detroit batters, pitch a four-hit-
ter for 11 innings, and lose 1-0.
"Both were very frustrat-
ing," the California Angels
right-hander said yesterday
after losing to the Tigers.
"But probably Tuesday night
was as tough as any defeat
I've ever had."
Detroit used a single, a stol-
en base and a single to send
Ryan down to his 13th defeat
against 16 victories this season
for the last-place American
League West Division club.
Ryan had ties the nine-inning
record of 19 strike outs against
Boston Aug. 12, and had fan-
ned nine Milwaukee Brewers
Aug. 16 and his three-game tot-
al of 47 shattered the mark of
41 he had held with S a n d y
Koufax and Luis Tiant.
Strikeouts are fine, said the
27-year-old Alvin, Tex., resi-
dent, "but I have to put the
defeat out of my mind. All
I'm thinking about is my
next start, and winning 20
games."
His next start is either Sa-
trday or Sumday at New York.
With 288 strikeouts, he could
reach 300 his next time out.
With probably 10 more starts,
he's ahead of the pace that last
season saw him establish a ma-
jor league record of 383, break-
in Koufax's record.
Heck, he could strike out 400
batters this season.
Still, the frustration f r o m
his won-lost record and 3.15
earned run average lingers
with the 6-foot-2, 195-pound pit-
cher who credits the strength of
his legs with velocity that h a s
caused Oakland's Reggie Jack-
son to comment "He is faster
than instant coffee."
Ryan's last four defeats
have been by scores of 2-1,
twice; 3-2; and 1-0. Yet when
asked if he ever thought what
it'd be like to be pitching for
a contending club, he said:
"No, I don't believe in day-
dreaming."
last year, Ryan won seven
complete game starts between
Aug. 29 and Sept. 27 to finish
21-16 with an earned run aver-
age of 2.87. He had two no-hit-
ters and came within an eye-
lash of at least one more.
Thirty-three times in his
nearly eight-year major league
career, including four full sea-
sons with the Ne York Mets,
he has pitched a four-hitter or
letter.
"I 4vanted to have a better
winning percentage this year,
hut it looks Likeit will be
basically the same as last
year," said Ryan, who has a
history of more effective sea-
son endings than beginnings.

Maybe it takes him awhile to
develop rhythm, said Ryan,
who added that to hit his stride
he has to reduce his velocity,
conquer his control and keey
the ball down.
Besides leading the majors in
strikeouts the last two seasons,
he has been on top in walks,
too, giving up 157 in 1972 when
he fanned 329, and 162 last
year. He has 151 walks this sea-
son in 257 innings pitched.
Meanwhile, the question of
just how fast Lynn Nolan Ryan
Jr. throws a baseball may be
answered.
The Angels plan to allow a
company to utilize an infra-
red radar device to gauge his
pitches. It will take place on
Sept. 6 or 7 at Anaheim, de-
pending on when Ryan pitch-
es this weekend at New York.
The fastest pitch ever record-
ed was 98.6 miles per hour by
Bob Feller in 1946.
Ryan used only 69 pitches
to strike out 11 batters from
the sixth through the 10th in-
nings Tuesday night.
California manager Dick Wil-
liams observed: "If there's
ever been a pitcher who threw
harder than Ryan did in the
middle innings, I never saw
him."
MV
LeF1oi
By The Associated Press
ANAHEIM - When Ron Le-
Flore returned to the bench re-
cently after hitting his first ma-
jor league home run, the warm
response from his Detroit Tig-
er teammates meant more per-
haps than it would have to the
ordinary rookie.
"I really held my happiness
in as I circled the bases and
walked slowly to the dugout," he
said. "I had seen movies and
stuff where they gave a guy
the silent treatment on his first
home run,
But when I got back to the
bench, everybody treated me
really nice. They were pat-
ting me on the back and en-
couraging me. I think that's
really helped my courage."
LeFlore, 23, joined the Tigers
Aug. 1 -almost 14 months
to the day after his parole from
southern Michigan prison. He
had served three years of a
five-to-15-year sentence for arm-
ed robbery.
He never played baseball in
high school, but learned to play
in prison. A prison official re-
commended him to the Tigers,
who gave him a workout and
signed him,
LeFlore played about a year
in the minors, hitting .339 with
42 stolen bases in 93 games with

NO]
Tue
bat
outs
MAKE

LAN RYAN pitched a supurb game in a losing cause
sday night. Here he is shown blowing the ball past a Tiger
:ter, presumably Dick Sharon, for one of nineteen strike-
E on the night.
ES IT IN MAJORS

re proves seit
the Tigers' Lakeland, Fla., class Fred Hatfield.
A farm club this season, then "He can run, there's no doubt
playing nine games for the Tig- about that," said a club spokes-
ers AAA Evansville, Ind., club man. "You can watch him
before being called up to the once and see that.
major league team. "In the field he sometimes
"Everything has been great seems to play deep," says the ' W&iE 1tEStWMi.0
so far," he said before a game spokesman, "but that doesn't
at Anaheim Stadium. make a difference if you can
"Everything that I do some- come in and get the ball. He's
thing that I seem to do good, looked major league out there."
I get an ovation from the fans
and it makes me feel good.
It happens all over the lea-
gue, and I think everybody's
aware of my background.
"I still have a tendency to INTRODUCING
have bsutterflies, but after the
first pitch I feel more at ease. Peugeot-Diesel
I think I'll be nervous for quite
a while, though, because I have
not been around the leagu and
I don't know what I'm facing." x.
Called up to the Tigers to help
them get some speed on the
base paths, the muscular 6-fot-
2, 200-pounder has filled that 4-door, sunroof iNTRODUCING: the Aonly Die-
role nicely. He had six stolen set station wans in America.
bases in his first 20 games. INTRODUCING: The oedon that costs about
"He's the fastest that I $2,500 ye- than the other Diesel.
have ever seen from the right TOYOTA ANN ARBORInc.
side of tbe plate," said his
manager at Evansville, form- 907 N. MAIN at DEPOT ST. 769-7935
er major league infielder
1214 s. university 63eatliet s h tt
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