1990 Topps – Nolan Ryan 5000K (Tex)
On this date in 1993, Nolan Ryan struck out the 5,714th and final batter of his Major League Baseball career. The batter was Greg Myers of the California Angels. Greg Myers was a catcher (see below) and played for a few teams – Toronto, California, Minnesota, Atlanta, San Diego, Atlanta again, Baltimore, Oakland, and Toronto again. He started and ended his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, somehow hitting .307 with 15 home runs in 2003, 16 years after his debut in 1987, and a few points above his career average of .255.
1992 Pinnacle – Greg Myers
Interesting fact about Nolan Ryan: of the four teams he pitched for, he had his highest K/9 inning rate with the Texas Rangers (10.1) from 1989-1993, when he was 42-46 years old. Maybe he was doing something right. He never had Tommy John surgery. Everyone has Tommy John surgery now. Except Matt Harvey. But he will soon, don’t you worry your pretty little head.
One more thing about Nolan Ryan: his 5,714 strikeouts put him 839 ahead of Randy Johnson, who sits second overall on the career list. That would be like someone beating Barry Bonds’ home run record of 762 with a total of 892. Or, if you aren’t into Barry Bonds’ record being legit, it would be like someone beating Hank Aaron’s record of 755 with a total of 883. Those are some pretty staggering numbers.
But ya, he struck out Greg Myers on September 17 once.
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