European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday july 25, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 23 Ryan s 300th be won say s a Nolan Ryan tries for Victory no. 300 at Home tonight business As usual Dallas apr As his first Chance at his 300th career Victory on wednesday approaches it s business As usual for Nolan Ryan. On sunday Ryan lifted weights Rode an exercise bicycle for about 35 minutes did interval running stretched his stiff Back and did abdominal exercises. He followed that with Flat ground throwing. He started by throwing from 240 feet for about eight minutes and worked his Way Down to throwing from 45 feet for about 10 minutes. Its the same plan Ryan always follows three Days before a Start no matter the situation. By Steve Marcus. New Day j re a to winning 300 itt ajor league games is paved with goal oriented pitchers whose formula for Success could be called grind ambition. Talent alone will not Gam entry into the 300 club. For the thousands of pitchers who have competed since 1876, Only 19 have attained 300 or More wins. Nolan Ryan in his 24th year is on the verae of becoming no. 20. He will be greeted with open if not tired arms from the other Iron mikes on the list. Ryan comes with portfolio a there will be other Guys doing what we have done a said Phil Niekro a 300-game Winner from the class of 85. A but there will never be another Nolan Ryan. There will not be another Arm legs Muscles or whatever he a got going for  fonday night Ryan Defeated the tigers 5-3 in Arlington Texas to win no. 299. The right hander who has lost 267, is scheduled to shoot for no. 300 against the Nej York Yankees tonight in Arlington Texas. _ Only 14 pitchers since 1900 have won 300 games with five coming in the 1980s. Beit Bly Leveri with 279 career wins has the next shot at 300. After that 41 year old Rick Reuscher with 213, is the Only Active Pitcher with at least 200 victories. But Reuscher who is on the disabled fist with knee problems May never pitch again. The Hall of Fame is full of great pitchers who did not win 300, including Bob Feller <266whiley Ford 236 Sandy Koufax 165juan Mancha 243 and Catfish Hunter 224. Winning 300 is usually the magic number for election to the Hall though reputed Spitaller Gaylord Perry 314 has thus far failed to receive enough votes and Don Sutton 324who had Only one 20-win season May have trouble gaining Entrance in his first try. Except for Peny every 300-game Winner eligible for the half has gained admission. What All the 300-game winners had in common was durability. No frequent occupants of the disabled list need apply for consideration to the 300 club. A now rated that he still looks for victories in old Limense games. The joke around the equitable old timers circuit is that Spahn is trying to catch All time Winner by Young 511. A i Tore some cartilage one year in Spring training but i pitched on it All year a Spahn said. A it was a Case where there were Young people chasing me and if i distracted by injuries. It takes a lot of years to get into Contention. When you get to 280 or 290, you certainly done to want to Stop there. Its like a hitter hitting .295 or .300. You re talking about winning 15 games a year in a 20-year  Ryan that has thrown As hard As he has at this advanced age i worked with the California Angels when he was there. 1 talked to him about a change up and throwing the curve Ball More but when you got a weapon like that you want to use it. He is an exceptional human  Sutton spoke of the intensity it takes to achieve the goal. Quot i Wasny to a great Pitcher i was a very Good Pitcher a he said a great is reserved for very few people. I was a Pitcher who started out with a plan. I thought if i could stay in shape and be productive that i could play id St Quot a. A k was a Pitcher who started out with a plan. I thought if could stay in shape and be productive that i could play Long enough and successfully enough to win 300 and that would be the Only Way i would be invited into the inner Circle. It was certainly the highlight of my profess kind of like add signal career. I think its a Milestone kind of Adays i you have a pimple on your Elbow they put you on the do and Send you to a specialist a Niekro said. A i was on the do once. I got hit with a line drive in the ribs i never had Arm  Niekro said his formula for winning 300 was this Quot play 23 years go out there every five Days and stay away from injuries and no operations. That show you do it.�?�. Warren Spahn who won 363 games in 21 years said injuries cannot figure into the equation. Spahn is so Molt ing the Good housekeeping Seal of approval to a Pitcher s career. For me i thought it was the Only Way 1 had of really being accepted As one of the Best. When i did it i said a finally finally its  Tom Seaver who won 3,11, was a close Friend of Ryan when both played for the new York mets. Seaver had the same Workmanlike approach to the game As Ryan. But Seaver and none of the other members of the 300 cub had the enduring fastball that Ryan has maintained Well  been h is Pri me a the has a peat gift a Seaver said. A a he a taking care of that gift that god gave him other people have the ability to throw the Ball hand. He a just gotten the most out of it Perry no 14 on the All time win list pointed to the essential difference Between his credentials and the distinction Ryan will bring. A for me it was longevity for Nolan Ryan its  give Ryan the last word by Mike Penner the los Angeles times the problem with being the Strong silent Type a As Nolan Ryan has Learned after years of strongly silencing major league hitters a is that somebody else is always getting the last word. In 1969, at age 22, Ryan helped take the new York w 1 Casey Stengel a lounge act and into the world series he won the Pennant clincher against the Atlanta braves and saved game 4 of the series against the Baltimore orioles. Hut he a no Tom sr4 ver. Two years later the mets traded the hardest throwing Pitcher in baseball along with three prospects to the California Angels for an aging All Star shortstop named Jim Fregosi wha t can the Angels be thinking in 1973, Ryan threw his first no hitter against the Kansas City royals. Lets see him do it a gain. Two months later Ryan did it again. He no hit the Detroit tigers. Yeah but Koufax did it four times. By seasons end Ryan had 383 strikeouts breaking the previous big league record held by Sandy Koufax. He also won 21 games threw four shutouts and finished with a 2.87 named run average. By re the 1973 american league by 1oung a Ward goes to. Jim Palmer. By 1979, Ryan had pitched his fourth no hitter surpassed 300 strikeouts four times and led the Angels to their first american league West title. Pm Buzzie Bavasi of the California a a gels and i can replace him with two 8-7  with the Houston astros in 1983, Ryan logged the 3,509th strikeout of his career eclipsing a record Walter Johnson held for 46 years. What about the walks in 1987, at age 40, Ryan led the National league with an Era of 2.76. Nice record 700. Eight and-16. It did no to matter How far Nolan Ryan s fastball took him. It was never far enough. He could scale mount Kilimanjaro and All everybody wanted to know was what he was going to do about Everest. He was always Loo wild too erratic too unpredictable too ,500. As recently As 1988, Ryan was still a Coin flip pick for the Hall of Fame. He threw More no hitters than any Man alive threw a faster fastball than any Man alive and struck out More opponents than any Man alive. Half the Cooperstown crowd shrugged. You a have thought they were talking about Pete Rose not the most overpowering Pitcher of this or any other time. Ryan never gambled on anything unless you count his selection of working clothes. Ryan banked the first 20 Yea re of his pitching career on three of the weakest nitting organizations in existence a the mets of the late 1960s, the Angels of the Early 1970s and the astros of the 1980s. That current television spot Ryan does for razor Blades ought to be for maa lox. He is the King of the 1-0 defeat. Yet for some reason Ryan was held responsible for this its True he did t hit enough Home runs. But for going 138-121 with the Angels and 106-94 with the astros Ryan should have received a presidential commendation not reams of flak from packs who contend the Guy is no Winner. In the end the Best thing Nolan Ryan Ever did was live past 40. Never mind the records. Once people began counting the birthday candles Ryan went from am Hood to sainthood. At 42, Ryan went to the Texas rangers and won 16 games. Along the Way he notched the 5,000th strikeout of his career won the All Star game for the american league and led the majors in strikeouts with 301. At 43, Ryan is 10-4, a month removed from his sixth no hitter and one Victory removed from his 300th Victory. People have begun to notice that most 43-year-old pitchers traditionally done to act this Way. Forty three year old pitchers throw sidearm and Jun balls and fastballs that float like hot dog wrappers. Forty three year old pitchers look like Small zip Vejins and carry tool kits with them to the Mound. From Emery boards to vaseline they will resort to any Means if it Means hanging on in the game for one More year. Right now the game is having More trouble hanging in with Ryan. The last two seasons have brought the Ryan revisionists out in Force. Columnists former non believers with Hall of Fame votes have come out and caved in. Buzzie Bavasi has admitted his mistake a the biggest of his career he says a and sent Ryan a Telegram after no hit Ter no. 6, beseeching him to Stop rubbing it in. Even old Grump Bob Feller who was Nolan Ryan before Nolan Ryan and wants everybody to know it has finally put Down his weapon. Ironically Ryan has won them Over not by brute Force but with finesse. Gradually he just wore them All out. Before 5,000 strikeouts and six no a liners and 300 victories there was room to argue. Now what the Heck. If Ryan pitches one More year As he promises his time will come in 1997. After the 5-year retirement requisite Ryan will be up before the committee eligible for Entrance into baseball a ultimate museum. Then at last hell have the last word