Ryan pitches third no-hitter, fans 15

C Tom Egan
California 4, Minnesota 0
The game: Ryan strikes out 15 but also walks eight in capping a 22-16 season with a spectacular final start of the year.
The catcher: "Nolan definitely had it. It was like driving a powerful car. After the game, he gave me $500. He gave every player on the field a bonus. He came around and thanked every player for a job well done."

ANAHEIM, Calif - It was a night to let it all hang out and that's what Nolan Ryan did Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium. The Minnesota Twins were overmatched.

The fireballing ace of the California Angels threw the third no-hitter of his career in scoring a 4-0 victory over the best hitting team in the American League (.274).

There wasn't anything close to a base hit as Ryan struck out 15, including the last batter of the game, Eric Soderholm, as 10,872 customers screamed their approval.

"I knew this would probably be my last start of the season," said the beaming Ryan, "and I said to Tom Egan, 'I think I'll let it all hang out. What have I got to lose?' "

Ryan, who pitched no-hitters in Kansas City and Detroit last year, simply overpowered the Twins' hitters. He was wild enough - he walked eight - to keep the hitters loose and fast enough to get the ball by most of them.

Only Sandy Koufax, former Los Angeles Dodger great, with four has thrown more no-hitters than Ryan and there's not much doubt that Ryan, who tied the American League record set by Bob Feller, will be shooting at that mark next year.

Ryan, who has pitched 11 games this season in which he has held the opposition to four or fewer hits, went into the ninth inning against the White Sox in Chicago on Aug. 7 before losing a no-hitter.

"You have to put thoughts like that out of your mind," said Ryan, thinking back to Chicago. "I just knew one thing: If they were going to get a hit, it was going to be on my best pitch - my fastball."

Always dangerous Tony Oliva was the first batter in the ninth, and he hit a fastball to center. But Morris Nettles, who drove in three of the runs for the Angels, had it all the way.

Next was Larry Hisle, another dangerous hitter. Ryan blew him down on four pitches, and the crowd was in a frenzy. There were some groans when Minnesota manager Frank Quilici, going all out to stop the no-hitter, sent up Harmon Killebrew as a pinch hitter.

Ryan pitched carefully to the Killer, walking him. "I didn't want to walk him, but I wasn't going to give him a pitch he could pull," he said.

Now it was Soderholm, and the count went to 2-and-2. Soderholm fouled off a pitch, and then came the bullet. Soderholm took a feeble swing, and it was all over but the shouting.

"I guess you could say I was wild," said Ryan. "But I had good stuff all the way except in the seventh, when I felt I lost a little. But in the eighth and ninth, I had it again. I want to give credit to Egan. He caught an outstanding game, and I never shook him off once."

Egan, catching his first no-hitter, and Ryan got more than satisfaction out to the masterpiece. General manager Harry Dalton, as he sipped champagne in the dressing room with Ryan, said both would get bonuses, Ryan's bigger naturally.

Ryan let the Twins and the fans know right at the start that this could be a night to remember. His first seven pitches were strikes, and he struck out the side in the first two innings.

But pitching coach Billy Muffett and manager Dick Williams suspected something even earlier.

While Ryan was warming up on the sidelines, Muffett went over to Williams and said, "I don't like to say this, but warming up, he's throwing faster than I've seen him. Talk about a live fastball."

Ryan threw 158 pitches, which is just about average and though he felt he was wild, Egan didn't agree.

"I have seen him faster," said Egan, "but he was pitching them in and out tonight. He was hitting the spots and never gave them a good strike to hit at. He just missed on most of his walks. In the eighth inning, he got two strikeouts on pitches that just got the corner. He was something else."

"I knew he was ready for a big night," said third baseman Dave Chalk, "when he threw only three warmup pitches when he first took the mound. I could just feel it."

In comparing this no-hitter with the two he pitched last year, Ryan said it was better than the one in Kansas City and as good as the one in Detroit.

"There's something about having been there before," said Ryan. "that makes you want to pitch another one. I could feel it in the last couple of innings. It sounded like there were a lot more than 10,000 fans.

"I can pitch Wednesday if I want, but I don't think I will. I've accomplished about all I can this season."

Amen. He has won 22, tying the club record set by Clyde Wright in 1970. Three times he struck out 19 batters and now a no-hitter.

The only thing left would be going for a new season strikeout record. He has 367, and would need 17 to break his own mark. Ryan feels it wouldn't be likely against a team as good as Oakland.

Because the Angels have not produced a lot of runs for Ryan, when somebody says that Nolan pitched another no-hitter, the tendency is to ask if he won.

The Angels made sure that wouldn't happen by scoring twice in the third, with Nettles driving in one and scoring the other. They wrapped it up in the third when Nettles singled with the bases loaded.

After giving up seven walks in the first five innings, Ryan settled down to retire 13 batters in a row before walking Killebrew in the ninth.

There were some fairly well hit balls, but all the outs were on routine plays.