How Did This Texas Pitcher Never Win a Cy Young Award

You cannot argue against the fact that Nolan Ryan is one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB) history. He holds the all time records for total strikeouts and for Walks & Hits per 9 Innings (WHIP). His 5,714 career strikeouts is a total that will probably never be touched.

Ryan was born in Refugio, Texas and grew up in the state. He played Little League and High School baseball in Texas, before being drafted by the New York Mets when he graduated high school.

Over his Major League Baseball career, he led MLB pitchers in strikeouts during 11 seasons, topping 300 strikeouts in a season 6 times.

He wasn't a guy who afraid to throw innings either. He averaged 232 innings over his average season for his 27 year career. Oh, there's that too...HE HAD A 27 YEAR CAREER. He pitched until he was 46-years-old, and was still able to win 5 games in his final season.

Nolan Ryan was a guy who struck out a ton of hitters, pitched a ton of innings, and did it over a ton of seasons. But at no point during this Hall of Fame career did he ever win the Cy Young Award, which is given to the best pitcher in the American League and National League every year.

He came in the Top 5 for voting on the award multiple times over his career. Some of those years he was beat out by major Hall of Fame names, but in some years he lost to names you might not recognize.

In 1973, he placed second in the AL voting to Jim Palmer. In 1974, he lost to Catfish Hunter. In 1977, Sparky Lyle won the AL Cy Young while Ryan was 3rd. In 1981, he placed 4th in NL voting, while Fernando Valenzuela won the award. In 1987, Ryan was top 5 in NL voting, while Steve Bedrosian won the award. Then in 1989 he placed in the top 5 for the last time in his career, losing the AL award to Bret Saberhagen.

Even though Ryan never won a Cy Young, Hall of Fame voters knew he was one of the best ever. When he was eligible for Hall of Fame voting he was elected on the first ballot, getting 98.8% of the votes. One of the best results ever.