By Tracy Ringolsby / The Dallas Morning News

Reprinted from Aug. 23, 1989 editions

Box score

ARLINGTON - Nolan Ryan's journey into baseball history, which began with so little fanfare nearly 23 years ago, reached uncharted territory at Arlington Stadium on Tuesday night.

He hurled a 96 mph fastball - the trademark of his career - past a swinging Rickey Henderson on a 3-2 pitch to open the fifth inning of the Rangers' game against the Oakland Athletics. At 8:51 p.m., on his 73rd pitch of the game, Ryan became the first pitcher in history to strike out 5,000 batters.

"If somebody had asked me how I'd have liked to get it, I would have said with a fastball swinging," said Ryan, whose milestone pitch equaled his top velocity of the game. "That's my bread-and-butter pitch."

History had been made, but not the way he had hoped. His moment in the national spotlight was blurred by a 2-0 loss for a Rangers team that didn't share the emotional charge of a crowd that had nearly filled the stadium a half-hour before the game.

Ryan's feat prompted a one-minute, 25-second standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 42,869, the second-largest in the Rangers' 18 years in Texas. The adulation ended only because Ryan stepped back on the mound and resumed pitching.

"Nolan is a very special person," said Rangers manager Bobby Valentine. "We're proud he's pitching for us. I don't know how proud he is of us. We were flat for him. The guys thought they were secondary to the main act."

To the fans, including baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, the game was definitely a secondary item on the night's agenda.

Paula Nelson / The Dallas Morning News Ryan gets his 5,000th strikeout against Rickey Henderson.

The attraction of the event was obvious Thursday afternoon, when the game became the earliest sellout in Rangers history. Scalpers were selling tickets for as much as $200.

On Tuesday, the stadium was filled with banners, including one that proclaimed Texas Ryangers. Fifteen "K Clubs" were seen in the stands, marking each of Ryan's strikeouts with the letter K, the official scoring designation for a strikeout.

Ryan finished the game with 13 strikeouts, giving him a Rangers season record of 232 and increasing his major league record to 5,007. The retired Steve Carlton is second on the list at 4,136.

Even Ryan felt the electricity.

"I was very nervous," he said. "Coming down here today, I drove by the ballpark and had to turn around and come back."

He finally found his way and arrived shortly after 4 p.m. "I wouldn't have missed it for anything," he said. "I want to get it over with."

And once Ron Hassey took a 2-2 pitch for the second out in the third inning and 4,999th strikeout of Ryan's career, the anticipation grew.

"This box was on its feet more than it was on its seats," former Rangers owner Eddie Chiles said of his guests in his private box. "I thought somebody was going to jump up and hit the [ceiling] fan."

Six batters later - after walking Terry Steinbach and getting Walt Weiss on a groundout, both on 3-2 pitches in the fourth - Ryan reached the milestone.

"I felt the same electricity when he'd get two strikes as I did that night when Henry Aaron came to the plate and fouled a ball off," said Rangers pitching coach Tom House, who was in the Atlanta bullpen and caught the ball when teammate Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record in 1974.

Ryan, who had requested that the game carry on without interruption when the 5,000th strikeout was registered, tried to maintain his composure. After Henderson swung and missed, Ryan made his normal pilgrimage behind the mound.

The crowd wouldn't let the moment pass. Standing to cheer when he got to a two-strike count, the fans let loose an ear-shattering reception.

And his teammates wouldn't ignore what had occurred. Instead of throwing the ball back to the mound, Kreuter went to shake Ryan's hand, and each of the Rangers in the field followed.

Twice Ryan doffed his cap, and then he stepped back on the pitching rubber to resume his mission of the night.

"When he came off the field after that inning," House said, "the only thing he said was, 'Come, on boys, saddle up. We have to win a ballgame.' "

The victory never came, but the crowd seemed unfazed. The fans came to cheer Ryan and his exploits. That included an ovation for a taped congratulatory statement from President Bush shown on the scoreboard as Ryan returned to start the sixth inning.

Although the A's tried to play down their part and point to their interest in a pennant race, even they couldn't ignore what was about to happen.

As Henderson walked to the plate, en route to becoming No. 5,000, he chatted with home plate umpire Larry Young.

"He said, 'If I'm the 5,000th strikeout, can I get the ball to give to my little boy?' " Young said. "I told him I didn't think either one of us could get out of here with that ball."