A's shared Ryan's pain for no-no No. 6

C John Russell
Texas 5, at Oakland 0
The game: At the age of 43 years, 4 months and 12 days, Ryan becomes the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter, and the first to throw one in three different decades and for three different teams. Russell, who was catching Ryan for the first time, helped with a solo home run.
The catcher: "The intensity in his eyes was unlike anything I have ever seen. That's why I never got nervous. I looked into his eyes."

OAKLAND, Calif. - He is a 43-year-old man who will have his aching back examined Tuesday morning. But Monday night, Nolan Ryan was superman.

Ignoring the pain in his back, Ryan claimed his permanent spot in baseball history with his sixth career no-hitter in a 5-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics. It gave him his 294th career victory.

It ended when Willie Randolph hit a soft foul fly to Ruben Sierra in right field. Ryan shot his right fist into the air and immediately was mobbed by teammates and son Reese.

The Rangers carried Ryan from the field on their shoulders to the dugout, where his wife, Ruth, and daughter Wendy waited.

"This has a special place right up there with the fifth one because it came so late in my career," said Ryan, who will have his back examined Tuesday in Los Angeles. "It means something because the whole team was so emotionally involved.

"I've been close before, so I know what the disappointment is like. When I went out there for the ninth, I told myself that if I was going to get beat, it was only going to be with my best pitches."

By the seventh inning, the 33,436 fans at the Coliseum began cheering Ryan. By the eighth, they were fully on his side. By the ninth, they were chanting, "Nol-an . . . Nol-an."

Ryan started the ninth by striking out pinch-hitter Ken Phelps. After shortstop Jeff Huson made a strong play on Rickey Henderson's slow roller, Ryan finished off Randolph.

"It's amazing," Oakland manager Tony La Russa said. "You had a feeling early this would be something special."

Ryan did not. He said his back was "about the same," which means it hurt. Ryan went through a series of odd gyrations and took extra time between pitches to help the back.

No 43-year-old man in any condition had ever done this. Ryan became the oldest pitcher in baseball history to pitch a no-hitter and the first to throw no-hitters for three different clubs.

He had his four no-hitters while pitching for the California Angels, in 1973 against Kansas City and Detroit, in 1974 against Minnesota and in 1975 against Baltimore. He threw No. 5, the one that broke Sandy Koufax's major league record, as a member of the Houston Astros in 1981 against Los Angeles.

Hall of Famer Cy Young, who was nearly two years younger when he pitched his no-hitter in 1908, previously held the distinction as the oldest no-hit pitcher. The Hall of Fame immediately called for all Ryan memorabilia.

Ryan allowed two walks and had 14 strikeouts Monday. Each strikeout was swinging, an indication of how good his combination of changeup and fastball was.

Associated Press

Ryan pitches during his sixth no-hitter.

Ryan's best single pitch was a fastball to strike out Rickey Henderson in the third. Ryan's best overall pitch was a changeup that flustered Oakland hitters.

The changeup carried Ryan early, when the stiff back kept his fastball under 90 mph. According to the Athletics, Ryan's fastball hit 95 mph in the final three innings.

"The key to the game was I had real good command of my fastball," Ryan said. "I had a good changeup when I got behind. Oakland is a free-swinging club, and because of that they swung at my change even when it was out of the strike zone."

Huson made the best defensive play, charging Henderson's checked-swing grounder and making a strong throw for the 26th out.

"I wasn't nervous, but after the play my heart was pounding," said Huson, positioned deeper than usual on the play. "I wanted to get to any ball I could. I was going to make the play or make sure it was an error."

John Russell caught Ryan for the first time. According to Russell, Ryan called the pitches Monday, as he did in his second no-hitter with the California Angels in 1973.

"It was his game," said Russell, who homered in the second. "He had that look, unlike anything I'd ever seen. He smelled it."

Julio Franco had a pair of two-run homers, but he was relegated to the chorus line. This game belonged to Ryan.

He had taken no-hitters into the eighth inning five times in 41 previous starts with the Rangers, but this showing was unexpected.

RYAN REPLAY

No-hitter No. 6 June 11, 1990

Because of the back, Ryan had not won since April 26 and was 0-3 with an 8.86 ERA in six previous starts, sandwiched around a stay on the disabled list. In his return start, Wednesday against Oakland, Ryan showed the back condition is not fully healed.

"He flinched and grimaced on a few pitches," La Russa said. "He pitched with pain and still was great. That's what makes him even greater, to do all that in discomfort.

"Not many people have everyone's respect, but Nolan does for what he's done. I'll root for him to get 300. He deserves it. He's someone special."

As in his last start, Ryan went through the gyrations on the mound to help his back. He rolled his hips. He twisted his trunk. He strolled to the back of the mound to get more time.

Ryan faced a patchwork Oakland lineup missing three regulars. Third baseman Carney Lansford (bicep) and right fielder Jose Canseco (back) did not play because of injuries, and La Russa thought better of using first baseman Mark McGwire, who struck out three times against Ryan last week.

Canseco, Lansford and McGwire have combined for 37 homers and 115 RBIs. This entire lineup had a combined 26 homers and 99 RBIs. Five of the starters were hitting worse than .220.

Ryan had one difficult moment. In the fourth, he thought Randolph had struck out on a 2-2 pitch, but plate umpire Don Denkinger called it a ball. When Randolph followed with a deep fly to left, Ryan began yelling at himself for what he considered a bad pitch.

Denkinger thought the yells were for him and went to the mound. After a brief talk, everything was calm.

Ryan struck out five of the next six hitters, including the side in the fifth on 11 pitches.

He began slowing in the seventh, going to full counts on each hitter, although only Doug Jennings put the ball in play with a soft fly to Sierra.

Ryan started the eighth with another full count, to Dave Henderson. He struck out, as did Lansford on three pitches as a pinch-hitter.

Franco, continuing his drive for a second consecutive All-Star appearance, owed some of his success to Sierra.

Starter Scott Sanderson twice chose to go after Franco when behind in the count rather than give up the walk and face Sierra. Franco homered each time.

With Gary Pettis at second and first base open in the opening inning, Sanderson decided it was better to challenge Franco than give Sierra a chance. Sanderson tried to slip a 3-1 fastball past Franco, but he took it to right-center for a two-run homer.

A similar situation unfolded in the fifth. With Rafael Palmeiro at first and two out, Sanderson, facing a 2-0 count, again tried the fastball. The only change this time was Franco pulled the ball well into the left-field bleachers.

Russell added a run to the lead with a leadoff homer in the second. While starting the last three games, Russell has two homers in 12 at-bats. The other three catchers used by the Rangers this season - Chad Kreuter, Geno Petralli and Mike Stanley - have two homers in 212 at-bats.

But Russell's most important accomplishment was that he went along for the ride with Ryan.