1989 nolan ryan

in december of 1988, when he was one month from turning 42, nolan ryan signed a free agent contract with the texas rangers. here is his 1989 o-pee-chee card:

it's not as awesome as his 1980 o-pee-chee variation, that's for sure.

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

when ryan joined the rangers, he became the first player to play for all four of the original expansion franchises (the mets, angels, astros/colt 45s, and the rangers/senators). he also was 27 wins shy of 300, and 225 strikeouts shy of 5000 for his career. the strikeouts came easily, as they always had. ryan led the league with 301 k's in 1989, recording his 5000th strikeout on august 22 when he victimized rickey henderson. as for the wins, ryan had 16 in 1989 which was his highest season total since 1982.

although he didn't throw a no-hitter in 1989, he made the all-star team (he pitched 2 scoreless innings and picked up the win) and finished 5th in the cy young voting.

voici à vous, 1989 nolan ryan!