Baseball on July 4th: 5 memorable moments
July 4, 1980 – Nolan Ryan Notches Historic 3000th Strikeout
Nolan Ryan is without a doubt the most prolific strikeout pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball, with a grand total of 5.714 strikeouts in his amazing 27 year career. It’s one thing to point to 24 years for Phil Niekro throwing the knuckleball, but when you throw as hard as Nolan did and have that kind of longevity, such a career is a marvel!
The list of accolades Nolan Ryan achieved in his long career are too numerous to mention, but focusing on strikeouts – Ryan led the American League in strikeouts 10 times, and the National League twice in his 27 year career. That’s an amazing 12 times (almost half) leading one league or the other in making hitters pay!
Strangely enough, when people think about July 4, 1980 (mostly historians and baseball enthusiasts), it’s not Nolan Ryan’s 3000th K they usually remember, but the famed, all-out brawl that took place on that Independence Day when Montreal Expos pitcher Bill Gullickson plunked New York Mets batter Mike Jorgensen.
Personally, I wouldn’t give you a nickel for any brawl I’ve ever observed, but I’d have given the moon to be present at that game where Nolan Ryan became on that day just the 4th pitcher in MLB history to notch the grand 3000th strikeout.
Boxscore, courtesy of Baseball Reference:
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BF | GSc | IR | IS | WPA | aLI | RE24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Ryan, L (5-6) | 4.1 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3.25 | 25 | 28 | -0.254 | 0.79 | -4.4 | ||
| Randy Niemann | 2.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.75 | 12 | 1 | 0 | -0.002 | 0.04 | -0.5 | |
| Joe Sambito | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.86 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.00 | 0.5 | |
| Team Totals | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 9.00 | 40 | 28 | 1 | 0 | -0.256 | 0.52 | -4.4 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/4/2014.
Of course, the Houston Astros would lose 8-1 that day, but it did little to dampen the moment for one of the great pitchers and strikeout artists the game has ever known.
Nolan Ryan was known for producing fireworks with the baseball, and it was appropriate to notch his 3000th on Independence Day in 1980 – a day where Ryan joined just three other greats who had ever done it – Walter Johnson, Bob Gibson, and Gaylord Perry. Good company to be sure!