I have always been of the camp that Nolan Ryan was a freak of nature more than anything else, he never lost the velocity, just back and arm wore out. He got better with age due to better control. My take on this is that he was clean.
Nolan Ryan retired in 1993, or before the explosive rise in the use of performance enhancers in baseball during the mid 90's on through the advent of testing in 2004. Nor was there any unusual spike in Ryan's productivity late in his career. That said, drugs have been a part of baseball culture for decades, even in the 40's and 50's players were popping amphetamines to cope with the exhaustion of a 162 game regular season. Anyway, aside from perhaps some occasional amphetamine use, I think Ryan was mostly clean.
I personally dont think he did. And to the other comment what exactly were the players suppose to do about it. As a player and a fan all you can do is make a personal choice not to do them, and dont judge other people or players that fell into the pressure of doing what they felt like they had to do to survive in there proffesion!
Nolan Ryan finished first in the league in strike-outs 7 times by the time he was age 32. He then tailed off finishing 2nd once, 3rd 3 times, 4th, 5th and at age 39 he finished 6th in the league in strike-outs. Then for the first time in 8 years(at age 40) 1987 when steroids were hitting it big, so was Nolan Ryan in the weightroom. He not only gave Robin Ventura a royal beatdown, he won the league lead in strike-outs at age 40, 41, 42 and 43. I don't have the number of no hitters and one hitters he threw, but it was several. Ryan got stronger later in his career. He is a great guy, so let's give him a free pass.
Ryan was clean that I am sure of. From a physicality stand point there are different signs you can point to that are indicators of HGH use or steroids. With steroids there is a dramatic increase in body mass, and usually some bloating, or water retension. HGH is much harder to notice visually, no bloating, but a dramatic amount of fat loss. The athlete on HGH will look much leaner. When you look at the list of players who have come forward it's easy to tell who did what, some did both, but there is no doubt that Ryan was clean!
wow, i'm not sure. i liked nolan ryan. although b4 my time. but i hear he was lights out. i know baseball has been and is a dirty game. no acceptions. from the famous blacksox and even b4. so do i think ryan used some enhancements. perhaps. but he was smart enough not to get caught if he did so he is smarter than some. as well as just as good.
I'm going to go with JJoey on this one. Nolan Ryan was an extemely hard thrower coming out. I didn't get to see the beginning of his career but I believe he had been clocked at +110 in his prime. The hardest I've seen him through was 108. Even if he had lost some velocity. Let's say 10mph and gained control (which he did later in his career) he's still lighting batters up at 98mph!!!
Personally, I'm amazed this would even be brought into question. His name has never been connected with perform-enhancing drugs. Why did he stay in such good condition for so long? Maybe it had something to do with the fact he is a hands-on horse rancher. You spend enough time "WORKING," a ranch instead of just owning one and hiring out the work, you stay in pretty good shape.
Ever hear of WORK before? Try it, it builds more than just muscle. I builds character also. Something Nolan had and has plenty of and something most of today's players lack. A lack of character makes you fall prey to things like gambling and using performance-enhancing drugs.
Ryan was amazing. I was lucky enough to see him pitch, although later in his career. He had a presence on the hill like a Texas hanging judge. He could still bring the gas even in his 40s. Not with 'roids; but work ethic, smarts and his freakish ability to throw a baseball faster than 99.999999999999999% of the rest of humanity.
I like that he is speaking out about MLB's culpability in this mess.
A lot of these guys are lucky that 'roids weren't so available as they were in their prime. I'm sure most would have done them to be competitive, Winning meant more then than it does now. Most 'roid users did it for cash, not rings.
I don't think Nolan Ryan needed steroids. He was a master of fear and intimidation. There is a quote about Ryan that sums up how he played the game: "A good night against Nolan Ryan is going 0 for 4 and you don't get hit in the head." I think part of his success was that he wasn't afraid to pitch inside, and he wasn't afraid to hit someone. I think he preferred it. Once a guy gets plunked by a 95 mph fastball or change-up, the next few guys are going to be more worried about a ball coming at their head than in the strike zone.
