On June 11th, 1990, the ageless Nolan Ryan pitched his unprecedented sixth career no-hitter, striking out 14 batters in a 5-0 win over the A’s. He became the first to pitch a no-hitter for three different teams, and the first to throw a no-hitter in three different decades.

Those of us who watch sports know that some players seem injury prone or somehow physically vulnerable to injuries. For my local nine, the Minnesota Twins, I think naturally of Byron Buxton. Buxton has all the tools to be a Hall of Famer, but his body constantly seems to betray him. It is a frustrating thing to watch.

Nolan Ryan was one of the first baseball players to really lean into physical training. In his 40s, he was working 5 hours a day, 6 days a week on conditioning. The conditioning combined with luck and genetics helped him do what no one had done before.

Ryan pitched for 27 years in the Majors. He pitched in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s. When he pitched his first inning for the New York Mets in 1966 as a 19-year-old, I was 6 years old. When he pitched his last inning in the Majors for the Texas Rangers, I was 33 and a new parent!

Given the high, strikeout rates in today’s game, you have to wonder how many more batters Ryan would have struck out had he started pitching in the 2000s instead of the 1960s. But since they do not let pitchers throw as many innings these days as they did in Ryan’s day, he would probably not be able to rack as many up Ks.

I got to see Ryan pitch in the Astrodome, Wrigley, and the Metrodome. It was always a treat. The sound his pitches made when the was ball hit the catcher’s glove is a sound you can never forget if you were lucky enough to have heard it in person.

There will never be another like him. Dare I say, the last of the Real Men.