Picture yourself: 44 years old and playing professional sports. Playing baseball with the sons of players you used to play with. Still dominating batters just like you did 20 years ago. Well, that is what Nolan Ryan has done and thrown seven of the rarest things in pro sports: no-hitters.

Ryan was drafted by the New York Mets in the tenth round of the 1965 draft; he was the 295th player overall. Nolan won his first of over 300 wins on April 14, 1968 against the Houston Astros. Nolan Ryan has broken a number of records over his 26-year career, including the most no-hitters thrown by one pitcher. What makes his career spectacular is that he has pitched for 26 seasons, is 44 years old, and has pitched for four teams. Early in Nolan Ryan's career, he was a wild, but hard thrower, and later he gained control.

With his control and speed, he has thrown in the upper 90s (miles per hour), giving him 5,000 strikeouts. With all these strikeouts, Nolan has had 300 wins, a feat which only nineteen other pitchers have had in the history of baseball.

Nolan Ryan is probably the greatest pitcher of all time. One thing that has never happened in baseball is for a player to be voted unanimously into the Hall of Fame. But it is projected that Nolan might be the first player to hold that record as well. Seeing another player the caliber of Nolan Ryan, would be like seeing Haley's Comet twice in your lifetime! n