1977 Topps Baseball #650 - Nolan Ryan

• Nolan Ryan had one of his typical seasons in 1977. Ryan led the AL in strikeouts (341), walks (204), wild pitches (21), and complete games (22).
• Before the 1977 season Ryan signed a three-year contract and was happy with the terms.
• At the All Star break Ryan had 13 wins but was bypassed for the All Star team in favor of teammate Frank Tanana. Tanana was unable to play due to injury and manager Billy Martin tried to add Ryan to the team. Ryan refused to go and Martin wasn't happy about it.
• 1977 Stats: 19-16, 2.77 ERA, 341 strikeouts in 37 starts
• 1977 Highlights:
• April 15 - Came within one batter of pitching his fifth no-hitter. Bob Stinson's 5th inning single was the only hit in the game for the Seattle Mariners. The Angels won the game 7-0.
• June 8 - Struck out 19 batters in 10 innings and got a no decision. The Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in 13 innings.
• July 12 - Won his 12th game of the year by pitching a 4-hit shutout against the Minnesota Twins. During the game Ryan passed Juan Marichal for #19 on the all-time strikeout list.
• Other card blogs: 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1974, 1975, 1975, 1975, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1993

1977 Topps Baseball #234 - 1976 Record Breaker Nolan Ryan

• Nolan Ryan extended this record to six seasons of 300 or more strikeouts. He struck out 341 batters in 1977 and 301 batters in 1989 at the age of 42.
• Randy Johnson tied this record in 2002. Johnson struck out 300 or more batters four times with the NL Arizona Diamondbacks, once for the Seattle Mariners, and another time for Seattle and the Houston Astros. Ryan accomplished the feat five times for the California Angels and once for the Texas Rangers (all in the AL).

1977 Topps #6 - 1976 Strikeout Leaders

• Two legendary strikeout pitchers grace the front of this card
• This was Nolan Ryan's fourth strikeout title. He had nine AL strikeout titles and two NL titles. Ryan struck out over 300 batters six times.
• Tom Seaver never struck out over 300 batters, but he put up some impressive strikeout numbers during his career. 
• 1976 was the last of nine straight years in which Seaver struck out over 200 batters.
• This was Seaver's fifth (and final) NL strikeout title.
• Tom Seaver was one of my favorite players when I was growing up. I had posters of Seaver, Pete Rose, and Rod Carew in my room for a few years. The Seaver poster was one of those Sports Illustrated posters like the one pictured below.