In 1973, I was a senior in high school bussing tables at the Anaheim Stadium Club restaurant. This gave me numerous opportunities to watch the great Nolan Ryan in his second season with the Halos. I had never seen a pitcher throw as hard as Ryan and look as unhittable each time he pitched. I had watched Sandy Koufax in his prime and he was in control of a game and the hitters more than any other but Ryan threw the hardest. After tossing one of a record-tying two no-hitters that season "The Express" returned to the mound against the Baltimore Orioles in his next start and took a no-hitter into the 8th inning as he attempted to match Johnny Vander Meer's feat of back-to-back gems during the 1938 season. With the weak-hitting shortstop Mark Belanger at the plate, Ryan came inside and jammed the .226 hitter but the ball dunked into right-centerfield to break up the no-hitter. Following the 1973 season Ryan would throw 5 more no-hitters to establish the major league record of 7, a mark that may never be equalled.
» Dale Parsons currently is the play-by-play announcer for UC Riverside basketball. He has also conducted close to 300 major league interviews and posts some of them on the web at insidebaseball.net.
Also by Dale Parsons
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Posted November 15, 2002.
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