There is no shortage of awesome looking Nolan Ryan trading cards. Grab ten of his base cards and there's guaranteed to be at least one card that'll catch your eye. Today is the 41st anniversary of Ryan's 5th no-hitter... which happened to be the only no-hitter he threw while with the Houston Astros.
I figured today would be the perfect time to show off a card that's been sitting in my draft folder for over a year now...
1982 Topps #90
I ended up landing this card on COMC back in July of 2020 for $11.56. I know graded cards aren't everyone's cup of tea, but it's a prerequisite for that particular collection. These days with budget cuts and inflated prices, I don't even bother hunting down new cards for this collection. Thankfully prices have started to settle, but as a bargain hunter... I don't have any problem waiting a little longer.
Getting back to his 5th no-hitter... he threw it against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Astrodome. Did you know that the Dodgers have been involved with the most no-hitters in MLB history? Their pitchers have thrown 26 no-hitters (an MLB record), while their hitters have been held hitless 20 times (another MLB record)*.
*This is a prescheduled post that was written over Spring Break a few months ago, so the no-hitter facts about the Dodgers may or may not be up to date.
Here is today's question of the day...
What are your favorite Nolan Ryan base cards?
My personal favorite is one of Ryan's classic cards from the 70's...
1971 Topps #513
I love the well-cropped action shot with the RC Cola ad in the background. I don't own too many cards of his, but if I could only keep one... this would probably be it.
Looking forward to hearing about your favorites. Happy Monday and sayonara!
18 comments:
my favorite ryan base card is his 1980 o-pee-chee card, but if we are sticking to topps, then it's probably his last card in 1994 with his full career stats on the back.
i just watched the nolan ryan documentary on netflix, and it was just ok (probably geared towards people who don't know much about him or his career). the one thing i learned was that robin ventura charged the mound that night because the white sox said they would fine any player who got hit but didn't charge. that makes sense to me as ventura didn't really seem like he was mad enough to charge.
finally, i watched most of his 5th no-hitter on tv but went outside to play before it ended. my dad came out and told me that the dodgers failed to get a hit. steve garvey was on deck when the no-hitter ended on a dusty baker groundout.
Pacific's 1991 Nolan Ryan Texas Express set is full of fantastic photos, I'd have to pick one of those as a favorite.
1989 Upper deck (the one with him throwing a football).
The colors on '75 Topps are really nice. That's probably my favorite. '83 Donruss is cool with the kick. ('83 Fleer looks like he's being arrested by the cops). The '91 Stadium Club is cool with the tux.
I'll let others mention the rest...
1980 Topps.
I've always liked his 1980 card, but it could be because my buddy had the only copy in the neighborhood and would never trade it to me.
I tend to give '71 the lean because it was a more monumental add to my collection, but Nolan's '91 Topps is pretty darn good. Now that I think of it, I think I like '91 better - being Card #1 in the checklist is a big plus too.
I posted mine, but uts the 91 pacifics. Love the different takes on those
94 Collector's Choice has been one of my favorite cards since I got it in a pack as a kid. The Silver Signature version!
Of the Ryans I have:
'82 Donruss DK - DK
'83 Donruss - leg lift action shot
'90 Donruss DK - DK
I always liked 74 Topps .
For me it would be a toss up between the 1971 and 1975 Topps. The 75 because of the colors and the 71 because of the black borders it makes it difficult finding the cleanest card with no chipping.
The '71 is my favorite too. I can't even think of a close second.
I like the '71, too. It's a classic for a lot of reasons and I can't believe I acquired it so easily when I was a teenager.
Other favorites: the 1980 and 1982 Topps cards, the 1975 Topps card (of course). I even like the '81 Topps because it was his first appearance in an Astros uniform.
Upper Deck with the football.
Has to be the 1989 Upper Deck throwing a football!
There was a phone card of him eating a burger next to his cattle that I always felt was strange. It was a Texas based promotion from around 1990. There seemed to be millions of those sparkly promo cards for just about everything. I remember promo cards for a car wash that would pirate a sports photo to promote their business. Those wonderful early 90s.
sorry it took me so long to reply to everyone's comments. i didn't realize i hadn't and this post became buried over the past month or so.
gcrl - that story about ventura is very interesting. thanks for sharing. if i were a kid and my favorite team was being no-hit, i'd probably go out and play too.
matt - great set. i want the bloody lip card from that set for my smorgasbord binder
johnnys trading spot - love the multi-image photographs
gca - had to look up the 1983 fleer card. you're totally right
anonymous & the diamond king - his 1980 card is solid.
nick - his 1991 topps cards card is definitely in my top 5
matt - that pacific set is very cool. lots of great photography
jeff b - had to look up the 1994 cc card. nice photograph.
elliptical man - if i were to ever meet ryan and could get a card signed by him, i'd get his 82d card signed
sg488 - nice pick. well-cropped action shot
rr - i just wish topps would have went with an action shot in 1975
jon - i'm with you. gorgeous card
night owl - looks like we appreciate the same ryans
nick vossbrink & sumomenkoman - we had a stack of that ryan (w/football) in our shop's display case back in the early 90's
anonymous - oh man, i'd love to see that phone card. i did a search on comc and came up empty
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