Editing Nolan Ryan (section)

===New York Mets (1966, 1968–1971)===
When Ryan was called up by the New York Mets in 1966, he was the second-youngest player in the league. Playing in only two games, his first strikeout was [[Pat Jarvis (baseball)|Pat Jarvis]], and he gave up his first major league home run to [[Joe Torre]].<ref name=data/>

Ryan missed much of the 1967 season due to illness, an arm injury, and service with the Army Reserve; he pitched only seven innings for the Mets' minor league affiliate in Jacksonville.<ref name="baseball-reference.com1"/> In the 1968 season, Ryan returned to the major leagues, where he stayed until his retirement in 1993.<ref name=data/> Ryan was unable to crack into the Mets' pitching rotation, led by [[Tom Seaver]] and [[Jerry Koosman]]. Ryan was used as a [[Relief pitcher|reliever]] and [[spot starter]] by the [[1969 New York Mets season|1969 Mets]]. Ryan had frequent blisters on his throwing hand and tried several remedies including dipping his fingers in pickle [[brine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baseballbiography.com/nolan-ryan-1947|title=The Ballplayers – Nolan Ryan|publisher=baseballbiography.com|access-date=March 12, 2011}}</ref>

Against the [[1969 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] in the [[1969 National League Championship Series|National League Championship Series]] (NLCS), Ryan completed a Mets sweep by throwing seven innings of relief in Game 3, getting his first playoff win (it took him 12 years to get another). Then in the [[1969 World Series]], Ryan saved Game 3, pitching {{frac|2|1|3}} shutout innings against the [[1969 Baltimore Orioles season|Baltimore Orioles]]. The Game 3 victory gave the Mets a 2–1 lead in the Series, which they went on to win in five games. It was Ryan's only [[World Series]] appearance in his career.<ref name="baseball-reference.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanno01.shtml|title=Nolan Ryan Stats|website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=December 7, 2017}}</ref>

On April 18, 1970, Ryan tied a Mets record by striking out 15 batters in one game.<ref name=data/> Four days later, Ryan's teammate Seaver topped it with a then-MLB record 19 against the [[1970 San Diego Padres season|San Diego Padres]] (Ryan tied this record four years later).<ref>{{cite news|title=What a Day For Tom Seaver|agency=Associated Press|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EC9IAAAAIBAJ&pg=800,6410735|newspaper=Meriden Journal|date=April 23, 1970|access-date=April 18, 2011}}</ref> Ryan has credited his time with Seaver and the Mets with turning him from just a flamethrower into a pitcher.<ref name="kult">{{cite web|url=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ivieleagueproductions/2012/03/14/the-kult-of-mets-personalities-nolan-ryan-kris-benson |title=The Kult Of Mets Personalities – Nolan Ryan/Kris Benson 03/14 by Ivie League Prod|publisher=Blogtalkradio.com|date=March 14, 2012|access-date=September 1, 2013}}</ref>

Ryan's performance declined sharply in the second half of his final season with the Mets. His ERA for the first half of the 1971 season was 2.24; in the second half, it was 7.74.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nolan Ryan 1971 Pitching Splits |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=ryanno01&year=1971&t=p#all_half |website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]] |publisher=[[Sports Reference]] |access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref> {{As of|2021}}, this was the steepest second half increase in ERA for a starting pitcher in MLB history.<ref>{{cite web |title=Player Pitching Split Finder |url=https://stathead.com/tiny/lM9Qk |website=Stathead |publisher=[[Sports Reference]] |access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref>

In five seasons with the Mets, 105 games and 74 starts, Ryan had a 29–38 record, with a 3.58 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, with 344 walks and 493 strikeouts in 511 innings.<ref name="baseball-reference.com2">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanno01.shtml|title=Nolan Ryan Stats|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>