Ball is hit in the air, maybe playable. Ruben Sierra comes and Ryan has a no-hitter! Number six!
-Athletics announcer Greg Papa
This is part of an ongoing series where I examine some of the greatest games ever pitched and attempt to rank them using a method I developed. Make sure to check out the introduction, as well as the other articles in the series.
On June 11, 1990 Nolan Ryan was facing the A’s for the second straight start. His first did not go that well as he was on the losing end, giving up five runs (but only two earned) in five innings. His next start was much better.
The Rangers’ offense gave him an early lead when Julio Franco hit a two-run homer in the first off of A’s starter Scott Sanderson. John Russell led off the second with a home run as well and Franco made it 5-0 with another two-run homer in the fifth. That would be the final score as Sanderson took the loss, giving up all five runs over six innings.
Dominance: 9/10
Ryan was extremely dominant on this night, striking out at least one hitter every inning and 14 for the game. He only walked two, one each in the third and sixth. As the game went he became more overpowering. The radar gun had him clocked in the mid to high 80’s at the beginning, but he was reaching as high at 93 or 94 miles per hour by the end of the game. Announcers also commented that in the beginning, hitters were right on his fastball, but missed it all the same. By the end, and especially against pinch hitter Ken Phelps, Ryan was blowing it right by them.
Efficiency: 7/10
He threw 130 pitches, but he was remarkably consistent with his pitch count, throwing between 12 and 17 pitches each inning. Of course, 14 strikeouts will inflate a pitch count.
Luck: 10/10
With 14 strikeouts, you don’t need a whole lot of other luck to pitch a no-hitter. He induced two foul pop-ups making only 11 balls put into fair territory all night off of him. I marked down only one hard hit ball all night–a lineout to the center fielder Gary Pettis. He created his own luck in this case.
Conditions: 7/10
The Oakland Coliseum had a pitching park factor of 95 in 1990 according to baseball-reference.com, so favoring pitchers about 5% better than the average park. The foul territory might be a main factor, although as mentioned before, there were onlytwo2 foul pop-ups. The umpire did not have an extreme strike zone in either direction and the Rangers had no problem piling up hits (nine for the game).
Competition: 5/10
The A’s were in first place, well on their way to a third straight World Series appearance. However, this was not the lineup that they would take to the World Series. Here is the lineup they trotted out that night compared to the lineup that Tony La Russa sent out for Game Three of the World Series:
| No-hit lineup | World Series Game 3 |
| Rickey Henderson LF | Rickey Henderson LF |
| Willie Randolph 2B | Carney Lansford 3B |
| Doug Jennings 1B | Jose Canseco RF |
| Ron Hassey DH | Dave Henderson CF |
| Felix Jose RF | Harold. Baines DH |
| Dave Henderson CF | Mark. McGwire 1B |
| Jamie Quirk C | Terry Steinbach C |
| Walt Weiss SS | Willie Randolph 2B |
| Mike Gallego 3B | Mike Gallego SS |
Quite different, isn’t it? Canseco was hurt, McGwire and Lansford had the night off, although Lansford later did pinch hit. Baines was actually in the Rangers lineup that night. What is most striking about the lineup changes is that the number three and four hitters in the no-hitter were not even in the World Series lineup. The A’s certainly did not have their strongest lineup out there that night.
Final Score: 38/50