August 12, 1974: Nolan Ryan fans 19 Red Sox to set American League strikeout record

Praise rained down on Nolan Ryan of the California Angels following his historic 19-strikeout performance on August 12, 1974, which set an American League record for a nine-inning game and tied the NL/AL record held by Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver.1 “He had great stuff,” declared Boston Red Sox skipper Darrell Johnson, whose team had just increased its whiff total to a whopping 53 in its last three games facing Ryan. “We chased everything.”2 Said Angels pilot Dick Williams with a sense of awe, “[Ryan is] liable to do something astonishing anytime he takes the mound.”3

Ryan, who had fanned 19 in a 13-inning no-decision against Boston on June 14, took his accomplishment in stride. “I always knew I had a chance to break [Bob] Feller’s record if the conditions were right,” he said about eclipsing Rapid Robert’s 1938 AL mark by one. But, he added, he initially doubted that he could do it in this game.4 “At the start I didn’t have any rhythm,” he revealed. “It got better as the game went on and by the seventh inning I knew I had a shot at it.”5

Despite the victory over AL East-leading Boston, the Angels’ season had been an unmitigated disaster. Losses in their previous two games against the New York Yankees to kick off a 12-game homestand dropped their record to 45-71, the worst in the big leagues, and put them 22 games behind the Oakland A’s in the AL West Division. Williams, who had guided those A’s to World Series titles in 1972 and 1973 before resigning in protest of owner Charlie Finley’s meddling, was the Angels’ third manager in ’74, replacing the fired Bobby Winkles and interim manager Whitey Herzog. He lost his first 10 games at the helm from July 1 to 10. Boston’s first-year manager Johnson, a brief teammate of Williams with the Baltimore Orioles in 1962, had his club a season-best four games in front of the second-place Cleveland Indians after taking two of three from the A’s. A three-game set in Anaheim would conclude a season-long 13-game road swing.

Like his team, Ryan had thus far in ’74 been unexpectedly inconsistent after two remarkable years. In 1972, his first season with the Angels after his acquisition in a blockbuster trade with the New York Mets, Ryan won 19 games and fanned 329. The next season he set a modern record with 383 strikeouts—one more than Sandy Koufax in 1965—won 21 games and spun two no-hitters. He scuffled through the first three months of ’74, however, battling control problems. Ryan’s approach seemed to change when Williams took over. “Dick told him to go to his fastball more,” said Ryan’s batterymate Ellie Rodríguez. “He’s just more effective that way. He’s getting ahead of the batters on his fastball and it makes it easier.”6

Starting on five days of rest instead of his customary four because of a foot blister, the 27-year-old Ryan was coming off what he called his “toughest defeat.” On August 7, Ryan’s quest for his third no-hitter was rudely ended after 8⅓ innings when Dick Allen of the Chicago White Sox singled. An error and two more singles followed, resulting in a crushing 2-1 loss at Comiskey Park, dropping his record to 14-12 with a 3.29 ERA.

Facing Ryan was a 24-year-old southpaw from Puerto Rico, Roger Moret. The 6-foot-4, 170-pounder burst on the scene the previous year posting a 13-2 record as a swingman. He had recently moved into the starting rotation, and had won five of his last seven decisions, including 7⅔ innings of one-hit ball against the Milwaukee Brewers on August 7.

On a cool Monday evening, with temperatures in the 70s, Anaheim Stadium drew a modest crowd of 9,345 spectators, about 2,000 less than the Angels’ season average.7

Ryan surrendered a bloop single to the first batter he faced, Juan Beníquez, then breezed through the first four innings. He punched out nine, including the side in the second and the fourth.

Moret looked shaky from the outset. He issued walks to Frank Robinson and Bobby Valentine to open the second but escaped the jam. He avoided another in the third after Bob Heise and Mickey Rivers opened with singles. Moret’s luck ended in the fourth when Robinson and Valentine again started the inning with free passes. After Bruce Bochte’s grounder forced Valentine, Bob Oliver spanked his seventh home run (and his first in five weeks) to give the Angels a 3-0 lead.

Both teams scored a run in the fifth. Beníquez tripled off Ryan to drive in Doug Griffin, while Moret struggled to find the plate. He issued two more walks, to Rodríguez and Robinson. Valentine’s RBI single increased the Angels lead back to three, 4-1.

The Ryan Express rolled over the Red Sox in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, fanning seven of the 10 batters he faced. “He’s tough,” said Johnson of Ryan, who had 17 strikeouts with just one walk through eight innings. “He was throwing hard, a lot harder toward the end than at the beginning.”8 Ryan had twice walked 10 batters in a game in ’74, including in his 13-inning marathon against the Red Sox on June 14, but admitted that he felt strong from the extra rest: “I think it gave me added sharpness.”9

The lowest-scoring team in the AL (3.79 runs per game), the Angels threatened in the seventh when Rivers led off with a single (the club’s seventh and final hit) and then stole second. But the Angels, who were just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, stranded Rivers on third and wasted Robinson’s fourth walk, a new career best.

The Anaheim faithful greeted Ryan with a roaring standing ovation as he trotted to the mound in the ninth inning, easily the game’s most exciting. Tension mounted when Carl Yastrzemski drew a leadoff walk and scampered to second on a wild pitch. Dwight Evans singled on Ryan’s “hanging curve” (his only bad pitch of the game, said Herzog, serving as an Angels coach after his interim tenure ended)10 and Yastrzemski took third.

“Ryan appeared to be overthrowing,” opined Angels beat writer Dan Hafner.11 With runners on first and third and no outs, pitching coach Tom Morgan came to the mound. “I just told him I was out there to give him a breather,” said Morgan. “I wanted him to regain his concentration.”12

“I didn’t want any mistakes,” said Ryan, referencing his meltdown against the White Sox. “I tried to brush away all thoughts about my last game.”13 Ryan fanned Rick Miller on four straight fastballs. The crowd erupted in applause on Ryan’s record-tying 18th punchout while a fan rushed the mound to shake his hand.

Doug Griffin dug in and aimed for his third hit of the game. In his last game against Ryan, on April 30, he had been beaned and missed two months. Griffin chopped a routine grounder to shortstop. Instead of a game-ending 6-4-3 double-play, Valentine’s muff enabled Yastrzemski to score. It was a two-run game, and the potential go-ahead run was coming to the plate.

With left-handed-hitting Bernie Carbo pinch-hitting for Bob Montgomery, a passed ball put Evans on third and Griffin on second. A single away from a tie, Ryan fanned Carbo on a 3-and-2 count to set a new AL record for strikeouts in a game.14 Coincidentally, Ryan witnessed Carlton’s (1969) and Seaver’s (1970) NL record-setting games involving the Mets.15 While spectators gave Ryan another standing ovation, Ryan ducked the attempt of a woman attempting to kiss him on the mound.

The game still hung in the balance, and Ryan had little patience for shenanigans. At the plate was Rick Burleson, known as a contact hitter and the only Red Sox whom Ryan had not fanned. The Los Angeles-area native lofted an easy fly ball to left that Leroy Stanton caught to end the game in 2 hours and 48 minutes.

Ryan finished with a seven-hitter and walked two. Among his 19 strikeouts, 16 were swinging. “The umpire (Marty Springstead) was calling them tight,” said Ryan, “you have to throw them strikes.”16 Ryan contended, however, that he could have struck out even more batters. “[Springstead] didn’t miss any, but he didn’t give us any. If a pitcher is going to strike out 20 or more, he’s going to have to have more called strikes.”17  According to sportswriter Don Bradley, Ryan threw 170 pitches, including 115 strikes.18 “I think my location was good,” said Ryan. “I put the ball pretty much where I wanted it. Any time you can do that, it makes a difference.”19

In addition to setting a new AL mark and tying the NL mark for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, Ryan also set a new NL/AL record for most strikeouts in consecutive nine-inning games (32), breaking Koufax’s record from 1959.20 He also tied his own NL/AL record from 1973 with 41 punchouts in three consecutive games.21

Asked to compare this game with his two no-hitters from 1973, Ryan responded: “The no-hitters are a greater achievement. There’s no margin for error in a no-hitter.” However, he also offered a qualification: “The no-hitters gained notoriety, but the strikeout record meant more over the long haul.”22

Acknowledgements

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, SABR.org, and the following:

Bill Liston, “Ryan Whiffs Record 19 Sox as Angels Win,” Boston Herald American, August 13, 1974: 21.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197408120.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B08120CAL1974.htm

Notes

1 Alvin Gibson struck out 20 batters in a game for the Birmingham Black Barons. See Paul Sullivan, “It’s a Brand New Day for Negro Leaguers, whose Stats Are Now Ranked with All MLB Players. Here’s a Look at the New Leaderboards,” Chicago Tribune, June 15, 2021, https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/ct-mlb-negro-leagues-statistics-20210615-z5u62tueazgs7gxqsolj3q3ovq-story.html.

2 Peter Gammons, “Ryan Whiffs Record 19, Chills Sox,” Boston Globe, August 13, 1974: 25.

3 Don Merry, “Ryan Fans 19 to Tie Major Record; Topps Feller Mark,” Long Beach (California) Press-Telegram, August 13, 1974: C1.

4 Dan Hafner, “Ryan Fans 19 Red Sox Ties Major Mark,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1974: III, 1.

5 Hafner.

6 Don Bradley, “Nolan Ryan Sets Strikeout Record,” Pomona (California) Progress Bulletin, August 13, 1974: 8.

7 “Marine Air to Keep Temperature Low,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1974: 3.

8 George Bankert, “Nolan KO’s Sox with KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK,” Quincy (Massachusetts) Patriot Ledger, August 13, 1974: 21.

9 Bradley.

10 Hafner.

11 Hafner

12 Hafner.

13 Merry.

14 The 3-and-2 count according to Hafner.

15 In yet another coincidence, Angels skipper Dick Williams and coach Whitey Herzog were involved in Tom Cheney’s 21-strikeout performance, the most punchouts by a pitcher in an extra-inning game, on September 12, 1962. In the bottom of the 16th inning, Williams was called out on strikes to end the game, giving the Washington Senators a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles. According to Herzog, he was on deck preparing to pinch-hit for pitcher Wes Stock. See Hafner.

16 Hafner, III, 4.

17 Dick Miller, “19 Whiffs … Some Day Ryan May Strike Out 27,” The Sporting News, August 31, 1974: 7.

18 Bradley.

19 “Ryan Ties Record with 19 Strikeouts,” San Pedro (California) News Pilot, August 13, 1974: 10.

20 Luis Tiant recorded 32 strikeouts in 19 innings over two starts in 1968.

21 Koufax and Tiant also record 41 strikeouts, but each pitched one extra-inning game.

22 Miller.