In a June 1974 game, Nolan Ryan threw an estimated 235 pitches over 13 innings, defying everything modern sports physiology understands about arm health. Built by a childhood delivering 1,500 newspapers across a 55-mile route in Alvin, Texas, he threw so hard in high school that he fractured his catchers' hands and terrified batters into refusing to step in the box.

Ryan was the ultimate contradiction: the all-time strikeout king who also walked and threw wild pitches more than anyone else, and who never won a Cy Young Award. His efficient, leg-driven kinetic chain let him throw 100 mph into his mid-40s.

• Struck out 383 batters in 1973, a modern single-season record
• Threw a record seven no-hitters and struck out 5,714 batters
• Became the first player to earn a million dollars a year, signing with Houston in 1980 ...