Houston Astros: Top 30 players in franchise history

3. Nolan Ryan, P, 1980 – 1988

Before getting into what he did as a member of the Houston Astros, we need to take a second to acknowledge Nolan Ryan‘s incredible longevity. He played in the majors for 27 years across four decades. That’s simply incredible. However, he pitched a third of his career for his hometown Astros.

Somehow, the Ryan Express never actually won a Cy Young trophy in spite of some of the best individual efforts the league ever saw. He struck out 300 batters multiple times in his career but never as an Astro. The closest he got was in 1987 when he struck out 270. Some of his “worst” seasons came as an Astro but that’s all relative compared to the immense amounts of success he had in his career.

Regardless, Ryan was still outstanding as an Astro and he and Scott formed a phenomenal duo. Ryan is probably the most talented pitcher to ever take the mound as an Astro and is a Hall of Famer through and through. To show his incredible ability, take a look at this quote from Reggie Jackson. “Everybody loves ice cream, but nobody likes it stuffed down your throat by the gallons. That was Nolan Ryan‘s fastball.”

Many might like to see Ryan higher on this list but his best seasons didn’t come as an Astro, as previously mentioned. Though, he was still very, very good. He set a record in free agency for pitchers earning over $1 million a season. He more than earned that money and will forever be an Astros legend.