| Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr.
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee
Announcer: Boeing presents another in a series of essays from
contemporary opinion leaders. Today, Major League Baseball
Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.
Mr. Ryan: It was 90 degrees at American League Park when Walter
Johnson, wearing a Washington Senators uniform, walked across
the infield and took the mound. It was August 2, 1907, and
11,000 Senator fans leaned forward to watch the 19-year-old
Kansas boy throw the first pitch of his major league career.
A bullet. Called strike. Down the middle.
"Big Train" Johnson became a Washington hero, pitching
for 21 seasons and leading the league in wins six times. But,
more importantly, he had a hero's virtues: honesty, dignity
and modesty.
Sixty years later, it was Walter Johnson I was thinking about
when I was called out of the bullpen at Shea Stadium and climbed
the big-league mound for the first time. The year was 1966.
I was a rookie Met and, like Big Train, I was 19 years old.
I'd be pitching against Atlanta's Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews,
men whose trading cards I collected as a kid just five years
earlier. With the ball in hand, I wondered, "Do I have
what it takes to get these guys out?"
In three innings, I gave up only one hit: an opposite-field
home run to a catcher by the name of Joe Torre.
A pitcher never forgets.
This week, the Nationals launch a new generation of memories
and, at long last, the timeless tradition of our national pastime
returns to the capital.
As nine men with the letters D.C. stitched on their sleeves
take their position, the sellout crowd will rise for the National
Anthem. The umpire will shout, "Play ball."
And baseball will be back in Washington.
Announcer: Boeing. Forever New Frontiers.
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