And I had played with him with the Angels in '75 and '76. When he summoned the strength to return to the batter's box, Ryan promptly struck him out. Ryan fanned Collins 16 times altogether, but he struck out so many so often that Collins couldn't crack the top 40. No fatalities have been attributed to Ryan's fastball, yet no major-league pitcher has forced more hitters to invent injuries and to contemplate their own mortality. Not because he could get me out, but because he could kill me.
Every hitter likes fastballs like everybody likes ice cream.
But you don't like it when somebody's stuffing it into you by the gallon. That's how you felt when Nolan was throwing fastballs by you. Boston infielder Doug Griffin missed 51 games after being struck in the head by one of Ryan's heaters in 1974. Milwaukee manager Phil Garner remembers his life flashing before his eyes the day he dared lean over the plate against Ryan. The pitcher responded with a delivery perilously close to the batter' s ear.