Throwing Heat: The Autobiography of Nolan Ryan

by Nolan Ryan, Harvey Frommer

An account of the twenty-year career of baseball's greatest power pitcher includes Ryan's comments on the greats he has pitched against and drugs, glitter, and showboating

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Biography, Nonfiction

249 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Cody Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great and easy read. Definitely not a 'high-brow' read as the writing and format is very elementary, but fascinating anyways.

[Marshall Merims · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently finished another autobiography of a former major league baseball player. This one about star pitcher Nolan Ryan (of Alvin, Texas) known as the “Ryan Express” for his blazing fastball, occasional wildness early in his career, and his record 7 no-hitters. Something interesting from the book was his recall of watching Jim Bunning record his 2500th strikeout in 1969 and commenting that no one would break Walter Jonson’s 3508 strikeout record. Ryan retired 24 years later with the never-to-be-broken record of 5714. Oscar Gamble once commented about facing Ryan with “A good night tonight is 0 for 4 and don’t get hit in the head.” After his 1979 season with the California Angels, Ryan got a $1M/year offer from the Yankees and George Steinbrenner. Ryan eventually signed with the Houston Astros but commented this about the Yankees “I don’t want to become a Yankee. I don’t want to go back to NYC. I've been through that all before (with the Mets).” At the 1985 All-Star Game, Ryan threw out a ceremonial first pitch for his 4000 strikeouts while accompanied by Pete Rose who had reached hit #4000 earlier that same year.

[Patrick Roche · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read “Throwing Heat” by Nolan Ryan because I love baseball, specifically pitching, and I was curious to find out how one of the greatest pitchers came up, and what he does. This book is an autobiography of one of baseballs hardest throwers, as well as greatest pitchers ever, Nolan Ryan.

Nolan Ryan was a skinny kid from Texas, who loved to throw things at any object so his father encouraged him to play baseball. Ryan played baseball at Alvin High School, and was drafted by the New York Mets once he graduated, and played for them the year after that. At the time, Ryan was the second youngest player in the MLB. Nolan Ryan threw seven no hitters, the most by any pitcher ever in the MLB. Ryan also won the World Series in 1969. Once he retired, Nolan Ryan was a first Ballot Hall of Famer. Something that I thought was interesting was how Ryan had to balance his military life with his baseball Career. Today, Ryan owns two minor league teams, and is the president of the Texas Rangers.

This book was written extremely well. What I believed worked the best was how he included excerpt from from former coaches, former players, and his family. It gives you the perspective of how people who were close to him felt towards him. Another thing I enjoyed about this biography was how Ryan portrayed himself as a normal person from Texas, who was just really good at throwing a baseball. At times, the story did get boring, but other than that it was very good. I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in baseball.

[Brookie The Abiding Writer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning from the Texas legend known as The Ryan Express. A humble Houstonian, Nolan Ryan is as amazing as a person as he is a pitcher. His personal story as a husband, father and professional pitcher for the New York Mets, the California Angels, the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers is an inspiration to all, even if you aren't a baseball player. Harvey Frommer is an excellent co author, letting Nolan Ryan's Texan way of speaking shine through while also keeping the flow of the novel. I throughly enjoyed reading this book and will be rereading it soon ♡

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just an OK read. Ryan was a great pitcher, but nothing of substance off of the mound was mentioned.

[Robert Barone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had known before I read this that He wrote another autobiography. This one only went up to 1988 and did not include his time with the Texas Rangers !!

[Kyle Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dad got this book for me when I was only about 9 years old and I read the whole thing. I don't know how I did that. I didn't really like reading back then. Anyway, I remember really enjoying learning about his transition into the majors and his youth. My dad had gotten him to autograph it, too. I'm hoping my dad still has that around somewhere.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't find this book, but i know I have it somewhere. Another good baseball autobiography

[Tim Wendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most sports bios are junk. But Ryan shows a lot of honesty here. His co-writer, Harvey Frommer, brings in several other voices as well.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My baseball throwing hero!!! Texas loves Nolan and Nolan loves Texas.

[Diener · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the first books I ever read cover-to-cover. Probably not as great as the three stars I give it, but it certainly captured a young boy's attention 20 summers ago.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's an autobiography of Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. Of course it gets 5 stars.

[Andrew May · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun to read again after a long time, I read this as a boy when he was my favorite baseball player. He told a lot of great stories and his accomplishments are truly remarkable.

[Chris Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok for what it is, the book ends before the legend takes off during Ryan's Ranger years. If anything a must have collectible for Ryan fans