ESPN.com: MLB – No mention of Ryan brings plenty of disbelief
This has nothing to do with the Braves (except for the ignoramus who couldn’t imagine that Greg Maddux was one of the five best pitchers since WWII), but Rob Neyer is being besieged by idiots.
Yeah, he kind of shut those guys up. He made a few points…
Neyer makes good points as always, but for a more fleshed-out discussion, read the Ryan entry in the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.
James basically concludes that Ryan struck out so many because he tried to strike out every batter he ever faced. For example, he never took something off and let his defense work for him.