April 27, 1983 – Houston Astros ace Nolan Ryan became the MLB leader in strikeouts with the 3,509th of his career. The Astros were visiting the Montreal Expos and Ryan retired 5 of their batters on strikes. The 55-year-old record, one of the most revered in baseball of Washington Senators legend Walter Johnson was tied when Nolan sat down catcher Tim Blackwell swinging on a 3-2 pitch.
The record was on the very next batter there in the eighth inning when pinch hitter Brad Mills went down on a third called strike off a 1-2 count. The talented right-hander would go on to play another decade in the Big Leagues retiring after the 1993 season with a whopping 5714 strikeouts to his credit.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
