Because there’s always been something captivating about baseball.

August 22, 1989 – Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, during his stint with the Texas Rangers, recorded his 5,000th career strikeout, the milestone victim being fellow Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics, making the Ryan Express the first and only pitcher in major league history to record at least 5,000 strikeouts.

It does sum up Ryan’s character that all he wanted for such a historic milestone was a quick handshake and to get on with the game, and even then, he didn’t want the handshake.

Another fact that has been noted for years is that Ryan’s 5,000th strikeout was none other than leadoff wizard Rickey Henderson, meaning that the King of Ks fanned the Man of Steal (Henderson being the only player to steal at least 1,000 bases), and that same game in Arlington, Henderson was Ryan’s 4,998th and 5,000th strikeouts, while A’s catcher Ron Hassey was his 4,999th and 5,001st strikeouts.

Continuing the theme, the next year Ryan threw his sixth career no-hitter against Henderson and the A’s (June 11, 1990), and another historic milestone involving Henderson and Ryan is that the day Henderson stole Lou Brock’s career record for stolen bases in Oakland (939 on May 1, 1991), Ryan threw his record seventh (and final) career no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays in Arlington.

As for the game, the eventual World Series champion Athletics won the game 2-0, while Ryan would eventually retire in 1993 (aged 46) with 5,714 career strikeouts, which is still a lazy 839 ahead of 2nd-placed Randy Johnson, such was Ryan’s longevity.