Nolan Ryan

He threw out the first pitch of Game 3 of the 2005 World Series, the first World Series game ever played in Texas, and ultimately the longest in terms of time. This is perhaps a fair characterization of the attitude of many of the participants in the American Civil War or most of the fronts of the First World War. He also appeared in TV ads for Advil for a number of years, a pain medication that he recommended for his own arm, and perhaps also for many opposing batters who found his pitching to be a headache. In one variant, patriotic participants in a war acknowledge that the enemy worships the same god, but judge that this god is on their own side, thus providing the external justification for patriotism noted just above. Both teams are affiliates of the Houston Astros. At various points in history, particularly in time of war, various relations of religion and patriotism have prevailed. His current business interests include ownership of two minor league teams – the Corpus Christi Hooks, which play in the Class AA Texas League, and the Round Rock Express, a Class AAA team in the Pacific Coast League. Throughout history, patriotic feeling has often been linked to religion.

He was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2003. Depending on whether they see patriotism as good or bad, they would attribute it to a free will choice for good or evil. That same year, he ranked Number 41 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. For them, their religious beliefs explain why the human character is the way it is. Nolan Ryan was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, in his first year of eligibility. Others would reject the kin selection theory of patriotism, simply because they reject the theory of evolution on religious grounds. Since Ryan played more seasons than any other player in baseball history, and only one pitcher in history at the end of his career has more strikeouts per nine innings (Randy Johnson), his career strikeout mark is considered one of the most invulnerable records in baseball. They would emphasise the great malleability of the human character, including the apparent possibility of creating patriotism through the instruction of youth, as in the Hitler Youth example above.

Also he is ninth all-time in hit batsmen. Some people accept the theory of evolution in general but reject efforts to invoke it in the explanation of human behaviour. He also ranks high on the list for four "negative" records; because he was wild as a young pitcher, he piled up the walks and ranks first all-time in walks allowed with 2795, in wild pitches with 277, and he also ranks third all-time in losses, with 292. Hamilton that govern kin selection. Ryan ranks first all-time in strikeouts (5714), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (6.56), fifth in innings pitched (5386), second in games started (773), seventh in shutouts (61) and tied for 13th in wins (324). D. Nonetheless, both stand out as the premier "power pitchers" of their time, if not all-time. The controversy hinges on what numerical values are to be plugged into the (generally accepted) equations of W.

Most importantly, thanks to a strong arm that could handle a lot of work, Ryan had one of the longest careers of any player, whereas Koufax's sterling career was cut short in its prime by arthritis and arm trouble. Some evolutionary biologists believe that the quantitative conditions needed to make kin selection effective in small human societies were simply not met. Koufax was blessed to play on some championship Dodgers teams, whereas Ryan found himself on mostly mediocre teams. Both kin selection theory, and its use to explain patriotism, are disputed. But there are many differences too: Koufax pitched left-handed and Ryan right-handed; despite his early troubles, Koufax played his entire career with one team whereas Ryan played for several. In the kin-selection account of patriotism, this kind of metaphor might be viewed as seeking to focus the natural feelings people have towards kin, onto the political community as a whole. The numerous times he would try to beanball a player would be a unique part of his legacy. The political rhetoric associated with patriotism often compares the nation to a family, as in, for instance, the terms Fatherland and ‘Mother Russia’ or the Shakespearian expression ‘band of brothers’, from the play Henry V.

Ryan would also be remembered by many players and fans as a rough neck pitcher that did not take failure lightly. Speculatively, there was nothing to stop the feeling of group loyalty from carrying over, without biological purpose, from small groups to large. An astute businessman, Ryan readily admitted that the money was a large part of the reason he played as long as he did. Yet the forces believed to have created human nature, and hence these feelings, were in effect over a period of many millennia, during which time all human societies were very small. They were also both very conscious of their value, and had occasional contract disputes with their owners. Today, of course, the feelings of intense patriotism that grip (for example) many Americans cannot possibly be supported in the evolutionary sense by kin selection, since Americans form a huge and genetically very diverse population. Koufax once admitted that he began every game with the intention of throwing a perfect game, and failing that, a shutout. Gene-centric theories imply that members of such groups have an evolutionary interest in the long-term success of each other's genetic endowment.

It was said of Ryan that he started every game with the intention of striking everyone out. Frequently, animals in such species have been observed taking actions that risk their own lives but benefit the safety of the group as a whole (an example is the issuance of a warning call against predators, an act which directs the predator's attention to the individual who gave it). There are many similarities; both started in the majors at a very young age and struggled early in their careers, both were primarily "extreme fastball" pitchers noted for achieving previously unprecedented strikeout totals and multiple no-hitters, and both were very closed and private away from the game (though Koufax more so than Ryan). Since Darwin's time, evidence for kin selection has been observed among many species that live in small groups. Given that he broke many of Sandy Koufax's records previously thought to be untouchable, Ryan is frequently compared to him much in the way that Hank Aaron is to Babe Ruth or Pete Rose to Ted Williams and Ty Cobb. Loyalty to the group might have led individuals to take actions that were poorly justified on grounds of self-interest, but helped the group as a whole: this is the analogy with kin altruism. While Ventura was immediately ejected, Ryan--who barely moved from his spot on the mound in the fracas--was allowed to remain in the game. This idea was expressed by Charles Darwin in 1871 as follows:.

Ryan was widely credited as coming out ahead in the fight, planting those "noogies" on Ventura. Since genes tended to be shared by the entire group, and cooperation likely was critical to group survival, a propensity to experience feelings of loyalty to the group was probably favoured by natural selection. Videos of the confrontation were played on sports highlight reels that evening throughout the country. Our ancestors certainly lived in small groups of genetically related individuals. The 46-year-old Ryan – a rancher in the offseason and highly dedicated to workouts during the season – promptly subdued the 26-year-old Ventura in a headlock with his left arm, pummelling Ventura's head with his right fist seven times before catcher Iván Rodríguez was able to pull Ventura away from Ryan. To explain patriotism, it would have to apply to a group. Ryan famously defended himself, perhaps better than any other known pitcher in a similar situation. Kin altruism, in its simplest form, implies that one animal would sacrifice itself to ensure survival of more than one other genetically related individuals, for instance siblings.

The normally unflappable Ventura angrily charged the pitching mound in order to fight Ryan, who was twenty years his senior. This explanation is speculative and disputed, and no explicit genetic basis for patriotism has been evidenced. He had just hit Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox with a slow moving curveball. Why do so many people experience intense patriotic feelings? An evolutionary biology explanation is that patriotism is a form of kin altruism, which is both posited and explained by the theory of kin selection. However, on August 4, just before the end, Ryan confirmed his reputation as a strong, competitive Texan in one bizarre moment. Patriotism can also be seen as one of the greatest psychological barriers to civil war because a feeling of duty common to all citizens can give democratic politics a legitimacy lacking in those states that contain a much more fragmented citizenry. His seemingly bionic arm finally gave out in Seattle on September 22, 1993, when he tore a tendon, ending his career two starts earier than planned. Nevertheless, some states combined tyrannical systems of government with high levels of patriotism, including later Napoleonic France, after Napoleon had made himself emperor.

Before the 1993 season, Ryan announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. Similarly, it is often thought that the French Revolution, by eliminating monarchy, set off a great surge of patriotism that led to the great success of the French armies in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Earlier in the same day Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock's career stolen base record with his 939th stolen base. For instance, it could be imagined that the military forces of Ancient Greece succeeded in fending off much larger numbers of attacking Persians because ancient Persia was a despotism, whereas many of the Greeks lived in democracies, which gave them a sense of solidarity and hence of patriotism. Coincidentally, Ryan's second baseman in his first two no-hitters was Alomar's father, Sandy Sr. On the other hand, some people suggest that democratic government is a cause of patriotism. He pitched his seventh no-hitter on May 1, 1991, striking out Roberto Alomar of the Toronto Blue Jays for the final out. Adolf Hitler condemned the democratic politicians who approved the November 1918 armistice (which ended the First World War) as the ‘November criminals’.

He threw his sixth no-hitter and earned his 300th win in 1990 on July 30th against the Milwaukee Brewers. In some democracies, the claimed treason of the political elite became a central issue, notably in Germany itself. Two years later, at 44, he finished fifth in the league in ERA (2.91) and third in strikeouts (203), to again earn Cy Young Award votes. In the view of many, the nature of these comments harm political discussion and provide less opportunity for deliberative democracy to flourish, because it appeals only to a visceral negative emotion (mistrust and angry patriotism), rather than to voters’ reasoned views on policy. Against the Oakland Athletics on August 22, Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson in the fifth inning to become the first pitcher ever to record 5,000 career strikeouts. Politicians often appeal to patriotic emotions in attacking their opponents, implicitly or explicitly accusing them of betraying the country. In 1989, he won 16 games and led the league with 301 strikeouts. Presumably, for such individuals, it would be quite coherent to claim that Lafayette was an American patriot, since he fought on behalf of (what are held to be) American virtues.

With more run support than he had in 1987, Ryan had a number of fine seasons for the Rangers. For example, there exist Americans who profess to be patriots and yet claim that their patriotism is not an arbitrary preference for their paticular political community, but is rather is based on special virtues (for instance, "freedom"), that happen to be uniquely defended by that community. Others predicted he would do well as American League batters hadn't faced "The Express" since 1979. Others conceive of those ideals in more abstract terms. Many observers, keeping in mind that the aging Ryan had been pitching home games in the air-conditioned Astrodome, thought he would struggle by having to pitch outdoors in the oppressive Texas heat. Charles Blattberg's conception of patriotism, however, is more nuanced: to him, a patriot can be critical of his or her country for failing to live up to its ideals. He left Houston in a contract dispute after the 1988 season and joined the Texas Rangers, back in the American League. For MacIntyre, patriotism by definition can only be a preference for one's own country, not a preference for the ideals that a country is believed to stand for.

The poor record most likely cost him the Cy Young Award, an honor he contended for many times but never won. Under this view, Lafayette was only devoted to the ideals of political liberty that underlay the American Revolution, but was not specifically patriotic for America. However, Ryan received horrendous offensive support all season, and finished with a record of 8-16. Alasdair MacIntyre would claim that they were not; that these and similar cases are instances of idealism, but not of patriotism. He was by far the most dominant pitcher in the National League, leading the league in ERA (2.76) and strikeouts (270) at the age of 40. Such cases call into question what we mean by "patriotism": for instance, was Lafayette an American patriot, or the Philhellenes Greek patriots?. In 1987, Ryan had one of the most bizarre seasons in baseball history. The "Philhellenes," western Europeans who fought in the Greek War of Independence, are another example; as are the Americans who fought on the Allied side before the entry of their country into the First World War.

After that, Ryan then settled into having a long string of good, but not great seasons, highlighted by his breaking Walter Johnson's all-time strikeout record on April 27, 1983, with his 3,509th whiff. For example, the Marquis de Lafayette was a Frenchman who fought for the independence of the thirteen British colonies in America. That season, he won the National League ERA title with a miserly 1.69. History includes many cases of individuals who acted with impassioned selflessness on behalf of countries not their own. On September 26, 1981, Ryan threw his fifth no-hitter to finally break Koufax's mark. Charles Blattberg, in his book From Pluralist to Patriotic Politics (2000), has developed a similar conception of patriotism into a full-blown political philosophy. He got his second taste of postseason play in 1980, but the Astros were stopped one game short of the World Series. MacIntyre goes on, however, to construct a sophisticated alternative conception of morality that would be compatible with patriotism.

It was the first home run of his career (he only hit one more), and garnered 3 of the 6 RBI's he would get that year. In his influential article "Is patriotism a virtue?" (1984), the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre notes that most contemporary conceptions of morality insist on a kind of impartial blindness to accidental traits like local origin in the just treatment of our fellow humans - and therefore, that patriotism is inevitably not moral under these conceptions. The normally light-hitting Ryan got his 'Stros years started with a bang in a nationally televised game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 12, 1980, in which he hit a 3-run home run off future fellow Hall of Famer Don Sutton. Yet citizenry does not have to be indexed to race. Ryan signed a lucrative free-agent contract with the Houston Astros after the 1979 season, in which he became the first player to make $1 million a year. For this reason it has often been compared to racism, most notably in a 2002 paper by Paul Gompert, Patriotism is like racism. His fastball was "officially" clocked by the Guinness Book of World Records at 100.9 miles per hour in a game played on August 20, 1974 versus the Chicago White Sox. Patriotism seems to ethically condone these distinctions.

The most widely quoted response is Nolan Ryan. Immigration law is based on that principle: merely by accident of birth in a country, some people have an automatic entitlement to live in it, but foreigners do not. Fans, researchers, historians and even the players argue all the time about who was the fastest pitcher of all-time. All patriots favour their own citizens above those of other political communities. In 1974 he twice struck out 19 batters, a record which wasn't broken until Roger Clemens struck out 20 in a 1986 game. The 'Ode to Joy' is the official anthem of the European Union and the phrase is regarded with deep distrust by many patriots in Europe. He led the league in strikeouts seven times in the 1970s. Many people have promoted the alternative concept of a universal human community, as expressed for instance in the idealistic phrase "Alle Menschen werden Brüder" ("all people become brothers") of the Ode to Joy, part of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

He threw two no-hitters in 1973, added a third in 1974 and a fourth in 1975, tying another of Koufax' records. This selectivity is the most ethically controversial aspect of patriotism. This record was made even more impressive by the fact that he achieved it in the first year of the designated hitter in the American League; if AL pitchers had still been hitting, Ryan would almost certainly have topped 400 strikeouts that season. Patriotism implies that citizens - members of the civic or political community - owe a greater allegiance to each other than to foreigners. In 1973, he set his first record when he struck out 383 batters in one season, eclipsing Sandy Koufax's old mark by one. The wartime example of patriots fighting each other, illustrates the point that even self-sacrificing patriotism is selective in its altruism. Even though the Angels were a sub-.500 team and remained one for most of his time there, he began winning between 19 and 22 games a season regularly. Some people, according to their prejudices, might well admire the second soldier more than the first, even though he could be considered the less patriotic of the two.

Ryan truly blossomed as a pitcher after being traded to the California Angels in 1972. The second cares nothing for the Dutch country as such, but has carefully studied Fascism and has a deep commitment to save the world from its perceived evils. A videotape of that game, which has occasionally been played on ESPN Classic, reveals that Ryan's mechanics, with the trademark high trailing leg kick, were already firmly established at that young age. The first soldier is motivated by a patriotic preference for his country's independence. Ryan's work enabled the Mets to hang on to win that game, and they went on to upset the Orioles in five games. We can imagine two soldiers, equally brave and self-sacrificing. Ryan did, however, give people a taste of what was to come in the 1969 World Series, when he entered Game 3 in relief of a struggling starter and shut down the powerful Baltimore Orioles for nearly three innings. In other words, there is a distinction between a non-egoistic act which benefits the community, and one that is specifically motivated by patriotic feelings.

He didn't make the majors for good until the 1968 season, and even then was unable to crack an outstanding Mets pitching staff led by Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. Some certainly fought because they hated Fascism, and many soldiers fight because they do not want to appear to be cowards. However, Ryan struggled for a number of years and was even sent back to the minor leagues a few times because of his inability to find the strike zone. We can ask whether any particular self-sacrificing Dutch soldier acted out of devotion to the Dutch national state in 1940. He developed his dazzling fastball as a high school pitcher in Texas, which impressed the New York Mets enough to draft him in 1965 and promote him to the major leagues late in 1966. Self-sacrifice is inevitable on the battlefield, the question is how much it is inspired by patriotic emotions. Ryan was born in Refugio, Texas, but his family moved to the Houston suburb of Alvin when he was six weeks old; he has lived there to this day. Even if battlefield self-sacrifice is considered virtuous, it can be difficult to determine whether a particular act is admirable for its ’’patriotism’’.

. Throughout history, governments have invoked patriotic as well as nationalism feelings to support military aggression, arbitrary imprisonment of foreigners, and even murder, acts considered evil by most individuals. Only Smokey Joe Wood, Walter Johnson, Satchel Paige, and Sandy Koufax are thought to have nearly equalled his velocity; the strikeout king to this day. It is now generally accepted (also in Germany) that the invasion had no justification, and to the extent that patriotism facilitated it, then in that case it should not be considered a virtue. He is considered by many to have been the fastest pitcher of all time. Many of them had been indoctrinated in a form of unquestioning nationalism during their teenage years, while they were members of the Hitler Youth. The media tagged him with the nickname "The Ryan Express", referencing a 1965 action-adventure film called Von Ryan's Express. Yet many of the invading Nazi soldiers doubtless felt, too, that they were engaged in a patriotic act, in this case on behalf of a German Reich that has been conflated with the nation.

He was most noted for his blazing fastball and his longevity, routinely throwing pitches exceeding 100 mph, even into his forties. The near-hopeless defence of the Netherlands against the May 1940 invasion by Nazi Germany provided an example of military patriotism - Dutch soldiers giving their lives to defend their country. Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. (born January 31, 1947) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 27 years and still holds many major league pitching records, some of which are so far beyond previous marks that they are likely to stand for years and generations of pitchers to come. One of the challenges of treating patriotism as a virtue, is that specific patriotisms conflict. In the United States, explicitly patriotic history has been consistently criticised for its de-emphasising the post-Colombian depopulation, the Atlantic slave trade, the population expulsions and the wars of conquest against Native Americans. The 'black armband' view of our history reflects a belief that most Australian history since 1788 has been little more than a disgraceful story of imperialism, exploitation, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination..

Conservative Prime Minister John Howard, who would undoubtedly describe himself as an Australian patriot, said of it in 1996:. It concentrates on the suffering of Indigenous Australians during the British colonisation of Australia. The Australian political conflict about the Black arm band theory of history is a classic example. In some countries such disputes are driven by the fact that a minority feels excluded from the whole and so asserts that there is no reason to be proud of it.

Patriots can certainly argue amongst themselves, proffering different interpretations of the common good. Thinkers such as Habermas, however, have advocated a European-wide patriotism. In the European Union, patriotism usually coincides with Euroscepticism, and may therefore be rejected on pro-European grounds. The loyalty of the Muslim, they say, can only be to the Ummah, the community of all Muslims.

For example, like cosmopolitans, some Islamists despise patriotism as un-Islamic. Others reject such communities, however, given their specificity. Patriotism consists of a both rational and emotional support for the civic or political community. In much of eastern Europe, for instance in the Baltic States, patriotism is indistinguishable from politicised nationalism.

However, in the zone of the most recent wars, in the states of former Yugoslavia, patriotic emotions are still intense. Patriotism in western Europe often has specific anti-immigration connotations, and the historical perspective on nationalism and war is shaped by the destruction in World War II. Although many forms of symbolic patriotic expression originated in older western European nations, they are now less pervasive there. In the United States, personal patriotic expression is ubiquitous.

Typically, patriotic intensity is higher when the state is under external threat. Levels of patriotism vary across time, and among political communities. Saluting the flag is considered equally patriotic, if it is done every morning at a government office, or under enemy fire on the battlefield. Peacetime patriotism can not be so easily linked to a measurable gain for the state, but the patriot does not see it as inferior.

Symbolic patriotism in wartime is intended to raise morale, in turn contributing to the war effort. Patriotism relies heavily on symbolic acts, such as displaying the flag, singing the national anthem, participating in a mass rally, placing a patriotic bumper sticker on one's vehicle, or any other way of publicly proclaiming allegiance to the state. For various reasons, the government may also launch a ‘patriotism campaign’, to promote identification with the state and its symbols. National monuments, and veterans days and commemoration ceremonies are typical examples.

It is a logical consequence of the state itself, which derives legitimacy from being the expression of the common good of the political community. In any case, governments always promote an official patriotism which has a high symbolic and ceremonial content. Two proposed amendments to the United States Constitution illustrate the similarity: one enforces Christian values and would effectively prohibit same-sex marriage, one enforces patriotic values and would forbid flag-burning. The political expression, in both cases, consists of campaigns to legally enforce the values in question.

It is structurally similar to other values ideologies and movements, such as the family values movement. However, patriots often insist that the entire citizenry shares adherence to these values. The patriot in this sense adheres to certain patriotic values, such as respect for the flag. The first is personal patriotism, which is emotional and voluntary.

Three forms of patriotism can be distinguished. In wartime they can be directly correlated to military necessity: the home front supports the army, and individual effort contributes to military success. Less dramatic forms of patriotism include a wide range of attitudes, expressions, and acts. Death in battle for the homeland is the archetype of extreme patriotism.

In practice, many patriots would see treason as the 'opposite of patriotism'. The opposite of patriotism consists of the corruption often referred to by such classical republican thinkers as Aristotle and Machiavelli, in which citizens are more concerned with their personal and group interests than with the common good of the political community as a whole. In Belgium, pro-Belgian patriotism is weak, while the nationalism of the country`s nations are strong. In Northern Ireland two parallel national cultures co-exist, one Irish-Republican and one pro-British unionist.

What often then arises are national liberation movements, such as Irish Republicanism, Basque and Québécois seperatism. National movements are also concerned with the state, however, especially when it is felt that the national community has not been sufficiently recognized by the state, with the consequence that the nation cannot be considered wholly free. National sentiments often dovetail with the patriotic, but they should not be confused, since national communities are unlike civic or political ones in that they are, for the most part, located within civil society rather than in and around the state. It can be voluntary and emotional empathy, and it can be officially promoted by the government - usually both.

The term patriotism is generally used in the context of an already existing political community. There is no specific name for this doctrine, but there is for its opposite: ethical cosmopolitanism is the doctrine that no distinction should be made among humans, in the degree of moral obligation. The primary implication of patriotism in ethics is that a person has more moral duties to fellow members of the political community, as distinct from non-members. The expression my country right or wrong - a misquotation of the American naval officer Stephen Decatur (but actually attributable to Carl Schurz, a nineteenth century German revolutionary who later immigrated to the United States)- is the extreme form of this belief.

As such, patriotism has ethical connotations: it implies that the political community is in some way a moral standard or moral value in itself. Others, however, associate patriotism with the common good, with the aim of responding to conflicts in ways which ensure that everyone benefits. In this context patriotism is seen as an explanation for the apparent suspension of the instinct for self-preservation, which implies that all humans would avoid a battlefield. In wartime, patriotism as so understood is assumed to be the main driving force for participation in military operations, certainly if it is voluntary.

To some, patriotism has connotations of self-sacrifice, implying that the individual should place the interests of the community above their personal interests, and in extreme cases their lives. Positive attitudes and actions towards other countries, or to non-civic groups, are not generally described as 'patriotic', and they may be referred to by a specific name, such as pro-Greek philhellenism. The word patriotism is used to describe emotions and attitudes, political views, symbolism, and specific acts, with respect to a political community - its territory, history, culture, values, and symbols. .

Patriotism is often conflated with nationalism, but the two should be distinguished, as political philosophers such as Jürgen Habermas and Charles Blattberg have increasingly argued. The word is derived from the Latin patria, fatherland, which has a much broader meaning than a geographical territory. Patriotism denotes positive attitudes by individuals to their own civic or political community, to its culture, its members, and to its interests.