OK Solberg: 00:00

I wanna again welcome you to the four zero five Coffee Break, guys. Get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea, bottle of water. Let's see what's happening. It's Tuesday. Spring weight, $5.92 a bushel.

OK Solberg: 00:12

550 pound steer calf, I hope to shout, $3.88 a pound. Remember what I told you, come Halloween, it won't be that high. Butcher hog in Omaha, Seventy Seven Cents a pound. Hundred pound fat lamb in Billings at $2.16, but, guys, there's more, much more. Bible verse right up front.

OK Solberg: 00:36

Colossians three twenty three, whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men. Good advice. Whatever you do, do it heartily. No. Well, I guess that's good enough.

OK Solberg: 00:54

Do it the best you can. Baseball players are known for doing things heartily. If you don't realize it yet, I am a baseball lover. Baseball is so unique. It's the only sport where the defensive team has the ball.

OK Solberg: 01:14

Baseball is so distinct, it's where the players can fail at the plate seven times out of 10 and still be the champions of their team. Baseball is like fishing. You don't get a trophy each and every time. You're not gonna get a trophy each and every try. Let's take Nolan Ryan.

OK Solberg: 01:36

Do you know him? Have you heard of him? Oh, guys, he's still alive. He's alive today. He's only ten years older than myself.

OK Solberg: 01:45

Nolan Ryan was born in 1947. He is 78 years old, and he holds the record above every other pitcher that ever pitched the game. What? There is a category in baseball called the three thousand strikeout club. The story goes that for decades, a pitcher recording 3,000 strikeouts was an almost unheard of accomplishment as only Walter Johnson had managed it listened.

OK Solberg: 02:17

He would Walter Johnson was the only one who had managed the feed in baseball's first one hundred years. Johnson finally was joined by Bob Gibson in 1974. So when I'm starting my senior year in Malta High School right here in Malta, Phillips County, Montana, there had only been two pitchers to achieve this grand and glorious feat. But hold the phone, stop the press, and call the doctor. Six years later in 1980, Nolan Ryan struck out his three thousandth batter.

OK Solberg: 02:58

But did I tell you that Nolan Ryan didn't retire from baseball until 1993? Ryan pitched for the New York Mets. He pitched for the California Angels, the Houston Astros, and the Texas Rangers. By the time he retired, he had thrown 5,000. What?

OK Solberg: 03:19

Yes. He had thrown 5,714 strikeouts. What? I thought it was a 3,000 club. Oh, it is the 3,000 club.

OK Solberg: 03:31

But he didn't stop there. He threw 5,714 strikeouts to far exceed any pitcher that ever played the game. Listen to this. Nolan Ryan also pitched seven no hitters. Guys, that's three more than any other pitcher.

OK Solberg: 03:51

Nolan Ryan is one of only 31 players in baseball history to have appeared in Major League Baseball games in four, count them, one two three four decades. So let's stand and remove our hats for Nolan Ryan. Absolutely the king of strikeouts. He has pitched seven no hitters, the last one, guys, when he was 44 years old. But now remember how I started this episode.

OK Solberg: 04:22

Baseball is so unique. It's the only sport where the defensive team has the ball. Baseball is so distinct, it's where the players can fail at the plate seven times out of 10 and still be the champion of their team. Baseball is where you can have a pitcher like Nolan Ryan with 5,714 strikeouts, seven no hitters, yet, listen, guys, listen. Will Clark hit the most home runs off of Nolan Ryan.

OK Solberg: 04:57

Will Clark hit six home runs off the strikeout no hitter king. You think he's the best? Nolan Ryan, I do. Go ask Will Clark. He'll say, well, not too bad, but I hit six home runs off of him.

OK Solberg: 05:13

Show me another sport where you can have the king of the hill, the best of the best, have someone hit six home runs off of you, and you can still hold your head up high. Baseball, if you don't enjoy it, you better start thinking. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. If you don't like baseball, go watch a game on TV, pull it up on TV, but this time pretend it's your son or your grandson or your best friend who is pitching. Oh, things change drastically now.

OK Solberg: 05:45

Now all of a sudden, you don't wanna see a home run. You wanna see a strikeout. So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.