Nolan Ryan

Major League Baseball's strikeout king spent nine seasons pitching at the top of Houston's rotation, his most among any of the four teams he played for in a 27-year career. In 282 starts with the Astros, Ryan went 106-94 with a 3.13 ERA, 1,866 strikeouts, 38 complete games and 13 shutouts. The all-time franchise leader in career strikeouts, Ryan also owns the top career ERA in Astros history. A two-time All-Star with Houston, he led the NL in both ERA (2.76) and strikeouts (270) as a 40-year-old in 1987. In 1980, his first year with Houston, he helped pitch the club to their first National League West Division title after posting a 3.35 ERA in 35 starts. Ryan tossed his fifth-career no-hitter on Sept. 26, 1981, and became MLB's all-time strikeout king on April 27, 1983. Ryan was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 and now serves as an executive advisor for the Astros.