Category profile
- Dominance
- 86
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 96
- Honours
- 82
- Statistics
- 96
Career timeline · Home runs per season
| Season | Home runs per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 133 | |
| 1969 | 92 | |
| 1970 | 125 | |
| 1971 | 137 | |
| 1972 | 329 | |
| 1973 | 383 | |
| 1974 | 367 | |
| 1975 | 186 | |
| 1976 | 327 | |
| 1977 | 341 | |
| 1978 | 260 | |
| 1979 | 223 | |
| 1980 | 200 | |
| 1981 | 140 | |
| 1982 | 245 | |
| 1983 | 183 | |
| 1984 | 197 | |
| 1985 | 209 | |
| 1986 | 194 | |
| 1987 | 270 | |
| 1988 | 228 | |
| 1989 | 232 | |
| 1990 | 301 | |
| 1991 | 203 | |
| 1992 | 157 | |
| 1993 | 46 |
Data sources
- MLB
- Baseball Reference
- Olympics.com
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Nolan Ryan ranks #12 in Baseball
Nolan Ryan ranks 12th among Baseball athletes on GOAT Rank and 213th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 89.5 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 86, Peak 90, Longevity 96, Honours 82, Statistics 96. Those categories are normalised against the full Baseball reference universe of 262 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1966–1993 with 26 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1973, which sets the Peak component at 90. Longevity is the defining strength of the profile at 96 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes strikeouts 5714, no-hitters 7, career wins 324, all-star selections 8.
Immediately ahead sits Mariano Rivera on 90.6, a gap of 1.1 points. Directly behind is Randy Johnson on 90.5. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Nolan Ryan GOAT Score explained
- Dominance86/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Ryan stood above the field while competing. Scored 86/100 against the full Baseball cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1973. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity96/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 27 years of competition and 26 recorded seasons. Scored 96/100.
- Honours82/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 82/100.
- Statistics96/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 96/100.
Top Ryan comparisons
Nolan Ryan — frequently asked
- Is Nolan Ryan the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Nolan Ryan ranks 12th in Baseball with a GOAT Score of 89.5, behind Hank Aaron on 93.7.
- What is Nolan Ryan's GOAT Score?
- 89.5 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 86 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 96 (20%), Honours 82 (20%), Statistics 96 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Nolan Ryan rank all time?
- 213th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 12th within Baseball.
- Nolan Ryan vs Mariano Rivera: who ranks higher?
- Mariano Rivera, on 90.6 against Nolan Ryan's 89.5 — a margin of 1.1 points.