Nolan Ryan is undoubtedly one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history. Over 27 seasons spanning from 1966 to 1993, Ryan dominated hitters with a blazing fastball and racked up impressive stats including 5,714 strikeouts, the all-time record. Unsurprisingly, Ryan’s playing career has been memorialized in thousands of baseball cards issued by the various card companies during his playing days and in vintage sets since. One of the most prolific baseball card brands to feature Ryan was Donruss, who included “The Ryan Express” in many of their flagship sets from the 1970s through the early 1990s.
Donruss issued their first baseball cards in 1981, just as Ryan was entering his mid-30s but still in his prime pitching years with the Houston Astros. One of his earliest Donruss cards from that inaugural set is the 1981 Donruss #212. Featuring a classic vertical image of Ryan winding up, the design is simple but evokes the power and overhand motion that made Ryan’s fastball so intimidating. The reverse provides career stats through 1980 that already paint Ryan as one of the most dominant strikeout pitchers ever. Cards from Ryan’s early Donruss years show him cementing his legend with the Astros before memorable stints with the Angels, Mets, and Rangers.
In the mid-1980s, Donruss began their tradition of including Traded/Update sets each year to feature players who were dealt to new teams via trade. Nolan Ryan made frequent appearances in these subsets, such as the 1985 Donruss Traded #T69 showing him in an Angels uniform after being dealt from Houston. Update cards ensured collectors could stay on top of Ryan’s constantly changing uniforms as his playing career wound down. These traded subsets from Donruss maintain Ryan’s legacy of continually reinventing himself with new ballclubs well into his 40s.
Perhaps Donruss’ most iconic Nolan Ryan card comes from their 1987 set. Card #132 features a stunning action photo of Ryan mid-delivery, his arm cocked back and face contorted in otherworldly intensity. At age 40, the ’87 season would be one of Ryan’s best as he struck out 270 batters and won his 5th Cy Young Award. This eye-catching card perfectly captures the sheer dominance Ryan demonstrated even in his late career. Renowned for some of the finest photography in the hobby, Donruss took Ryan’s magnificence to new heights with cards like the legendary ’87 issue.
As Ryan closed out his career with the Texas Rangers in the early 1990s, Donruss was there to commemorate some of his final seasons. Cards like the 1990 Donruss #335 show The Ryan Express now in his twilight on the cusp of yet another milestone as he neared 5,000 career strikeouts. Always trying to innovate, later Donruss issues like 1992 #406 took risks with creative horizontal layouts that stood out from traditional designs. Regardless of style, each new Donruss Ryan card from this era was a reminder of an unmatched pitcher continuing to défy Father Time with the Rangers.
Through diverse sets spanning Ryan’s two decades in the majors, Donruss played a major role in documenting the pitching prowess of one of baseball’s true immortals. From his early dominance with the Astros to landmark seasons later in his lengthy career, Donruss captured Nolan Ryan’s greatness through some of the most striking and iconic baseball card photographs of all-time. For collectors both young and old, these vintage Donruss issues remain treasured mementos of the legend of “The Ryan Express” and his place among the games all-time elite hurlers. Nolan Ryan’s baseball cards are seminal pieces of the hobby, and Donruss was there every step of the way to chronicle his one-of-a-kind career.
