Wizard Of Whiff, Sultan of Swipe

By WALTER SHAPIRO

Many men in their middle years could identify with how this 44-year-old felt before dragging himself off to work. A pounding headache, an aching back, sharp pains in his heel, all added up to the poignant self-diagnosis: "I feel old today."

Who could blame Nolan Ryan for feeling the cold chill of his own mortality as he braced himself to start his 711th game in the majors? Sure, Ryan bestrode the baseball record book like a colossus, with more strikeouts and more no-hitters than any pitcher in history. But decay is an inevitable stage in the human condition. And Ryan was facing the powerful Toronto Blue Jays, whose youthful lineup included three players who had not even been born when the Texas Rangers' star broke into the big leagues back in 1966.

With all these aches and pains, Ryan's fate was predictable: he was carried from the field. But the only injury was to the Blue Jays; Ryan's joyous teammates hoisted him to their shoulders after he pitched his seventh no- hitter, a time-warp classic that even the self-effacing Texan described as "my most overpowering night." Only two Blue Jays reached first base on walks; only four hitters managed to loft fly balls to the outfield. The scorecard for the game looked like a bowl of Special K, the letter baseball uses to symbolize each of Ryan's 16 strikeouts.

Just as Ryan transcends the ages as baseball's Wizard of Whiff, so does Oakland A's left fielder Rickey Henderson as the Sultan of Swipe. How fitting that earlier on this same magical May Day, Henderson purloined third base against the New York Yankees to eclipse Lou Brock's career record of 938 stolen bases. Afterward Henderson crowed, "Today I'm the greatest of all time."

Still in his prime at 32, Henderson predicts that his theft total could reach 1,600 by the time he retires. Of course, ageless Nolan Ryan may yet be out on the mound even then, throwing heat, defying defeat and blazing new standards for the game's elite.