I was reading the SABR 2000 Baseball Research Journal when I came across an article by Joe D'Aniello called "The 10,000 Careers of Nolan Ryan: Computer Study." It mentions how Ryan was second in voting for the All Century Team (Behind Sandy Koufax) amongst pitchers.

The fact that Koufax himself finished way ahead of Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, Grover Cleveland Alexander and a few others is ridiculous on its own, but Ryan finishing second?

Either way, this article helps support the idea as to how overrated Ryan is (and displays how unrealistically enamored fans are with the strikeout).

W-L as 162 - (win%) # GB - Number of seasons 7+ games over .500
Lefty Grove 110-52 (.680) 0 GB 11
Christy Mathewson 107-54 (.665) 2.5 GB 12
Roger Clemens 107-55 (.658) 3 GB 11
Randy Johnson 104-57 (.646) 5.5 GB 10
Grover Alexander 104-58 (.642) 6 GB 11
Eddie Plank 101-60 (.627) 8.5 GB 12
Cy Young 99-61 (.618) 10 GB 11
Greg Maddux 99-63 (.610) 11 GB 11
Tom Seaver 97-64 (.603) 12.5 GB 8
Tom Glavine 97-65 (.600) 13 GB 10
Walter Johnson 97-65 (.599) 13 GB 10
Warren Spahn 96-65 (.597) 13.5 GB 11
Steve Carlton 93-69 (.574) 17 GB 8
Don Sutton 90-71 (.559) 19.5 GB 6
Early Wynn 89-73 (.551) 21 GB 6
Gaylord Perry 88-74 (.542) 22 GB 5
Phil Niekro 87-75 (.537) 23 GB 4
Nolan Ryan 85-77 (.526) 25 GB zero

So, as bad as this jumbled mess of names and numbers looks... notice the last number in each line... which is the number of seasons in which the pitcher was 7+ games over .500. Ryan never did it.

And I present the list of most wins without a season 7+ games over .500

324 - Nolan Ryan
163 - Scott Sanderson
158 - Willis Hudlin
156 - Livan Hernandez
151 - Tom Candiotti
146 - Stan Bahnsen
146 - Tim Belcher
142 - Kevin Gross
141 - Woodie Fryman
140 - Jim Clancy

Basically Nolan Ryan and a bunch of mediocre pitchers. What does that say?

Atlanta's Tommy Hanson first broke into the majors in 2009. And promptly went 11-4, which is seven games over .500. He accomplished in one season what Nolan Ryan failed to do in 27.

Tommy Hanson 1, Nolan Ryan 0

And as for the "but Nolan Ryan's teams were bad..." argument:

1. Steve Carlton: 27-10 on a 59-97 team in 1972.
2. Name one position player on Walter Johnson's Senators teams.
3. Ryan's Astro teams were pretty damn good. Six of his nine seasons in Houston, they were over .500. As were the 78-79 Angels. He played for one team that failed to win 70 games (excluding 1981). Not a very strong alibi for the weak winning percentages.
4. Look at the company he's keeping for the "I never was 7+ over .500 club."

Yeah, strikeouts are sexy, but you gotta win!