Nolan Ryan had overpowering stuff, and his longevity was almost beyond belief. His career strikeout mark is likely as untouchable as Cy Young's career wins and other pitching marks set a century ago during the deadball era when pitchers threw almost double the innings of today's pampered starters. Yet unlike Sandy Koufax and Randy Johnson, Ryan never did learn to harness his blazing fastball sufficiently when it came to actually winning games. His career won-lost mark is almost embarrassing considering how hard he was to hit against -- 324 wins but an inexplicable 292 losses.
By contrast, Koufax was 36-40 his first six seasons then went 129-47 his last six seasons before retiring at the age of 30. Johnson was 56-61 his first five seasons, then went an amazing 247-105 thereafter, while Ryan basically remained a .500 pitcher his entire 27 year career.