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Nolan Ryan was an amazing pitcher. But there were only a couple of years that you could make a case that he was a great pitcher.

The job of the pitcher is get people out without allowing runs. While it's difficult to tell because of segregation (and limited availability of Negro League stats), Satchel Paige was almost certainly in the top 10 all time at doing that.

Ryan probably wasn't in the top 50. He was very good (and amazing to watch) for a long time. But Satchel Paige is one of the few to top Ryan in longevity too.

Bill James ranks Paige as the #17 player (not just pitcher) of all time. Ryan is #115. James says that Ryan ranks as high as he does because his system compares players to zero, and that when compared to average Ryan fares worse.