Legend has it that in 1513, Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon landed in Florida and began an unsuccessful search for the Fountain of Youth. Ponce's big mistake was that he did not travel far enough to the West. It is obvious the legendary fountain is actually located on a ranch in Alvin, Texas. How else can you explain Nolan Ryan's amazing performance against the Seattle Mariners on May 1, 1991?

When Ryan took the mound that night he was 44 years and 100 days old. At a time in life when most men his age are thinking about IRA's instead of ERA's, he tossed his seventh career no-hitter, and set a team record with 16 strikeouts, in a 3-0 Ranger victory.

The fact that it came against the Blue Jays makes the accomplishment even more impressive. This team won the AL East in 1991 and the World Series in both 1992 and 1993. Toronto's line-up featured All-Stars Joe Carter John Olerud, Devon White and Roberto Alomar. The Blue Jays were the dominant team of that particular era, and Ryan made them look like clueless Little Leaguers on the first day of practice.

Nolan Ryan, after throwing his 7th career no-hitter.

When Ryan woke up that morning, throwing a no-hitter was probably the farthest thing from his mind. "It was one of those days when I knew how old I was when I woke up," he said. "I could feel every minute of these 44 years."

However, Ryan was the consummate professional and he didn't want to disappoint the fans that had paid to see him pitch on Fan Appreciation Night against baseball's hottest team.

When he arrived at the stadium, he told pitching coach Tom House, "I feel old today. My back hurts, my heel hurts. I don't feel good. "

House then pulled manager Bobby Valentine aside and said, "Nolan's hurting. Don't expect too much."

However, once Ryan took the mound, everything changed. "Everything kicked in for me there in the first inning," Ryan told the media after the game, "and it just got better and better as the game went on."

Approximately 33,000 fans were present for the first pitch. However, when it became obvious Ryan was throwing another gem, hundreds started flocking to the stadium. Some even tried to scale the fences.

While the crowd chanted "No-lan! No-lan!" in the ninth inning, Ryan retired the first two batters on routine grounders, then ended the game by striking out Alomar, -- who wasn't even born when Ryan broke in with the Mets in 1966.

Two months later, Ryan nearly did it again, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a game against the Angels.

His seven no-hitters is still an MLB career record. Ryan also holds the career record for strikeouts, with 5,714. People talk about Joe DiMaggio's 56 consecutive game hitting streak and Ted Williams' .406 batting average, both of which happened in 1941, as being "unbreakable" records. A strong case can be made that Ryan's records belong in the same category. 

When you think about baseball in the Lone Star State, Nolan Ryan is the first name that comes to mind. He is Texas born, Texas bred and a Texas Legend.

Now if he will only give us directions to that fountain....