End of the line for the Ryan Express

After 29 seasons in pro baseball, Nolan Ryan throws the last of who knows how many fastballs 31 years ago today as the future Hall of Famer pitches in his final game.

In his finale, though, the 46-year-old Ryan faces only six batters – retiring none of them – while giving up five runs in the Texas Rangers' 7-4 loss at Seattle before a Wednesday night crowd of 40,184 in the Kingdome.

He leaves the game after tweaking his right elbow and never throws another pitch in competition, leaving behind a career in which he wins 324 games over 27 seasons in the majors with a record 5,714 strikeouts and seven no-hitters.

“The first thing I thought when I heard the (elbow) pop was I knew that I was done,” Ryan says after his injury-shortened final game.

“Yeah, it was a sad moment. I knew my career was going to end, but that certainly wasn’t the way I wanted it to.”