Gunfighter eyes

That is the description my wife gave to Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripkin, Jr. Watching Ryan, a fan several times would see the pitcher after striking out a batter, saunter off the mound like a sheriff who has just dispatched a gunslinger intent on harming peace and prosperity.

With Madison Bumgarner in the just concluded World Series, fans saw not so much a gunfighter as a man sitting across the poker table in a Dodge City saloon and his eyes and demeanor sending an unmistakable message: “Don’t do something stupid.”