There will never be another Nolan Ryan. Let’s get that part out of the way now.Yes, that means the Milwaukee Brewers’ dazzling missile-launcher, Jacob Misiorowski. Yes, that also means literally everybody else.Does The Miz fire fastballs that conjure up memories of Ryan’s fastball, back in another time and place? It is OK to say that he does. But there is so much more about the great Nolan Ryan that can’t ever be matched.The legend. The aura. The trail of strikeouts, more than 5,700 K’s long. The seven no-hitters. Seven. The 27 seasons of rocket launching. Twenty-seven. Who is doing that again — any of it?So just understand that. When The Miz holds the baseball in his hands and blows up every velo board in our land, it can make you think about these things. We will no doubt be thinking about them again Friday night, when he starts against the Braves in Atlanta.It is the ultimate compliment to say anyone inspires the words, young Nolan Ryan. But let’s be careful.We can’t be lightly throwing around phrases like “a young Nolan Ryan.” So now let’s introduce you to a man who would not use that phrase. But maybe not for the reasons you would think.His name is Ryan. Nolan Ryan.“Would I compare myself to him? No, I wouldn’t,” Ryan told The Athletic this week, filled with admiration for the 24-year-old smoke machine in Milwaukee, a guy he is following with great curiosity. “It’ll be interesting to see his career develop. The game needs more pitchers like that. I truly believe that. And it’s gonna be fun to watch.”The legend spoke to me by phone from his cattle ranch in Texas. He is 79 years old. He hasn’t thrown a pitch in 33 years. He is as soft-spoken as ever. But I’ll readily admit it. I was nervous just to talk to him, before those 28 magical minutes.Why? Because he’s Nolan Ryan. And even though I didn’t have to worry that he might whoosh any 98 mph heat by my chin, I also knew this: He isn’t like anyone else.How did The Miz get this good, this fast?Derek VanRiper and Eno SarrisRyan has only watched The Miz on TV. And it wasn’t as if he made a point to tune in when Misiorowski spun one of the great pitching gems of modern times last Friday, against the Phillies: 15 strikeouts, one hit, no runs, no walks, no three-ball counts, only 27 batters faced in nine innings, only 95 pitches, all to finish off the first complete game of his professional life.Then there was the F1 velocity: 58 pitches at 100 mph or faster … 44 pitches at 101 or faster … two strikeouts at 104-plus … six strikeouts at 103-plus — one of them in the ninth inning.Ryan didn’t get to watch any of that. But has the living legend heard all about that game? Oh, yes, he has. Does he understand why Planet Baseball can’t stop talking about that game? Of course.“That’s a very unique game,” Ryan said simply, content to leave it at that — except there’s one more thing.When he says he wouldn’t compare himself to The Miz, here’s what Nolan Ryan really and sincerely means: That kid is so much better than he was at that age.“To look at my career, and the point where he is in his career today, he’s much further down the road now than I was,” Ryan said.We should probably mention that, from Ryan’s age-24 season on, there were so many astonishing feats still to come. Feats like 5,300 more strikeouts … and all seven of his no-hitters … and 23 more seasons of doing stuff we will never see again.But strike-throwing is special, at any age. And especially at 104.5 miles per hour. The 24-year-old edition of Nolan Ryan couldn’t do it, averaging just under seven walks per nine innings that year. So he appreciates it when he sees it.He was asked what he’s thought when he has had a chance to watch Misiorowski pitch.“My observation of him is, I thought he had the best arm I’ve seen in baseball since I don’t know since when,” Ryan said. “I really think he has a gift there.”When a superhero with the stature of Ryan says you have a gift, you should be framing that quote on your living-room wall — in type so large and colors so bright they hurt your eyes. But here’s the amazing part: Ryan didn’t stop there.“It’s a gift that he has, and it’s special,” he said. “No doubt about it. Because you just don’t see many arms like it.”But before we unload any more wheelbarrows full of praise from the ranch, we need to discuss that other Miz-versus-Nolan elephant in this room, when we ask …So who threw harder?More than half a century ago, in 1974, the Angels asked some engineers from Rockwell International to aim a primitive radar gun at Nolan Ryan’s fastball. Who knew what crazy number would flash before their eyes? Then there it was — 100.8. … in the ninth inning. It was incomprehensible, at least in that naïve moment.Many years later, in the must-see 2016 documentary, “Fastball,” modern science recalculated that reading — to attempt to adjust to the way velocity is measured now by Statcast.* The result was an even more incomprehensible number, in this or any age:108.5!(*Where velocity is measured now: Out of the pitcher’s hand. Where Ryan’s velocity was measured that night in ’74: When the ball reached home plate. Those two things are not the same.)So who out there is down with that 108.5 guestimate? You’re allowed to say yes. Just understand what it means if you do say yes.In 1974, Rockwell International engineers clocked a Nolan Ryan pitch at 100.8 mph. That reading has been recalculated to a mind-boggling 108.5 mph to account for how velocity is measured now. (Jeff Goode / Toronto Star via Getty Images)We now have the scientific tools to measure, with remarkable precision, how hard men like Misiorowski throw a baseball. Those tools from 1974 would not be confused with these tools.