a year. Not much incentive for today’s great players to pitch into their 40s

Ryan was still throwing 96 when he was 45.
Freak is an appropriate word.
Ron Luciano insists that Ryan should have had many fewer walks because he believes umpires gave close calls to the hitters because the velocity & movement were so unique.
He said it's human nature to give a break to the underdog. He estimates over 500 BB were assigned to Ryan that probably wouldn't be to other pitchers.
Fun Ryan fact: He's the only pitcher ever to lead the majors in ERA twice, but end up with a losing record over those 2 seasons. Teams were terrible.
Also, he led the league in hits per 9 innings THIRTEEN times, but he only ended up 32 games over ,500. Again, rotten teams.

more generous to the pitchers. But it is HS and you can’t use a MLB zone.

...if one kid was throwing 96 when the rest throw 84? That seems to be what Luciano was saying.
I've never officiated any sport so I don't have a way to assess.
I do know if I reffed basketball though, I'd be unlikely to call any fouls that didn't change anything. Incidentally bumping a guy's shooting forearm when the ball is a foot off the fingertips is not a foul to me.

Having said that, I’ve never witnessed a 96 mph fastball. I’m not sure I could track it very well. That is pretty damn fast.

As to location, I meant it to be a comparison on the same close call. Maybe the outside corner, maybe 3/4ths of an inch outside. Maybe right at the top of the letters, maybe an inch high. But, one is going 96, the other 84. I can see human nature giving a break to the hitter.
As to being able to follow it, I played in a county tennis tournament in college. I wasn't great at tennis, but I was quick & had good balance so I could play some.
Won my first 2 matches, but then drew a guy (same age) who was #1 singles on a full ride to TCU. He had a 135mph serve. He hit some aces against me, and I never saw the actual ball, just a blurred, yellow streak!
I could not follow the ball through the hitting zone.
He crushed me. His forehand ground strokes were faster than my serve.

...I felt I accomplished something!
I went HS with that guy. He had a severe knee injury playing touch football with his family at around 21.
He was never the same. He became an accountant.

Another major factor is that the game has changed. Starters rarely go more than six innings, if they make it to the 6th, and haven't for quite a while.

Back in Ryan's day, pitching into the 8th inning or a complete game was common. For that reason, I do consider Ryan's K record to be untouchable.

You're so right. He had 222 complete games.
That as many as 10 or 15 guys will have in their careers now.

how much the game has changed and how durable Nolan Ryan was. I don't think he ever had an extended period of injury either, did he? Maybe missed a game here and there, but he was an iron man.

...there was year (one of those ERA winning years) where he was only pitcher of record 16 times. He only pitched in 21 games. The vast majority of his years show 30s & even 40 games pitched. He must have been hurt that year.

a total of 27 seasons! So few professional athletes eclipse two decades in any of the team sports (golf is a different story).

He had 2 seasons in a row, 73 and 74, where he started 40 or more games, and completed 26 games each year.
Now it's hard for a pitcher to get that many complete games in a career. It took Kershaw 15 years to get 25 complete games.
The strategy/philosophy of the game has changed quite a bit over the past 5 decades.