Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 31, 1990 TAG: 9008010402
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: T.R. SULLIVAN FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAPH
DATELINE: FORT WORTH, TEXAS LENGTH: Medium
It's too bad John Wayne isn't still alive; they could have made a movie about Nolan Ryan, pitching ace for the Texas Rangers gunning for his 300th career win tonight in Milwaukee. Only the Duke could have played Big Tex.
Or maybe that was really John Wayne playing him in "El Dorado," the aging gunfighter, half-paralyzed with the bullet in his back, outdrawing Christopher George in the final scene to restore law and order.
Since Old West days, Texans have loved the lone gunfighter, the fastest on the draw, the guy who rides a blazing saddle, wears a shining star, whose job is to fight outlaws near and far.
Right now there is nobody bigger or faster than Nolan Ryan, the once and future Texas legend, born in the small Texas town of Alvin, now a gentleman rancher there. At age 43, he's spending his summer firing a world-famous fastball past American League hitters, knocking them off one-by-one. And he does it like all heroes, a little wounded, fighting off a stress fracture in his lower back.
Now the baseball world stands back and marvels as Ryan continues his quest for victory No. 300 against the Milwaukee Brewers, pitching better at 43 than most pitchers would dream of at 25.
"He's the best," said Oakland Athletics manager Tony LaRussa. "There's nobody like him."
"He's just an ordinary guy," Rangers pitcher Kevin Brown said. "Then it suddenly hits you: You're playing with a legend. It's an incredible feeling."
It's not only the talent they admire, but the person: the honesty, the humility, the simplicity of the family man who once said in that slow distinctive Texas drawl, "I'd rather spend time with my kids than anybody else," and, "I never tried to be anything other than what I am, just a person who tries to do the right things."
He's Abraham Lincoln in a baseball uniform, a guy who was disappointed he didn't get No. 300 Wednesday at the Rangers' Arlington Stadium simply because "A lot of people went to a lot of trouble to be there, and I let them down."
But winning No. 300 is important to his legion of admirers only in that it gives them the opportunity to demonstrate outwardly what they feel inside. Winning No. 300 gives baseball a chance to honor the man.
"He's a great baseball player," Commissioner Fay Vincent said. "But he's an equally fine person. His stats as a human being are what we all admire. He stands for the best in baseball. That's why I'd love to be there when he wins his 300th game."
Vincent's not alone. People from Texas to Toronto want to see him, cheer him, get his autograph, interview him.
"That's what made it all so gratifying," Ryan said the other day. "You never know how you're going to be accepted by your teammates, fans, media when you come to a new place. But since we came to the Texas Rangers, we've really felt accepted, and that's what has made it so enjoyable."
Despite the increasing demands on his time, Ryan has kept his eye fixed firmly on the road ahead, never deviating from his heavy workout schedule. Nor has he forgotten that it's not his success but the success of the Texas Rangers that's important.
"I've never really been motivated by number goals," Ryan said. "My only goal is to pitch in another World Series. Whether or not I get that chance remains to be seen."
It doesn't appear to be a realistic goal this year, but why should time be Ryan's enemy? He's signed for next year and doesn't appear to be slowing down any.
"I'm pretty much the same pitcher I've always been," Ryan said. "My fastball is still my best pitch. The only real difference is I throw my fastball about 65-70 percent of the time where it used to be 70-75 percent of the time. But I've developed a changeup, and that's helped."
Ryan, the legend who's given Texans someone to believe in, didn't always command respect.
He was once a considered a freak who could throw hard and strike out batters but couldn't win the big one. The occasional no-hitter or the fact that he pitched with bad teams did little to refute such talk.
He was 16-14 with the California Angels in 1979, then became a free agent and signed with the Houston Astros. That prompted the now-famous remark by Angels executive Buzzy Bavasi that Ryan could be replaced with "two 8-7 pitchers."
He was wrong, and so were the Houston Astros, who tried to cut Ryan's salary and lost him.
When Ryan turned 40 and was still humming it at 95 mph and striking them out a dozen at a time, it became apparent that he was someone special all along.
Which just goes to show that you don't mess with a Texas legend. I'd rather spend time with my kids than anybody else. I never tried to be anything other than what I am, just a person who tries to do the right things. Nolan Ryan Texas Rangers ace
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB