Nolan Ryan, 75, would still like a chance to help guide an MLB team. He’d listen if the Texas Rangers called
Ryan says the age of analytics should mesh with the expertise that former players can provide to players.
Even at age 75, there is still beef to sell, a cattle ranch in South Texas to monitor, a bank to help oversee and a Triple A baseball team still feeling the effects of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
Nolan Ryan is not retired. He still heads to the office daily, when he’s in town, and is still involved in the day-to-day operation of all that he and his sons have their hands in.
However, there’s still time to do what he wants, like bolting up I-35 from his ranch in Georgetown to watch a TCU basketball game in Fort Worth. He did that Tuesday with son Reid, wife Ruth and grandson Jackson, sitting courtside as the Frogs beat Oklahoma State.
Yet, major-league baseball does not play the role in Ryan’s life that it did for five decades, and that’s one reason why no one has really heard from him since he left his advisory role with the Houston Astros in 2019.
Oh, he still follows the game, probably knowing more than he let on Tuesday night about 30 minutes before tip-off.
He knows enough to recognize that the game is starting to get away from him the longer he remains out of it. He would like another chance to be a key figure in helping to build a winning MLB team.
He would even return to the Texas Rangers in the right role.
“I'm still a Rangers fan and my start is still with the Rangers,” Ryan said. “Would I be involved with them if they wanted me to? Yeah, probably.”