1989 - 1993
Like the Angels' front office before him, Astros' general manager Bill Wood along with the decision of owner John McMullen had underestimated the value of Nolan in the free agent market. While Nolan had hoped to finish his career close to home, the Astros had other plans.
While mega deals had made a mockery of the baseball salary structure, Nolan had never received a raise from his original contract of $1 million dollars a year during his tenure as an Astro. With the emergence of pitcher Mike Scott as the ace of the staff and Nolan's age (40 at the time), the Astros decided to offer him a contact for the 1989 season with a 20% cut in pay, the maximum amount a ball club can cut. Nolan decided to file for free agency instead.
Several teams including the California Angels, opened negotiations with Nolan's agent. Even the Astros were in persuit before bailing out with a final offer of $1.4 million dollars. The move back out to Anaheim was entertained until the Texas Rangers came into the picture. Although the move to California would have been more lucritive, Nolan decide on the lesser commute from Alvin to Arlington, staying in the state of Texas.
Ranger Roundup
- April 6, 1989 - First Rangers' start vs Detroit @ Arlington
- 5IP 7H 4R 3ER 3BB 8SO
- No decision
- Mound opponent - Jeff Robinson
- Catcher - Jim Sundberg
- July 11, 1989 - Pitches 2 innings in the All Star game in Anaheim and earns the victory to become the oldest pitcher (42 years, five months and 10 days) to win an All Star game
- August 22, 1989 - Strikes out Oakland A's Rickey Henderson for career strikeout #5,000
- 1989 - Selected Texas Rangers' Pitcher of the Year
- 1989 - Won the American League's Joe Cronin Award for significant achievement
- Joins Kansas City Royals' George Brett as the only 2-time recipients
- June 11, 1990 - Pitches 6th no hitter
- July 31, 1990 - Becomes the 20th pitcher to win 300 games
- vs Milwaukee Brewers @ Milwaukee (11-3)
- 7.2IP 6H 3R 1ER 2BB 8SO
- Mound opponent - Chris Bosio
- Catcher - Gino Petralli
- September 8, 1990 - "The Bloody Lip" game. Kansas City Royals @ Arlington Stadium. On the first pitch in the 2nd inning,
Bo Jackson hits a hard grounder hitting Ryan in the face. Ryan was able to retrieve the ball for the putout at first base. He stayed in the game
for 17 more outs recording 8 strikeouts in 7 innings.
- 1990 - Receives the 22nd annual Man of the Year Award from The Sporting News
- 1990 - Receives Male Athelete of the Year honors from United Press International
- 1990 - Receives the United States Sports Academy/USA Today Pro Sportsman of the Year Award
- May 1, 1991 - On the same day Oakland A's Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brock's all time stolen base record, pitches 7th no hitter
- August 6, 1992 - Ejected for the only time in his career after hitting Oakland A's Willie Wilson with a pitch ( Trivia ?: Home Plate Umpire Richie Garcia )
- August 4, 1993 - "Ass Whooping" game. Chicago White Sox @ Arlington Stadium. Not the way Ryan wanted his farewell season to be remembered. On the 1st pitch of
his 2nd at bat, Robin Ventura was hit on his upper arm. After taking a few steps toward 1st base, he changed his mind and headed toward the mound
where he was greeted by a Ryan headlock and head noogies. Ventura is the only player to get 7 hits in one game off of Ryan. Ventura was ejected while
Ryan was allowed to stay in the game eventually pitching 7 innings and earning victory #322.
- April 2, 1993 - Domecoming: In The Lone Star Classic preseason exhibition game, marked the 1st returned to the Houston Astrodome as a member
of the Texas Rangers. In front of 53,657, the largest crowd to watch a big league game in Texas up to that point.
Nolan's Last Stands
- Shutout - June 11, 1991 vs Chicago White Sox @ Arlington
- 9IP 6H 0R 0ER 1BB 10SO
- Mound opponent - Alex Fernandez
- Catcher - Gino Petralli/Mike Stanley
- Complete game - July 4, 1992 vs New York Yankees @ Arlington
- 9IP 3H 1R 1ER 1BB 13SO
- Mound opponent - Scott Kamieniecki
- Catcher - Ivan Rodriguez
- Win - August 15, 1993 vs Cleveland Indians @ Cleveland
- 7IP 2H 1R 1ER 2BB 2SO
- Mound opponent - Jose Mesa
- Catcher - Ivan Rodriguez
- Strikeout - September 17 vs California Angels' Greg Myers @ Anaheim
- Game - September 22, 1993 vs Seattle Mariners @ Seattle
- 0IP 2H 5R 5ER 4BB 0SO
- Loss
- Omar Visquel singled
- Rich Armoral walked
- Ken Griffy Jr. walked
- Jay Buhner walked
- Dann Howitt hit grand slam homerun
- Dave Magadan
- 2 balls - 1 strike count when Nolan left game (relieved by Steve Dreyer)
- Officially became Nolan's last batter and last walk
- Mound opponent - Dave Fleming
- Catcher - Ivan Rodriguez
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