PosterChild
New Member
- Messages
- 2,028
- Reaction score
- 0
By JEFF WILSON
DALLAS — Rangers owner Tom Hicks met with Nolan Ryan over lunch in Georgetown on Friday and might be trying to lure him away from the Houston Astros and back to the Rangers.
The bait might be the club presidency.
Ryan confirmed the 90-minute meeting with Hicks, son Tommy Jr. and Rangers vice president Jim Sundberg, and said that the team’s search for a president did come up in the conversation.
The Rangers’ presidency has been open since Hicks shifted Jeff Cogen over to the Stars almost two months ago.
Ryan also confirmed from Georgetown that the Rangers had obtained permission from the Astros some weeks ago so that they could talk to him. That would indicate that Hicks is thinking of offering him another position with the club, and baseball rules dictate it can’t be a lateral move.
“I would think, if the Rangers offered me a position that’s a promotion, I would certainly visit with them,” Ryan said.
Club president, perhaps?
“That didn’t come up in exact terms,” said Ryan, who just began the last year of a contract as a special assistant to the general manager with the Astros. “It was discussed that they were doing a search [for a new club president].”
Sundberg also confirmed the meeting, but declined to comment on whether the Rangers are trying to bring Ryan back to North Texas.
“Obviously, anyone would be interested in having a Nolan Ryan with their organization,” Sundberg said.
The Rangers’ official position is that the discussion centered on the Houston and Austin sports markets and the fact that Hicks is building a Texas Star hockey facility across the street from Dell Diamond in Round Rock, where the Ryan-owned Round Rock Express Triple-A team plays.
Both of Ryan’s minor-league clubs, Round Rock and the Double-A team in Corpus Christi, are affiliated with the Astros. His tie-ins with Houston could be a stumbling block to a deal with the Rangers.
Ryan retired after the 1993 season following a five-year stint with the Rangers that included highlights such as his 5,000th career strikeout and his sixth and seventh no-hitters.
Five years later, while in the midst of a 10-year personal services contract with the Rangers, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He wears a Rangers cap on his plaque.
But five years after that, Ryan turned down a more active role with the team in order to stay closer to home, accepting an offer from the Astros because he said it made more sense at the time.
“For me to be involved with the Astros is more of a fit,” Ryan said then. “I could do that right here in Round Rock. I just couldn’t make the necessary time commitment [to stay with the Rangers].”
He might be more willing to do that if the right offer is made this time.
“We’ll maybe have that discussion at a later date,” Ryan said. “This was just an opportunity to get caught up on things.”
http://www.star-telegram.com/743/story/433433.html
DALLAS — Rangers owner Tom Hicks met with Nolan Ryan over lunch in Georgetown on Friday and might be trying to lure him away from the Houston Astros and back to the Rangers.
The bait might be the club presidency.
Ryan confirmed the 90-minute meeting with Hicks, son Tommy Jr. and Rangers vice president Jim Sundberg, and said that the team’s search for a president did come up in the conversation.
The Rangers’ presidency has been open since Hicks shifted Jeff Cogen over to the Stars almost two months ago.
Ryan also confirmed from Georgetown that the Rangers had obtained permission from the Astros some weeks ago so that they could talk to him. That would indicate that Hicks is thinking of offering him another position with the club, and baseball rules dictate it can’t be a lateral move.
“I would think, if the Rangers offered me a position that’s a promotion, I would certainly visit with them,” Ryan said.
Club president, perhaps?
“That didn’t come up in exact terms,” said Ryan, who just began the last year of a contract as a special assistant to the general manager with the Astros. “It was discussed that they were doing a search [for a new club president].”
Sundberg also confirmed the meeting, but declined to comment on whether the Rangers are trying to bring Ryan back to North Texas.
“Obviously, anyone would be interested in having a Nolan Ryan with their organization,” Sundberg said.
The Rangers’ official position is that the discussion centered on the Houston and Austin sports markets and the fact that Hicks is building a Texas Star hockey facility across the street from Dell Diamond in Round Rock, where the Ryan-owned Round Rock Express Triple-A team plays.
Both of Ryan’s minor-league clubs, Round Rock and the Double-A team in Corpus Christi, are affiliated with the Astros. His tie-ins with Houston could be a stumbling block to a deal with the Rangers.
Ryan retired after the 1993 season following a five-year stint with the Rangers that included highlights such as his 5,000th career strikeout and his sixth and seventh no-hitters.
Five years later, while in the midst of a 10-year personal services contract with the Rangers, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He wears a Rangers cap on his plaque.
But five years after that, Ryan turned down a more active role with the team in order to stay closer to home, accepting an offer from the Astros because he said it made more sense at the time.
“For me to be involved with the Astros is more of a fit,” Ryan said then. “I could do that right here in Round Rock. I just couldn’t make the necessary time commitment [to stay with the Rangers].”
He might be more willing to do that if the right offer is made this time.
“We’ll maybe have that discussion at a later date,” Ryan said. “This was just an opportunity to get caught up on things.”
http://www.star-telegram.com/743/story/433433.html
I was just saying he's my fav pitcher of all time.
