Nolan Ryan Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed The Ryan Express, is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and a previous chief executive officer (CEO) of the Texas Rangers. He is currently an executive adviser to the owner of the Houston Astros. Over a record 27-year baseball career that spanned four decades: 1966, 19681993, Ryan pitched for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. Ryan, a hard-throwing, right-handed pitcher, threw pitches that were regularly clocked above 100 miles per hour (161
Nolan Ryan [and] he wasn't any good at fielding his position". In another column, Neyer, while stating that Ryan belonged in the Hall of Fame, pointed to Ryan's record-breaking walks total and noted that his .309 on-base percentage against "wasn't even close to being in the top 100". Ryan and Frank Robinson are the only two major league players to have their number retired by three teams on which they played. The California Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels) retired the number 30 on June 16, 1992; the Texas Rangers retired his number 34 on September 15, 1996; and the Houston Astros