Nolan Ryan congressional district; his hometown of Alvin was located in the district. On April 7, 2011, Todd Staples announced that Nolan Ryan would be his statewide chairman for his exploratory committee for lieutenant governor. Ryan is quoted as saying, "Todd Staples is the top prospect for the Texas Republican Party in 2014." Staples, however, lost out in that race to current Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick of Houston. 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
Nolan Ryan with the Angels, but he also led the league in walks in six of those years, and finished second the other two seasons: 1975 and 1979. Aside from Bob Feller in 1938, Ryan is the only man since 1900 to walk 200 batters in a season, which he did twice: in 1974 and 1977. Though Ryan's strikeouts and no-hitters got him considerable media attention, he did not win over Angels general manager Buzzie Bavasi, who dismissed him as a flashy .500 pitcher (Ryan was 26–27 in the last two years he was with the Angels). In 1980 Nolan Ryan became