Pitching Is Believing : At 45, Nolan Ryan Is a Common Man With a Fastball, the Kind of Athlete Whom Consumers Can Trust

Armed with the weapons of the autograph army, they converged about three dozen strong on Nolan Ryan’s car, even before he had brought it to a stop at the training base of the Texas Rangers the other morning.

“The King’s here,” said one, waving pad and pencil as Ryan weaved his way to the clubhouse, saying he would sign when his work was done.

At 45, preparing for his 25th major league season, the King is never without his court.

Ryan said he appreciates the admiration and adulation, but fears suffocation. He seldom goes out anymore, he said, and some think this constant intrusion into his privacy will push him toward retirement quicker than any physical deterioration.

“I try to accept it, but there are times when it weighs on you mentally,” Ryan said. “I mean, there are times I’d like to take the kids out and don’t. There are times I’d like to go to a Rockets game in Houston (he lives in nearby Alvin, Tex.) but don’t. I can’t even have a discussion over dinner in a restaurant without interruptions.”

Much of it, Ryan understands, is sincere respect and recognition for his remarkable success and longevity, his ability to keep lighting up a speed gun at an age when he should be lighting up a pipe in robe and slippers, but there is also the constant hounding by the memorabilia profiteers.

“I go out and sign for 15 minutes before I leave, but it ends up being 45 or so, and when I finally won’t sign that one more, I know they don’t understand and I end up feeling bad about it,” Ryan said. “The thing is, 40% are the same faces every day, and the people from the memorabilia shops are here every day from 9 to 5, or they hire kids to do it.”

Ryan hasn’t changed. He remains as convivial and country as ever. There is no edge or bitterness to this.

It is simply a tiring and sometimes invasive fallout of his popularity, a byproduct seen in other ways as well.

Ryan is suddenly a hot commodity on Madison Avenue.

More than 20 years after building a reputation with the Angels and insisting then he had no interest in pursuing commercial opportunities because he didn’t think he had the personality for it, Ryan now pitches for--besides the Rangers--a pain-relief medication, oil company, soft-drink firm, airline and two apparel manufacturers.

Said Matt Merola, a New York agent who has handled Reggie Jackson and Joe Namath, among others, and now sorts through Ryan’s offers:

“He’s the Jimmy Stewart of players. No one has higher credibility. He embodies everything everyone loves. I mean, if you want Brooks Brothers, you go to Central Casting. If you want someone you can believe in, Nolan is it.”

Guaranteed $4.4 million by the Rangers in ‘92, Ryan may come close to that off the field, not counting the bank he owns in Alvin and the 1,000 head of cattle he tends on three ranches in the Alvin area.

Of his expanding involvement in the endorsement and commercial field, Ryan said, “It just kind of evolved over the years. I’ve had so many requests that I took the attitude, ‘If you’re going to do them, enjoy it and do them well.’ It’s still not my favorite thing, but I’ve become more comfortable with it.”

Stability and credibility. Ryan has always represented both in a homespun fashion. Jimmy Stewart?

“I’m a fan, so that’s a nice comparison,” he said with a smile, adding that he thinks his popularity with fans and sponsors stems from longevity, consistency and the fact he’s the “same type pitcher I’ve always been and people have this fascination with speed.”

Particularly when it is still being delivered by someone whose major league career spans the administrations of six Presidents.

Last year, although he was on the disabled list twice because of a shoulder strain, Ryan struck out 203 in 173 innings, pitched his seventh no-hitter, had an earned-run average of 2.91 with a record of 12-6 and held opponents to a .171 average, the third-lowest ever among pitchers qualifying for the ERA title.

“I threw as well as I ever have,” he said. “I’d take the same year without the disabled list. The injury was a concern because I’d never had it before, and at my age, any injury is career threatening. I don’t have the luxury of time. I can’t afford a long recovery.”

As a result of the shoulder problem, Ryan has made one adjustment in his rigorous training regimen. He will do less weight work, hoping to accelerate the recovery time between starts.

How amazing is he?

The seven no-hitters, 314 victories and 5,511 strikeouts are the significant yardsticks.

Then there is this, as an indication that he is physically prepared to carry on:

--At the Rangers’ fantasy camp in January, Ryan threw to all 72 campers during a two-day span.

--During his first week of spring training, he pitched batting practice three times for a total of 56 minutes.

The Rangers are not only still counting on Ryan but counting on him as the leader of a question-mark staff that completed only nine starts last year and gave up an average of almost 4 1/2 runs, nullifying an offense that led the major leagues in runs and is probably the most powerful in either league.

It is the impression of most scouts that if the Rangers get improved pitching, a lineup that includes Ruben Sierra, Jose Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro, Julio Franco and, in Ryan’s view, seven players who are capable of hitting 20 or more home runs could manufacture an American League West champion.

Manager Bobby Valentine believes the pitching will be there.

“In the past, we had to catch lightning in a bottle,” he said. “We don’t need lightning anymore. We don’t have to cross our fingers and count on four or five guys from double A.

“We’re going to be good, real good. No ‘might bes’ or ‘maybes.’ I’ve never thought that or said it before.”

And Ryan?

“I have to believe in some things, and it’s not hard for me to believe in Nolan,” Valentine said. “I don’t think I’m crazy. I’ve seen no sign of decline except endurance. I mean, he pitched a no-hitter last year and held hitters to a .171 average. It’s a lot easier for me to count on that than the fact he’s 45.”

Ryan said he will be disappointed if the Rangers don’t win, disappointed if he doesn’t pitch effectively.

His repertoire still is fastball, curve, changeup. He doesn’t have the time or inclination to change, and the hitters haven’t given him any reason to think about it. The Rangers are counting on him, which is the only way he will have it.

“I wouldn’t want to just hang on or be a spot starter,” he said. “When I reach a point where I can’t contribute like I have been, I’ll do something else. But I’m trying to defer that as long as I can, and I can honestly say that I’m throwing as well this spring as I have in any spring.

“I work out so much all year that I don’t dread six weeks of this like a lot of players do. I still enjoy competing. I still like the challenge. I don’t think about age because I’m preoccupied with what I have to do.”

There has been much speculation about what he will eventually do:

--Join a group purchasing the Houston Astros?

“I’ve been contacted by some of the groups and asked if I’d be interested in getting involved from the management standpoint, not as an investor,” Ryan said. “I’ve told them that at the point in time they become serious, I’d sit down and see what they have in mind.”

--Get into politics, running, perhaps, for governor of Texas?

“I don’t think governor of Texas is very realistic,” he said. “I don’t think politics is my future. I don’t think I’d enjoy the lifestyle or work.

“Ruth and I are looking forward to our lives slowing down, becoming more normal, and politics would be just the opposite.”

Life, though, probably won’t be normal for Ryan until he locks the door and doesn’t come out.

There are all those autograph hounds waiting, all those companies waving their products. Ryan will have to live with it the way it is, even when he retires, whenever that is.

As pitching coach Tom House put it: “Nolie is the essence of Texas mentality. He’s bigger than life--on and off the field.”