Bush, Ryan Express Mutual Admiration

George W. Bush arrived for the Hall of Fame news conference Saturday wearing a suit and tie. Nolan Ryan wore a golf shirt, having just come off the course.

“The difference in the way we’re dressed is the difference between someone who doesn’t need work,” Bush said, nodding at Ryan, “and someone who is looking for work.”

Actually, Bush is still employed as governor of Texas, but he is campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.

He is attending the Hall of Fame festivities at Ryan’s invitation, having owned the Rangers from 1989 until 1998 (his shares were put in trust when he became Governor in 1994). Ryan pitched for the team from 1989 through 1993.

“We have a unique relationship,” Ryan said, with a smile. “He paid me extremely well as a player, but now that I work for him on the [Texas] Parks and Wildlife Commission, I don’t get paid at all.”

Ryan said he respected Bush as an owner because he sat in the stands every night, mingling with fans whether the team was playing well or not.

Bush said he owed Ryan thanks for “putting people in the seats” and that Ryan was the “toughest, most well-prepared competitor” he had ever seen. He also called him a genuine “Texas hero who never let anyone down. All you have to know about what people think of Nolan in Texas is that there are thousands of kids named Ryan.”

Bush said his fondest memory of Ryan was “watching him work out on the day after he had pitched. He’d be back in the weight room so focused and disciplined.” He also said he would never forget the night Robin Ventura, then of the Chicago White Sox, charged the mound and Ryan put him in a headlock and threw half a dozen uppercuts as Ventura tried in vain to wriggle free. “Remember the Alamo,” Bush said, as any Texan would. “I saw Nolan square away like a bull and thought, ‘This guy [Ventura] has lost his senses.’ It was a fantastic moment for the Rangers and elevated [Ryan’s] legend.”

Bush insisted that he would not answer any political questions, but when asked to measure Ryan’s popularity in Texas, he said:

“Well, when Ross Perot endorsed [incumbent] Ann Richards [in the 1994 Texas governor’s race], I remember saying, ‘She can have Ross Perot and I’ll take Nolan Ryan.’ I won, as I recall.”