Nolan Ryan Museum – Alvin, Texas

With the start of Professional Baseball’s World Series, I thought we would write a baseball story. Lucky for us, we have a true legend of the game living here in Texas! Nolan Ryan has had a great impact in the game of baseball and is an ambassador of the Texas way of life. Easy-going, countrified, and hard-working are attributes of Nolan that I admire.

I had the privilege to be sitting at a table next to Nolan Ryan at Joe’s Bar-B-Q in Alvin one day a long time ago. While I had the urge to ask for his autograph, I told my daughter we should not bother him in front of his friends. “If we were famous,” I told her, “I would like us to have our privacy while eating out, too.”  While we ate our food, I kept an eye on him. He was gracious to everyone and no one at the restaurant bothered him by begging for an autograph.  How satisfying that must have been for him in his hometown of Alvin.

Today, Suzanne and I finally got around to visiting his museum on the campus of Alvin Community College. I was expecting very little as museums go, but when we entered this museum we were truly impressed. From his humble life as a child in Alvin, to his high school exploits on the baseball diamond, there was plenty to learn about Nolan in the early years. Nolan married his high school sweetheart, Ruth Holdorff. His professional baseball career is chronicled by many displays and videos. From mementos of his New York Mets days, to the California Angels, to the Houston Astros, and finally the Texas Rangers, we found a large number of memorable items to see. We saw old gloves, bats and balls, team uniforms, trophies, and champion rings.  Just about anyone should be able to find something of interest to view and little known facts to discover about Nolan.

The Ryan Express, as he is often called, threw a record seven no-hitters in his 27 year career. His career strikeouts are also tops at 5,714! Suzanne and I enjoyed learning about Nolan’s illustrious baseball career as well as his successful life as a cattleman and businessman. So if you have a hankering for a little baseball nostalgia, stop by this museum for a delightful afternoon, while you see Texas Thru My Back Door!

Join in our fight against breast cancer.  Visit Suzanne's new blog "My Equations for Life" as she reflects on life B.C. (before cancer) and A.D. (after diagnosis) and help support new early cancer detection research at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center with our Go Fund Me project below.