O/T Nolan Ryan Made my day!

[Capital-Sports]

When I was in the Marines and on my second deployment to Iraq in 2007, I sent out tons of autograph requests since mail was free. I wrote to Nolan Ryan and didn't receive anything back. I would address the SASE to my home address in the states. Just a few weeks ago I was thinking about the card I sent him, a 2005 Donruss Diamond Kinds HOF Gold /25. Well today in my mailbox a lone SASE sat. I haven't had an SASE in the mailbox for about 10 months now, so I was wondering who it could be from. I rip it open and saw the DK card, and beneath is was a 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game certified autograph of Nolan Ryan! I have only been able to find 2 pictures of this card, and both were signed in black. My card is signed in blue. This was an awesome thing for Mr Ryan to do, and I will keep the card forever, and always remember how generous he was.

Mark

[markize]

Mark,

First off, thanks for your service to this country. I personally appreciate the freedom service men and women like you provide for me.

What a great story about Nolan Ryan. It's cool to know current/former players read, and take the time to respond to the fans. I have had tons of successes in the past, and a very special one just a week ago. Several years ago (2005 I think), my wife and I had the chance to meet D'hani Jones when he was with the Eagles. I honestly dislike the Eagles with a passion (go Skins!!), but I know the promoter so I figured what the heck. My wife was pregnant at the time so we decided to sit till he finished signing for everyone else. After he signed for us, he mentioned that his sister just had a baby, then asked what we were having. Then he asked if we had a name picked out. We told him the few we had narrowed down, and he spent 25 minutes helping us choose, and just talking with us. I was shocked. We took a picture with him, and left. I enlarged the pic and sent it to him back in November 2008 with a letter about that day and what it meant to us. Nothing came so I figured oh well. Then last week, I saw my SASE sticking out of the mailbox. When I opened it, I couldn't believe it. He put a very special note to my daughter on the picture about helping with her name. It is now framed, and hanging in her room. Very cool of him, and a day I won't forget.

Mark

[Capital-Sports]

Markize, thats an awesome story! Good to see current athletes taking interest in their fans! I remember when I met Brooks Robinson at a card shop signing, probably back in 99 or 00, and he signed my 8x10 "TO MARK: A FUTURE HALL OF FAMER", you can't guess how much more determined I was in baseball.....Well that dream quickly faded away....HAHA!!


Mark

[Rob L]

Wow. Great stories.

Back in 1998, my son was 4 and was a huge Troy Percival fan. He had started imitating the way he pitched when he was 2. Anyways, he was doing a local signing so we took off with a bunch of stuff to have him sign. We got there early. A car pulled up with a Mizuno rep and Troy. We walked over to him after he got out of the car and my son was completely nervous. When he got nervous or excited, he would cross his fingers (check out the photo on my website). Anyways, Troy spent a minute talking with him and took that photo. About three months later, my wife's grandmother (a huge Angels fan) showed her neighbor the photo who just happened to be the head of player development for the Angels. He took the photo to Troy. Apparently Troy said, "hey I remember this kid", signed the photo and a ball and sent them back. We have always been a hardcore fans of his since.

[bigtruck260]

When I was in High School - I idolized Nolan...he was in his early 40's then and still throwing no-hitters against great teams like the early 90's A's...
Anyway, I sent Nolan a page letter asking him questions about his two seam fastball and his circle change.

About a month later, I got my SASE back with my card untouched - but a postcard was inserted in there with a note saying something about "too much fan mail, but please accept this autographed card for taking the time to write me..."

I kept that card for years - and sent it in to PSA just to have it encapsulated and protected. Turns out - it was an autopen signature. Well - who could blame him? He was probably getting hundreds of letters every week. The fact that he sent something back (or his staff) was at least courteous. That was the only time I ever wrote to an athlete.

[coxfan]

Nolan Ryan is his autobiography " Miracle Man" ( Word publishing, 1992) discusses autograph-seekers in the chapter " Never Enough." He comes across there as a nice guy who tries to sign when he can. But he also discusses problems such as overwhelming demand, far exceeding his ability to sign all his mail requests, which could flood in his heyday. He also discusses episodes of rude fans, including people who curse him, or write the team to complain if he couldn't get to them ( or even didn't see them in the crowds.) He mentions cases such as drunks trying to grab his cap off his car seat while he's signing autographs for them; people reaching across his wife's dinner plate while she's trying to eat; and crowds so large they could create dangerous situations such as people being crushed.

The Rangers last year were selling game-used balls from his pitching years, signed by Ryan, for charity. I think they were about $300.

[sox83cubs84]

Ryan was very good in spring training when the Rangers trained in Port Charlotte FL. He'd garab a chair, take a seat, and have fans line up. He'd sign one apiece until everyone got one. The only times he'd cut it short (and that was rare) was if someone got in line twice or handed him multiple items in the same day. If you approached him again the next game, though, that wasn't a problem.

Dave M.
Chicago area