The Curse Of Nolan Ryan On The Texas Rangers

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Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan

Over the years the term “cursed” has applied to several Major League Baseball teams. In 1918, the Boston Red Sox were coming off of winning their third World Series Championship in four years. But following the 1919 Major League Baseball season, then Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold the rights to pitcher/outfielder Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Frazee used the money of the sale of Ruth to finance a Broadway play entitled “No, No, Nanette”. With Ruth on their roster the Yankees would win four World Series Titles. And now the Yankees have won more World Series Championships (27) than any other MLB franchise. The sale of Ruth to the Yankees was dubbed as the “Curse of the Bambino” as the Red Sox would not win another World Series Championship until 2004. In Game of the 1945 World Series, then Chicago Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley ejected ticket holder Billy Sianis and his goat from Wrigley Field in Chicago. Many people have said that as Sianis exited Wrigley Field he proclaimed that “the Cubs would never win” and that he placed a curse on the North Siders. The Cubs have not made the World Series since 1945 and they have not won it all since 1908. Then there is the case of the Texas Rangers and Nolan Ryan.

The history of the Rangers goes back to 1961 when they began playing Major League Baseball as the Washington Senators.  The Rangers moved to Arlington, Texas in 1972, but they were unable to secure a postseason berth until 1996. And from 2000-2008, the Rangers only had one winning season.

In 2008, Ryan was named as the Rangers team president and by 2009 he was a part of an ownership group that purchased the team. Ryan would go on to be named as the Rangers CEO in 2009 and he would oversee the biggest stretch of success in franchise history. From 2008-2013, the Rangers posted winning records in each year which was highlighted by consecutive American League Pennants in 2010 and 2011. But a power struggle began within the Rangers organization between Ryan and Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels. After the 2013 Major League Baseball season ended, Ryan resigned from his post with the Rangers.

It didn’t take Ryan that long for Ryan to land on his feet as he was hired by the Houston Astros this past February as a special assistant to Astros owner Jim Crane. Without Ryan on board this season, the Rangers have taken a nosedive.

The Rangers finished the first half of the MLB season with a record of 38-57 which is the worst in the league. The Rangers are 21 games behind the first place Oakland Athletics in the American League West and with 67 games left their season is all but over.

The Rangers have been bitten by the injury bug in 2014 as they currently have nine players on the 60-day disabled list. The Rangers are 1-14 in their last 15 ballgames and they are on pace to lose 95 games in a season for the first time since 1985.

Ryan’s new team in the Astros are currently 40-56. It may not sound that significant, but the Astors are on pace to have their first non-100 loss season since 2010 and with a young nucleus led by outfielder George Springer, Houston is looking to a contender sooner rather than later.

Mentally and physically, Ryan is as tough as they come. Ryan spent 27 years in Major League Baseball as a starting pitcher. Ryan threw 7 no-hitters and he retired as baseball’s all-time leader in strikeouts with 5,714. Ryan also won 324 games and the same winning formula that he had as a player was brought to the front office. Ryan was a great player and typically great players improve the play of the people around them which is what happened when he was in the front office in Arlington.

There was a clash between Daniels and Ryan with the Rangers. Instead of the sides being able to work things out, the egos of Ryan and Daniels got the best of them which has helped the team’s downfall this season. With Ryan and Daniels in the Rangers front office, the team continuously lost out in retaining their players in free agency, as they were able to win at least 90 games in each season from 2010-2013. Now the Rangers are in the process of trying to start over from scratch as Ryan and the Astros are on their way up.

Source: Baseball-reference.com

 

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