Strikeout king Ryan now does pitching for beef industry

By Pat Rooney , Special to the Rocky

Published January 11, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Photo by Dennis Schroeder / The Rocky/2007

Cowboys drive longhorn cattle down 17th Street in downtown Denver as they lead the 2007 National Western Stock Show Parade. Nolan Ryan is this year's grand marshal.

Ryan owns several cattle ranches and is also a rodeo fan.

Nolan Ryan has played the role of ambassador many times before. He is baseball's strikeouts and longevity king, a down-home icon of a sport rooted in Americana.

But baseball, as Ryan readily will attest, has been one of the two great passions in his amazing life. Cattle ranching and helping the U.S. beef industry thrive have been as much a part of Ryan's life as blazing fastballs and knee-bending curveballs.

So when Ryan - who, among his many business interests, has overseen the rise of Nolan Ryan's Guaranteed Tender in the 14 years since his retirement from baseball - has been asked to make a pitch on behalf of the beef industry, he usually takes the ball.

Last summer, that role as an ambassador for U.S. cattlemen took Ryan to Japan, where he helped make an appeal for that country to loosen the restrictions it imposed on imported beef after Mad Cow disease made international headlines in 2003.

On Tuesday, that role as ambassador will bring Ryan to Denver, where he will serve as the grand marshal for the National Western Stock Show Parade.

"The cattle business is a passion I've had ever since I can remember," Ryan said. "The two passions I've had are the cattle business and baseball. I've been associated with the cattle business for 38 years now. I'm of the mind-set that if I can be a benefit to the industry, then I'd certainly like to do that. I like to help in some way.

"We felt like with the Japanese interest in baseball, and it being baseball season, we felt like it was a good connection. So I was more than open to go over and try to promote U.S. beef. This (parade) helps bring some attention to the stock show. I felt like if they wanted me, I would welcome the opportunity.

"Also, on a personal basis, it gives me a chance to go out to the stock show for two or three days."

Ryan is best known to the public for his remarkable Hall of Fame career. He remains the all- time leader in strikeouts (5,714) and no-hitters (seven).

But throwing heat always was just one facet of Ryan's persona, the tough-guy cowboy demeanor he always projected being far from a choreographed act. Raised in Alvin, Texas, outside Houston, Ryan always kept at least one foot rooted in the ranchers' world during his 27-year career, knowing it would be a smooth transition into his post- baseball life.

Today, Ryan owns several cattle ranches in Texas. He also is a rodeo fan and serves on the board of the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, an organization that helps provide financial support to rodeo performers who suffer catastrophic injuries.

"I always wanted to come out to the National Western Stock Show," Ryan said. "This is my opportunity to come out and see the show. I go out to the National Finals (Rodeo) every year, the rodeos in Houston and Austin and San Antonio."

The parade

* When: Noon Tuesday

* Where: Downtown

Beginning at Union Station and running up 17th Street, the parade is an annual tradition that includes - in addition to marching bands, floats, horseback riders and performing cowgirls and cowboys - a special exhibit of Texas Longhorn cattle being driven through downtown.

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