April 2, 1991: Ryan vs. Ryan: Nolan duels son Reid in spring exhibition game

Boys often grow up playing catch with their fathers. It’s one of the most cherished memories a father and son can have. Nolan Ryan and his son Reid took that scenario to an unprecedented level. And they didn’t just play catch. Nolan Ryan, the 44-year-old Texas Rangers superstar pitcher, and his 19-year-old son, a pitcher for the University of Texas, opposed each other as starters in a spring exhibition game on April 2, 1991. Neither Nolan nor Reid Ryan pitched a particularly effective game, but their performances were secondary to the game’s unique storyline.

The idea for the exhibition game originated when Nolan Ryan visited his son on the university’s campus the previous fall. After meeting with the Longhorns’ legendary head coach Cliff Gustafson, the two went away with an agreement to pursue the contest.1

Major-league teams occasionally played college teams as part of their exhibition season schedule. The Rangers had faced off with the Longhorns in 1977 and 1978.2 More recently Longhorn alumni teams played the Rangers, the latest in 1990.3 Baseball fans like the spectacle of the games. Although major-league teams don’t usually field their full squad of starters, these games represent an opportunity for college players to pit their skills against big-leaguers. But what was unusual about this particular game was a major-league father battling his college-age son. It generated a great deal of hype leading up to the contest.

Nolan Ryan was entering the 25th season of his illustrious career in 1991. The right-handed fireballer, nicknamed “Ryan Express,” was looking to repeat his previous season when he made 30 starts for the Rangers, remarkably leading the league in strikeouts (232), WHIP (1.006), and strikeouts per nine innings (10.6).

Reid Ryan was a college freshman with only 3⅓ innings’ experience with the Longhorns team.4 The Longhorns were ranked fifth in the nation. Their baseball program was one of the preeminent collegiate programs, with 15 College World Series appearances in Gustafson’s first 22 seasons in Austin, including national championships in 1975 and 1983. Many former Longhorn players were active in the majors in 1991, most prominently Roger Clemens, who received his third American League Cy Young Award that season.

In her book Covering Home: My Life with Nolan Ryan, the pitcher’s wife, Ruth, wrote of her family’s apprehensions about the game. Nolan was uneasy about the game potentially turning into a charade, and he didn’t want his son to be embarrassed. Reid was concerned that his father might incur an injury on a college field where aluminum bats were being allowed for the Longhorns players. Ruth feared that the university was exploiting Reid in order to publicize the game, since he was among the least-experienced players on the team.5

If indeed the Ryans had misgivings about playing in the game, it didn’t manifest itself publicly at the time. To the contrary, Nolan Ryan wrote a guest article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that was published the day of the game. He wrote, “If someone had made the prediction a few years ago that I would one day have the opportunity to compete against my own son, I would have been thrilled. ‘Great,’ I would have said. ‘What a dream come true.’”6

Reid authored a companion piece for the newspaper. “It’ll be neat pitching against my dad but facing him on the mound tonight really hasn’t sunk in yet.” He added, “I’ll be facing some of the guys I’ve been hanging around with for the last couple of years, cutting up in the [Rangers] clubhouse.”7

The night game was played at Disch-Falk Field on the University of Texas campus.8 A crowd of 8,234 attended, including celebrities like Texas football legend Earl Campbell, Governor Ann Richards, and future President George W. Bush, who was a Rangers part-owner at the time.9

A week before the game, Reid had warned his father that the Longhorn pitching mound was in rough shape, so the Rangers sent groundskeepers to Austin to rebuild it.10

The Rangers brought a makeshift roster to Austin that consisted predominantly of their minor-league prospects, while the rest of the Rangers squad continued to play exhibition games in Florida. In addition to Ryan, only three other players with major-league experience at the time played in the contest: catcher Geno Petralli, shortstop Jeff Huson, and third baseman Steve Buechele.11

Of course, Nolan Ryan was facing college players less than half his age. But like many Longhorn teams over the years, this team was talented, too. Three of Reid’s teammates in the exhibition game became major leaguers: Brooks Kieschnick, Calvin Murray, and Shane Halter. Seven of his other teammates in the game eventually played in the minors.12

In addition to Nolan Ryan and Reid, other members of the Ryan family participated in the game. Ruth threw out the first pitch, while the Ryans’ other son, 15-year-old Reese, served as honorary first-base coach for the Rangers.13

Reid Ryan gave up a run in the top of the first inning, involving the three major-leaguers. Huson doubled to lead off the game. Buechele hit a line-drive out to right field, advancing Huson to third. Petralli hit a groundball to second that scored Huson. Nolan Ryan allowed two Longhorn hits in the scoreless bottom half.

Reid Ryan gave up two more runs on three hits in the second. Donald Harris drove in the two runs with a double. The younger Ryan got his first strikeout against ex-Longhorn player Craig Newkirk. In Nolan Ryan’s half of the inning, he was tagged for two hits, one a run-scoring double by Halter, but also rang up three strikeouts.14

In the third inning, Buechele walked and scored on Petralli’s double off the right-field wall, making the score 4-1. With no outs and having thrown 41 pitches, Reid Ryan was lifted for a reliever, who closed out the inning without further runs. In two-plus innings, Reid gave up four earned runs on five hits and a walk.

Nolan Ryan retired the next seven batters but tired in the fifth as he gave up two runs on a triple that deflected off David Hulse’s glove, two wild pitches, and a single by Clay King. He left the game after the fifth, having thrown 111 pitches and with the score 5-3. He gave up three earned runs on five hits and three walks, and struck out seven.

After Texas added a run in the sixth, the Longhorns kept the game close by scoring two in the bottom of the inning, making the score 6-5.

But the Rangers put the game away with three runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings, for a final score of 12-5. Nolan Ryan was credited with the win.

The Rangers racked up seven doubles and a home run as part of their 14 hits. Sid Holland, who had played at the rookie-league level in 1990, led the Rangers with three hits, including the home run, and four RBIs. Hulse contributed three hits. King and Abernathy led the Longhorns with three hits apiece, as part of their team total of 11.

While Reid Ryan was disappointed with his performance, he said, “When you put into perspective who I was pitching against, it made me feel better.” He added, “My dad told me to have fun and take this for what it was. That’s what I did. It’s something I’ll always remember.”15

Nolan Ryan said after the game, “It was a strange night. I had lots of mixed emotions. There are two different mindsets [to pitch and spectate]. I think I prefer the competition to the spectator aspect.”16

Reid Ryan pitched in only two games for the 1991 Longhorns, who won the Southwest Conference championship and reached the NCAA tournament. He transferred to Texas Christian University in 1992 and was drafted by the Rangers in the 17th round of the 1994 major-league draft. He played two seasons in the low minors, compiling a 5-15 record and a 6.04 ERA.

On May 1 Nolan Ryan hurled his seventh career no-hitter. He continued to play for the Rangers until 1993. As of 2024, he remained the all-time major-league strikeout leader with 5,714 whiffs. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, 1999.

The Ryans’ baseball careers intersected again years later. Nolan and his two sons were among the founders of Ryan-Sanders Sports and Entertainment, Inc. As of 2024, they owned the Round Rock Express Triple-A team and the Corpus Christi Hooks Double-A team, both Texas-based affiliates of the Houston Astros.

Reid Ryan served as president of business operations of the Astros from 2013 to 2019.17 Nolan Ryan was president and CEO of the Rangers from 2008 to 2013.18 He has also served in advisory roles with Astros management.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kurt Blumenau and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

Game play-by-play details and box-score information were obtained from Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 3, 1991: C1.

Bohls, Kirk. “Nolan’s Heat Wins Battle of the Ryans,” Austin American-Statesman, April 3, 1991: C1.

The author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information.

Photo credit: The Ryan Family, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Suzanne Halliburton, “Ryan Will Wage Duel With Son,” Austin American-Statesman, January 16, 1991: C1.

2 Untitled column, Keith Randall, Waco Tribune Herald, April 7, 1977: 1C; “Rangers Sting UT Behind Alexander,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 6, 1978: 4D.

3 Kirk Bohls, “Alumni Capture Battle of Disch-Falk Messages,” Austin American-Statesman, February 4, 1990: H1.

4 Tony DeMarco, “Dad Earns Win, but Son Has Fun at Ryan Reunion,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 3, 1991: C1.

5 Ruth Ryan, Covering Home: My Life with Nolan Ryan, (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1995), 183.

6 Nolan Ryan, “Nolan: My Two-Tiered Focus Shifts to Parental Concern,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 2, 1991: C1.

7 Reid Ryan, “Reid: I’m Proud of My Dad, Pumped for Chance to Pitch,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 2, 1991: C1

8 The Longhorns’ ballpark, which opened in 1975, is named for two former head baseball coaches at the University of Texas, Billy Disch and Bibb Falk.

9 DeMarco, C3.

10 Ruth Ryan, 184.

11 DeMarco, C3.

12 The Texas Longhorn roster included future minor-league players who appeared in the exhibition game: Tim Harkrider, Mike Morland, Scott Pugh, Clay King, Doug Pettit, Roger Luce, and Rod Pedraza. Dean Haskins had been drafted out of high school and junior college before attending the University of Texas but did not end up playing in the minors.

13 DeMarco, C3.

14 Donald Harris started the 1991 season with Double-A Tulsa and later made his major-league debut with Texas in September. Craig Newkirk played with High A Port Charlotte in 1991.

15 DeMarco, C1.

16 DeMarco, C3.

17 Official 2019 Houston Astros Media Guide, 18.

18 2013 Texas Rangers Media Guide, 12.