Author Rob Goldman writes about baseball legend Nolan Ryan in this fantastic new biography and, in this HST interview, Goldman details some of the fascinating & revelatory anecdotes in the book. Below is one of our favorite excerpts from the book. He tells the story about the day Nolan signed with the Mets.
This excerpt from Nolan Ryan: The Making of a Pitcher by Rob Goldman is printed with the permission of Triumph Books. For more information, please visit www.triumphbooks.com/NolanRyan.
When the Mets sent his contract, Ryan showed it to Murff and said, “A $25,000 bonus is a far cry from the $50,000 you promised.” In fact, the offer was very respectable. In addition to a cash bonus of $19,000 (big money in 1965), Ryan would get $700 a month during his first year in the minors, four semesters of college at $1,000 per semester, and a $7,500 bonus after 90 days in the majors.
“Don’t turn it down,” his dad urged him. Nolan Sr. knew how hard it was to earn that kind of money.
With Nolan and his folks at the kitchen table that day were Red Murff and a local reporter. Murff had invited the latter on the condition he not disclose the terms of the contract. If he so much as opened his mouth at all in the Ryans’ house, the scout warned, the reporter would be out of there before he even knew what hit him.
Nolan stared blankly at the contract until finally Murff spoke up.
“Nolan, it’s your turn to get on the mound now. your mom and dad are waiting for you to sign,” he said.
Ryan didn’t respond, and suddenly the reporter leapt from his chair and broke his vow of silence.
“What’s the matter with you, boy?” he cried. “No one ever offered me that much money to do any kind of a job! you crazy? Sign!”
The reporter’s unexpected outburst shook Nolan out of his trance, and rather than killing him, Murff probably wanted to kiss him after the young pitcher scrawled “Lynn Nolan Ryan” in his best penmanship on the dotted line.
