Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. was born on January 31, 1947 in Refugio, Texas. When Nolan was six weeks old, his family moved to Alvin, Texas where he grew up and lived with his wife of 36 years, Ruth, also a native of Alvin, until last year.

In 1965, after graduating from Alvin High School, Nolan signed a professional baseball contract with the New York Mets, and was assigned to rookie-league ball in Marion, Virginia. Three years later he was pitching in the major leagues, debuting with the Mets in 1968. Thus began his illustrious 27-year big league career, which included four teams - the Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. During his career, which spanned four decades, Nolan set or eclipsed 51 major league pitching records, including seven no-hitters and 5,714 career strikeouts.

Along with his many on-field accomplishments, Nolan has the unique distinction of being the only player in major league history to have his uniform number retired by three different teams - the Angels, Astros and Rangers. On January 5, 1999, the Baseball Writers Association of America awarded Nolan the ultimate recognition when he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, by 98.79 percent of the vote, second highest of all time. Also in 1999, baseball fans across America voted Nolan to the All-Century Team.

Following his retirement, Nolan was able to further pursue his business ventures. He is the majority owner and Chairman of the Board of The Express Bank in Alvin and Danbury, Texas, and owns Nolan Ryan's Waterfront Restaurant and Bass Inn near Three Rivers, Texas. Nolan also owns and operates several cattle ranches in South Texas. In May of 1998, he joined his son Reid and a group of investors in bringing a professional baseball franchise to Central Texas by purchasing the Jackson (Miss.) Generals, a Houston Astros Double-A affiliate, and moved the team to Round Rock, Texas.

Civic involvements include serving on the Boards of Directors of the Nolan Ryan Foundation, the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, the Texas Water Foundation, the Natural Resources Foundation of Texas and the Alvin Community College Baseball Scholarship Fund.

Nolan and his wife Ruth have two sons - Reid, 32, and Reese, 28, and one daughter, Wendy, 27, two daughters-in-law, Nicole and Alison, and one son-in-law, Eric Cole. Nolan and Ruth have four grandchildren, Jackson, Caroline, Victoria, and Julia.