Top 30 Nolan Ryan Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent.”

— Nolan Ryan

2. “Everyone has limits. You just have to learn what your own limits are and deal with them accordingly.”

— Nolan Ryan

3. “My job is to give my team a chance to win.”

— Nolan Ryan

4. “When I had dyslexia, they didn’t diagnose it as that. It was frustrating and embarrassing. I could tell you a lot of horror stories about what you feel like on the inside.”

— Nolan Ryan

5. “One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.”

— Nolan Ryan

6. “My ability to throw a baseball was a gift. It was a God-given gift. And I am truly appreciative of that gift.”

— Nolan Ryan

7. “I grew up with the thought that I wanted to treat people the way I’d like to be treated, and I think if you do that, it’s pretty hard to go wrong.”

— Nolan Ryan

8. “It helps if the hitter thinks you’re a little crazy.”

— Nolan Ryan

9. “And I’m a believer that you take a negative and turn it into a positive, and as it turned out, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. And so I do appreciate the Ranger staff and the Ranger organization for giving me that opportunity.”

— Nolan Ryan

10. “I like to refer to my years with the Angels as the foundation of my career.”

— Nolan Ryan

11. “I can’t imagine Joe DiMaggio was a better all-around player than Dale Murphy.”

— Nolan Ryan

12. “I guess that’s what Little League is all about – trying.”

— Nolan Ryan

13. “Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt.”

— Nolan Ryan

14. “A successful pitcher keeps the leadoff hitter from reaching first base and puts the first pitch over for a strike – the two most important rules of pitching.”

— Nolan Ryan

15. “Put the right pitching mechanics together with good health, and there’s nothing surprising about lasting a long time.”

— Nolan Ryan

16. “Baseball life is a tough life on the family.”

— Nolan Ryan

17. “It took me a while to figure that out and to realize what a gift that I had been given. And when I finally did, I dedicated myself to be the best pitcher I possibly could be, for as long as I possibly could be.”

— Nolan Ryan

18. “Pitching in the big leagues is a dream. Preparing to pitch in the big leagues is a nightmare!”

— Nolan Ryan

19. “For my children, they spent 15 to 20 years of their life in baseball. And Ruth and I spent so many years of our married life that that was our life. We knew nothing else.”

— Nolan Ryan

20. “I had the pleasure, as Robin said, to live a childhood dream as many young Americans and Puerto Rican children live that play youth baseball. And I feel honored and very thankful for that opportunity.”

— Nolan Ryan

21. “What man in his 40s would not like to look in the mirror and find Nolan Ryan?”

— Nolan Ryan

22. “I am going to spend my time today just thanking the people that played a role in my career, because I truly do believe that I was blessed by a lot of people that paths crossed mine as I went down the road in my career.”

— Nolan Ryan

23. “And to play as long as I did and to have a family you have to be very blessed and I was with my wife Ruth. Ruth, I appreciate the job you did, and my three fine children, Reid, Reese, and Wendy.”

— Nolan Ryan

24. “I always thought that there was going to be life after baseball, and so I designed that in my life I would have other interests after baseball that I would be able to step into. And I didn’t realize the grip that baseball had on me and on my family.”

— Nolan Ryan

25. “When I got traded to the California Angels, I really wasn’t that excited about going to the Angels because it meant changing leagues and also a whole new set of teammates. But shortly after I got there I realized that it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

— Nolan Ryan

26. “I cant think of anything more humiliating than losing a ballgame to a guy who steals home on you. It happened to me one time against Kansas City. I had a 2-2 count on the hitter – and Amos Otis broke from third. The pitch was a ball and slid in safe. I felt like a nickel.”

— Nolan Ryan

27. “And when I went to Houston, they had a conditioning coach by the name of Gene Coleman. And that was the first time I had gone to an organization that had a program with a weight room and designed specifically for pitchers.”

— Nolan Ryan

28. “I’ve got a different perception now and it’s really enjoyable to be at this point in your life and be able to watch this.”

— Nolan Ryan

29. “I feel very fortunate that I played for the four organizations I did.”

— Nolan Ryan

30. “Maintaining concentration depends on what I call tunnel vision; nothing else in the world exists but the catcher’s target, the hitter and my perfect delivery.”

— Nolan Ryan

31. “I can honestly say it took two full years for me to get over the fact that I was no longer a baseball player.”

— Nolan Ryan

32. “And that’s what makes this a great game, is the support and the commitment that the fans give the game.”

— Nolan Ryan

33. “I came into the game when I broke into the major leagues, the minimum salary was seven thousand dollars, and I’d have to go home in the wintertime and get a job.”

— Nolan Ryan

34. “And then when I went to stay in ’68, I can honestly say that I was not focused on my career and on what it took to be a major league pitcher and to be a starting pitcher.”

— Nolan Ryan