Alvin, Texas : The hometown of a great pitcher
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
In the summer of 2009, I finally got to visit Alvin, Texas, a place I had always wanted to visit. It's the hometown of Nolan Ryan. A legendary pitcher with seven no-hitters and a career total of 5,714 strikeouts, Nolan Ryan is a hero to me, and I continue to feel a strong affinity for him, as he was born in 1947, the same year as me.
I'd also like to mention something else: I have a friend (a Japanese woman younger than me) who saw Nolan Ryan when he was still playing and fell in love with him, saying, “What a wonderful man!” and has been an avid Nolan Ryan fan ever since.
Upon arriving in Alvin, I realized my mistake. There were several Nolan Ryan-related places I wanted to visit, but I'd arrived without researching exactly where they were in Alvin. So, I drove slowly, realizing I'd have no choice but to ask someone where they were. I found the perfect person to ask: a police officer standing next to a patrol car. He was a slightly overweight black man with a sharp gaze. He looked like he'd just finished dealing with a speeding car. When I got out of the car and approached the officer, he gave me a look that asked, “What can I do for you?” When I explained my purpose, he quickly replied, “Okay.” He then sat in the driver's seat of the patrol car and operated the onboard computer, displaying maps of the places I wanted to visit one after another on the screen. The officer rolled down the passenger-side window, so I could peer through and take notes. The officer who'd told me everything then asked me something unexpected: “Aren't you going to see the statue in front of City Hall?” I had no idea about this statue, so when I asked, “Where is City Hall?” the policeman said, “I'll take you there, so follow me.” So I got in my car and was led to City Hall by a police car. What a kind police officer!
When I arrived at City Hall, sure enough, there was a bronze statue of Nolan Ryan in pitching pose in front of the building. I thought it was a lovely statue that recreated his pitching form from his active days.
As I started to take pictures of the statue, a police officer said,
“I'll take a picture of you with the statue.”
I was very grateful for the offer, so I handed the officer my digital camera and stood next to the statue and posed.
After the kind officer drove off, I realized my mistake. The computer in the patrol car was made by Panasonic, a Japanese company. I should have asked if all of Alvin's patrol cars were equipped with Panasonic computers. Big mistake!
I drove towards my next sightseeing spot, Texas Highway 288. Part of this highway is named the “Nolan Ryan Expressway”. To fully understand the interest of this name, I should explain a little.
Nolan Ryan made his major league debut with the New York Mets in 1966, but didn't perform particularly well. However, after transferring to the California Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels) in 1972, his talent blossomed. He threw fastballs exceeding 100 mph, and even earned himself the nickname “California Express”. Knowing this nickname, the name of the road, “Nolan Ryan Expressway”, seems stylish and lovely.
As I got onto Highway 288, I thought, “That's not good.” I wanted to park on the shoulder of the road and take a photo of the “Nolan Ryan Express” sign, but there wasn't enough space on the shoulder. That meant I had no choice but to drive along and take the photo. And because it was a highway, I had to go at a pretty high speed. I wondered if taking a photo was worth risking my life for, but I decided to give it a try. As I got closer to the sign, I raised my digital camera and prepared to take a quick photo. However, a car passed the sign before I could press the shutter. I thought about trying again, but decided against it because I was so scared, I didn't want to lose my life over something like this, and I realized the difference between being bold and being reckless.
I decided to get off the highway and take the photo from a side road, looking up at the sign. Even on a side road, it's dangerous to drive along and take photos. However, when I stopped at a red light, I was able to see the sign. So I took a quick photo. ...The middle-aged woman in the car next to me was looking at me suspiciously, so I looked back and smiled, but she completely ignored my smile.
My next stop was the “Nolan Ryan Exhibit Center” on the campus of Alvin Community College.
In front of the center stood a bronze statue of Nolan Ryan, taking off his hat and addressing the crowd. Major League Baseball buffs will recognize Nolan Ryan just by seeing this pose, as it's a fairly famous Nolan Ryan pose. Behind the statue were the American flag, the Texas state flag, and the flags of the Major League Baseball teams Nolan Ryan played for.
After paying the $5 admission fee, I went inside. It was a very impressive, spacious exhibit center. By walking through the exhibits in order, I was able to retrace Nolan Ryan's footsteps. Photographs and baseball equipment showcasing his achievements were on display one after another. Of all the Major League Baseball memorial museums and exhibit centers I have visited, this one had the most extensive and comprehensive collection of exhibits.
I had planned to explore the exhibits to my heart's content, but...
There was one other couple inside the center besides me. Judging by their ages, I thought they were father and daughter, but after a while I realized that wasn't the case. They started making out. It seemed they were a rich old man and his young mistress. “You have no right to be making out in such a sacred place!” I thought annoyed, so I pointed my camera at them and pretended to take a photo. This harassment worked perfectly. They hurried outside in a panic. Now I was alone and could look around the exhibits to my heart's content.
The last place I visited was “Nolan Ryan Junior High School”, which had just opened the previous year, in 2008.
Although a police officer in a patrol car had told me where this junior high school was, I got lost on the way. So I parked my car at a gas station and asked a middle-aged white woman working there. She replied,
“I've never heard of such a junior high school.”
Surprised, I said,
“What? You don't know? You live in Alvin, don't you?”
“I just work in Alvin. I don't live there.”
Perhaps feeling sorry for me as I was standing there in a daze, disappointed, the woman continued,
“I'm sure the owner of the barber shop over there knows where it is.”
It was a small barber shop. I opened the door and went inside, and the middle-aged white man who seemed to be the owner was cutting the hair of a middle-aged white male customer, and looked at me with a puzzled expression. I knew it was rude of me to ask him while he was working, but I asked anyway. The owner stopped what he was doing and politely explained the location of the junior high school. I thanked the owner and apologized to the customer whose hair was being cut, and was about to leave when the customer called out to me.
“Where are you from?”
I answered,
“From Japan.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Is Nolan Ryan famous in Japan?”
“Of course!”
“That makes me happy.”
Finally, I arrived at the junior high school. To a Japanese sensibility, it's such a beautiful and impressive building that it's hard to believe it's a school. Perhaps because it was the middle of summer vacation, it was awfully quiet and not a soul in sight. So I continued to take photos in silence from various angles.
I think it's amazing that a junior high school, and a public one at that, is named after a Major League Baseball player. I think this alone shows how proud the people of Alvin are of Nolan Ryan. In Japan, it's unthinkable to name a public junior high school after a professional baseball player. I think there would be fierce opposition to doing so.
There's an epilogue to “Nolan Ryan Junior High School”.
On May 12, 2016, I was road tripping in the United States. That night, I was watching the New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals game on TV at a motel. The Yankees' starting pitcher was Nathan Eovaldi (26 years old at the time; Eovaldi now plays for the Texas Rangers). The play-by-play announcer kept repeating the same thing about Eovaldi: “He's from Alvin, Texas, Nolan Ryan's hometown.”
As I listened to the play-by-play announcer's repeated introduction, something struck me: Did Eovaldi graduate from Nolan Ryan Junior High School? I looked it up online.
I found out that Eovaldi graduated from Alvin High School, just like Nolan Ryan, but I just couldn't figure out the name of the junior high school he attended. So I decided to try another method. I sent an inquiry email to the Yankees, and faxed inquiries to Alvin High School and Nolan Ryan Middle School (I found fax numbers, but not email addresses, on the Internet). But I received no response from any of them. Did they think I was creepy for wanting to know which junior high school Eovaldi attended?
Then I realized my mistake. “Nolan Ryan Junior High School” opened in 2008. That means there's no way that 26-year-old Eovaldi in 2016 was studying at Nolan Ryan Junior High School.
I have a bad habit of obsessing over things that don't matter to other people and trying to find out every last one. I need to reflect on this.
(If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)