Nolan Ryan serving up new beef cookbook

Posted Nov 26, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Mar 27, 2013 at 10:15 PM

Nolan Ryan threw smoke during his Hall of Fame pitching career. Saying that his fastball sizzled is not hyperbole. I’ve watched — and heard — him pitch. His fastball hissed and crackled as it hit the catcher’s mitt.

Ryan is now serving up a new pitch — and it’s a lot tastier than the circle change he developed late in his career to complement that blazing fastball.

Baseball’s all-time strikeout king has compiled dozens of his favorite recipes for “The Nolan Ryan Beef Cookbook,” which will be published by Little, Brown and Co. and has a May 2014 release date.

Ryan is also a longtime Texas rancher. He bought his first heifer as a 10-year-old, according to a release from Little, Brown and Co.

Ryan, 65, said he also plans to spice up the book with a few baseball stories from his 27-year major-league career (1966-1993). Ryan struck out 5,714 batters in his career, threw seven no-hitters and won 324 games. He struck out a staggering 383 batters in 1973 while pitching for the California Angels.

Ryan is now the CEO of the Texas Rangers. While pitching for the Rangers in 1990, he was asked to run for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture as a Republican, but declined to enter the race. But during that time, he began compiling recipes, which will be featured in his cookbook.

Ryan also served on the board of directors for the Beefmaster Association and in 2007 was inducted into the Beefmaster Breeders United Hall of Fame. Ryan also created his own brand of meat, “Nolan Ryan’s All Natural Beef.” Check out his website for that product at http://nolanryanbeef.com. As he writes on his web page, “I have high standards when it comes to steaks!”

Ryan’s previous books include the memoirs “Miracle Man” and “Throwing Heat.”