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Ryan recovering from bypass surgery
Posted: Monday April 24, 2000 09:52 PM
AUSTIN (AP) -- A sign outside an Austin restaurant summed up the attitude of many as news circulated of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan's emergency heart surgery: "Don't worry Nolan. You have the heart of a champion. Get well soon." Ryan, 53, was in stable condition Monday after undergoing two hours of emergency double bypass heart surgery Sunday afternoon at the Austin Heart Hospital. At The Ballpark in Arlington -- home of the Texas Rangers, the last team Ryan pitched for -- fans will have a chance to sign 7-foot by 3-foot get-well cards during a three-game home series against the Boston Red Sox. "It seems to be something the fans really respond to," team spokesman John Blake said. The team will send the cards to Ryan when he gets out of the hospital in a week, he said. Blake said the team set up similar cards when Ryan retired from the ballclub in 1993. Ryan began feeling ill when he and his wife, Ruth, were in the Austin suburb of Round Rock to watch the Round Rock Express, a minor league baseball team owned by Ryan, his son Reid Ryan and Houston businessman Don Sanders. Reid Ryan said at a news conference Monday night that his father was in good spirits. "He's doing much, much better," said the pitcher's eldest son. "He did get up a little while ago out of bed and walked for the first time down the hall." Reid said fans told him they could not believe his father had had bypass surgery because they thought of him as someone who could cheat time.
"It was almost like someone brought kryptonite to Superman," Reid Ryan said. J.J. Gottsch, director of public relations for the minor league team, said "thousands" of people had called, mailed letters or sent e-mails wishing Ryan well. Ryan has asked people to make contributions to the Nolan Ryan Foundation in Alvin rather than send flowers. "There is just not enough room in the hospital," Gottsch said. A telephone call to the foundation was not immediately returned Monday. Austin surgeon Mark Felger, who performed the two-hour operation, said the arterial blockage was in the top left side of the heart, the worst place for a blockage. "This is one of the most serious situations," Felger said Monday night, adding that Ryan was "at risk for a significantly bad event." Felger said he expected Ryan to have a full and speedy recovery because he's so active. Ryan walks an hour a day, lifts weights and swims. Reese Ryan, the youngest of Ryan's sons, said at the news conference that it will be tough to persuade his father to slow down. "I think that is going to be one of his biggest obstacles," Reese Ryan said. Felger said Ryan will be restricted from driving for two weeks and should do no heavy lifting for two to three months, but may return to his regular work schedule with the Express in a couple of weeks. Ryan reported chest pains and breathing trouble Sunday morning while he and his wife strolled through the Dell Diamond, the Express' new $25 million stadium. She drove him to the Round Rock Medical Center. Doctors there referred Ryan to the Austin Heart Hospital, where the surgery was performed at 3 p.m. Blood tests and an electrocardiogram showed Ryan did not have a heart attack, officials said. The surgery was required to bypass a blocked artery leading to the former pitcher's heart, doctors said. Ryan was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in January 1999. He holds or shares 48 major league, American League or National League records. He is baseball's career leader in strikeouts with 5,714 and no-hitters with seven. Ryan is tied for 11th with Don Sutton for career victories with 324. Ryan's played 27 seasons in the majors, more than any other player. He played with the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers before retiring in 1993. Ryan, his son and Sanders bought the Express, a farm club of the Houston Astros, in 1998. They moved the team from Mississippi to Round Rock this year.
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