Major League Baseball’s all-time strikeout king began to buy ranchland in Gonzales County when he was making but $7,000 a year. For comparison’s sake, keep in mind that at the height of Roger Clemens’s career, the Rocket earned an estimated $11,000 a pitch. Ryan ultimately did make the Mets’ starting rotation, and he went on to enjoy the longest and one of the most storied careers in the game’s history. His election to Cooperstown had all the suspense of an intentional walk.

Profit-taking was never his motive.

Said Ryan, “I always felt like it wasn’t something that I bought expecting to sell. But I always felt like if from a financial standpoint I got in a position where I needed to sell it, that one, it would turn out to be a good investment for me, and two, I would be able to sell it. I have always felt very good about the investment in land that I have made.”

“I’ve always felt that in our country land is a very good investment, and I think that if you put some thought and a little research into it, you can find a piece of property.” – Nolan Ryan, The Land Report, October 2007