The Texas Rangers will have to find a new CEO as the late great Nolan Ryan has decided to retire effective at the end of this month.  Ryan says his reasons for stepping down were to spend more time on his ranch and with his family, not the recent disputes between him and Rangers GM Jon Daniels.  "I feel my relationship with Jon is good and our relationship didn't come into play on this," Ryan said during a press conference at the Ballpark in Arlington.

Ryan was hired by former owner Tom Hicks as club president on February 6, 2008. He later joined with an ownership group put together by Chuck Greenberg and headed by Ray Davis and Bob Simpson that submitted the highest bid in a bankruptcy auction on Aug. 12, 2010. When Greenberg was forced out in March of 2011, Ryan added the title of CEO.

Ronald Martinez, Getty Images
Ronald Martinez, Getty Images
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With Nolan Ryan in charge, the Rangers was able to go to the World Series in 2010 and 2011 for the first time in franchise history. Texas has also drawn over 3 million fans in each of the last two seasons while the Ballpark in Arlington has undergone a series of major renovations that included new state-of-the-art scoreboards. The Rangers also completely renovated the center field plaza and the area immediately behind home plate.

Texas will not hire a new CEO as Ray Davis and Bob Simpson will assume the role of controlling owner as far as representing the Rangers with Major League Baseball.  Rob Matwick, who was hired by Ryan as vice president for ballpark and event operations, will oversee the business operations while Daniels remains in charge of baseball operations.

This could mark the end of the storied career of the Hall of Fame pitcher.  Ryan said earlier this week that, "this closes a chapter of my life in baseball.  I feel like it's time for me to move on and do other things. This is a decision that has been weighing on me but I feel like it's the right decision."

 

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