Familiar faces abound in Texas for Astros' president
HOUSTON -- Astros president Reid Ryan wishes his new team had remained in the opposite league of the Texas Rangers, whose CEO is his dad, Nolan.
"The Rangers will always be family to me, and so will the Astros," Ryan said. "The fact you can be a big Astros fan and Rangers fan, to be honest with you, is a little bit tough now because they're in the same division. People are having to draw sides. To me, it's not about the Rangers or Astros, it's about the people. And that's what I'm excited about."
He will have to draw sides for at least one weekend, though, as the Astros invade Arlington on Friday for a three-game set at Texas. Even as a front-office figure, Ryan said that had not dulled his competitive fire, especially against his famous father's team.
"At the end of the day, whether you're playing dad in the backyard in a pickup basketball game or in college or in high school in the orange and white game in Alvin, whatever it is, you want to win the game, you want to do your best. You want to beat the people on the other side of the field from you."
The younger Ryan was driving to the Ballpark in Arlington on Thursday but planned to stay only for Friday's game.
Ryan might be as excited about seeing friends in the Rangers organization as he is about the baseball on the diamond.
"It's going to be great to see those guys and see my dad and everybody, but it's not just my dad," he said. "I have so many deep, lifelong relationships with people over there, [Rangers Enterprises executive vice president] Jay Miller, [Texas bench coach] Jackie Moore, [Ballpark Entertainment executive VP] Chuck Morgan, [Rangers executive VP of communications] John Blake, [Texas pitching coach] Mike Maddux. I could go on and on and on.
"Those guys have treated Jackson [Reid's son] so well over the years," Ryan said. I'm talking about the Nelson Cruzes of the world, guys like that. It will be fun. It's not a stressful deal at all. All those guys have treated me in a positive way and are very happy for me."