My ability to throw a baseball was a gift. It was a God-given gift. And I am truly appreciative of that gift.

Baseball life is a tough life on the family.

I grew up with the thought that I wanted to treat people the way I'd like to be treated, and I think if you do that, it's pretty hard to go wrong.

And I'm a believer that you take a negative and turn it into a positive, and as it turned out, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. And so I do appreciate the Ranger staff and the Ranger organization for giving me that opportunity.

I am going to spend my time today just thanking the people that played a role in my career, because I truly do believe that I was blessed by a lot of people that paths crossed mine as I went down the road in my career.

I like to refer to my years with the Angels as the foundation of my career.

What man in his 40s would not like to look in the mirror and find Nolan Ryan?