FORT WORTH, Texas — Some of
Nolan Ryan's best moments occurred in a Texas Rangers uniform: turning
the struggling franchise around after he was brought in as a free agent
in 1988, his 5,000th strikeout and his 300th victory.
But 17 years after retiring and
two years after becoming the team president, the Hall of Fame pitcher's
best moment yet may have been in a federal courthouse, where he won the
team early Thursday in a contentious and unusual auction spanning 10
hours.
When Ryan's group was announced as the winning bidder, the packed courtroom erupted in cheers and a standing ovation.
Ryan and his business partner,
sports attorney Chuck Greenberg, won the team with a $593 million bid,
including $385 in cash, surviving the fierce bidding war with a group
led by billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Houston
businessman Jim Crane.
The Greenberg-Ryan group had
Major League Baseball's endorsement since being named the new team
owners after last year's original sale process. But the deal was
stalled by angry creditors — and then unexpectedly put in limbo by the
team's May bankruptcy filing.
"It was an emotional
roller-coaster," a smiling Ryan said between hugs with colleagues and
well-wishers in the courthouse. "You go to court one day and it didn't
go your way, but you go back another day and it would. It's a relief."
In the middle of the Rangers'
best season in years, Ryan attended nearly every bankruptcy hearing the
past two months, wearing a suit and tie while sitting quietly in the
courtroom. Last month the star was called to the witness stand, where
he told the judge that the team should exit bankruptcy quickly so it
would have enough money to keep star players and acquire new talent.
The much-anticipated auction
started Wednesday afternoon, with the announcement that the Cuban-Crane
bid was about $25 million more than the Greenberg-Ryan group's offer,
which was the starting bid. The stop-and-start showdown was delayed for
hours by closed-door haggling over the complicated nature of each bid.
But bidding heated up late
Wednesday and included tense exchanges and even yelling between the
attorneys before Crane, during a break after midnight, shook Ryan's
hand in the corridor and said his group was dropping out.
The confirmation hearing on the
team's bankruptcy plan was scheduled for later Thursday, bringing an
end to one of the most contentious sales of an American professional
sports team.
Final approval of the Rangers
sale rests with MLB, which is expected to wholeheartedly approve the
deal next week before the Greenberg-Ryan group's funding guarantee
expires Aug. 12.
Despite losing, Cuban was
smiling after the auction. His group dropped out of bidding after
reaching a predetermined limit. Cuban, who also made an unsuccessful
bid for the Chicago Cubs last year, said he wanted to buy the Rangers
but remains an enthusiastic fan of the team — and of Ryan.
"I wish them the best," Cuban
said, later ducking out a back door so television cameras and
photographers would remain focused on Greenberg and Ryan, adding, "It's
their moment."
Although the Cuban-Crane group
had made a $390 million cash offer, part of a $598 million bid, the
Greenberg-Ryan bid was considered higher because of how the bids were
structured.
Each group's bid included $208
million of team debt — including $24.9 million in deferred compensation
owed to Alex Rodriguez six years after he was traded to the New York
Yankees.
Top creditors will only get
about $75 million from the team. But the judge has said lenders, who
are owed about $525 million after team owner Tom Hicks' financially
strapped ownership group defaulted on loans, can go after Hicks' other
companies.
The auction had been the talk
of the team Wednesday in Seattle, where the Rangers beat the Mariners
11-6. The players learned of the auction's outcome about 15 minutes
after the game, and a clubhouse shout of "We have an owner!" drowned
out another yell of "Aw, sweet!" from across the room.
"Ever since Nolan's been part
of our franchise, we've gone nowhere but up," said David Murphy, who
hit the go-ahead, three-run homer — but only wanted to talk about the
new owner. "He's not just a native Texan, a guy who is obviously very,
very respected and admired in the state of Texas, but nationally he is
one of the best pitchers ever. He's one of the most respected players
ever.
"Of course we want a guy like
that as our owner. In the end, we wanted the best group to represent
us. Obviously, how could you not want a group with Nolan Ryan in it?"