On Sept. 8, 1990, a Bo Jackson groundball popped Nolan Ryan in the lip, inducing a gushing wound. But stitching up the pitcher’s cut came secondary when Ryan returned to the dugout after throwing Jackson out at first base and finishing the inning.
Priority No. 1? Clean the blood off that Texas Rangers jersey in case Ryan needed to wear it again during the game.
What made for one of Ryan’s more recognizable jerseys and pieces of memorabilia was washed down the drain 36 years ago.
Rangers historian and senior advisor John Blake, who served as the team’s head of media relations when the ball popped Ryan in the lip that September evening, said the real work began for then clubhouse assistant Dave Bales in between innings.
“(Bales) got in the sink and got the blood out while it wasn’t dried or anything,” Blake said. “He dried the jersey, and then he finished drying it with a hair dryer in case Nolan needed that because of the weather (rainy conditions). Nolan changed his jersey usually several times in the middle of a game. It wasn’t unusual, so they basically got the jersey ready in case Nolan needed it later in the game.”
The legendary hurler already shooed away manager Bobby Valentine and the team trainer right after taking one to the face. So there was zero chance Ryan was exiting the game with a simple flesh wound. Lip still oozing, Ryan pitched seven innings against the Kansas City Royals that night. Not until after his 113-pitch outing did the then 43-year-old Ryan receive six stitches to seal up the cut.
“You would never have thought to keep the bloody jersey and say, ‘Hey, that’s a good item to have,’” Blake said. “I wish I had it in our archive. But no, it’s long gone.”
Or is it?
While yes, the original bloody jersey transformed back into a clean one, the franchise will bring the legendary moment back to Arlington, Texas.
The team announced last week that it will hold a promotion when it faces the Royals on May 29 at Globe Life Field, where everyone in attendance will receive a replica “blood-stained” Ryan No. 34 Rangers jersey. The giveaway quickly drew attention throughout social media and became one of the most talked about freebies around MLB parks this season.
“There were discussions from several departments on this, and we kind of talked about is this even a possible item,” said Zach Geist, Rangers director of promotions and ballpark entertainment. “Like, can you make a jersey? And then it turned into, well, we could probably screenprint it. We’ve got images, and we’ve got photos. Let’s see if we can recreate it.”
Then came the gore.
Geist said the team spent a couple of months working on different color options for the blood. He added that the jersey went through four or five more rounds of editing than for a normal shirt giveaway, knowing the unique nature of the item.
“Designing blood is not in my repertoire of things that I’ve done in the past,” Geist said. “So trying to find the right blood color and the right printing options to make it look authentic was very tough. But hey, I think we made it look pretty dang good, and I think it was pretty much like how the jersey did back then.”
A 1991 Pacific baseball card paid tribute to Nolan Ryan’s bloody outing against the Royals. (eBay)
Geist also said this commemorative jersey is not to be confused with another Ryan encounter that famously occurred on the same mound three years later. This does not have to do with the Ryan beanball brawl with then-Chicago White Sox infielder Robin Ventura. But don’t fear, Ryan fans. The Rangers will hold a “Nolan Ryan punching” bobblehead night on July 20 for a game against the White Sox to pay homage to the memorable moment (sponsored by Nolan Ryan Beef).
A word of warning from Geist on the night of the Ryan jersey giveaway, though. If fans want to go all out and splatter fake blood — and definitely not real blood — on their faces to recreate the entire Ryan look from that night in 1990, you might want to prepare for that before getting to the stadium in May.
“I like the idea of the fake blood on the faces, but my operation team probably wouldn’t be very happy with me on that one,” Geist said with a laugh. “We’ll have to throw some ideas around, but a little face painting is not a bad thing. This would be fun. But yeah, let’s encourage fans to come pre-bloodied.”
As for the original jersey, Blake still wonders what if.
“(Authenticating) just wasn’t that big a deal in 1990,” Blake said. “Today, when something like that happened, you wouldn’t have washed the jersey, right?”
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