Who is Nolan Ryan? Might as well ask who is America. After twenty-seven major league seasons in the limelight, the man who has been called the "last true sports hero" stands as a national phenomenon–a phenomenon whose media portrayal tells America something important about itself.

Seven no-hitters. Over three hundred wins. Over fifty-five hundred strikeouts. More than fifty major league records. A Texas highway named for him. Forty-six years old at retirement, and still throwing the ball at over ninety miles per hour. The record speaks for itself. A hero.

But there's more to Ryan than the record. There's the image. And the business. The portrayal of this future Hall of Famer as a devoted husband, strong father, and off-season cowboy has been used to sell jeans, athletic shoes, pain relievers, and other products.

In this fascinating analysis of Ryan's career and the media hype surrounding it, Nick Trujillo examines his significance as a sports hero and celebrity in American culture. Each chapter of the book looks at a different aspect of Ryan's meaning in contemporary society: his meaning to his teammates on the Texas Rangers, his portrayal in the mass media, his status as American hero, his commodification as a commercialized product, and his representation as an image of traditional masculinity and "safe sex." Trujillo shows how Ryan functions as a sort of mirror in which a sometimes jaded nation can see what it wants to see of itself.

Nick Trujillo is an associate professor of communication studies at California State University, Sacramento. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California (where he played baseball), a master's degree from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah. He has published numerous scholarly articles analyzing media and sports in American society. His research for this book included analysis of media coverage of Ryan's career from 1965 through 1993 and two and a half years of field work at Arlington Stadium.

"Clearly, Nick Trujillo has put a great deal of time, effort and thought into writing a book that tells you much not only a about sports hero, but also about the American culture."--Dick Schaap

"Clearly, Nick Trujillo has put a great deal of time, effort and thought into writing a book that tells you much not only a about sports hero, but also about the American culture." --Dick Schaap

"A thought-provoking look at our national hunger for disposable heroes." --Booklist,

"A look at Ryan as a piece of Americana: his symbolic role as hero and mythological figure, his portrayal by the media and his impact on the history of the game. --USA Today Baseball Weekly

" . . . for the fan who sees baseball as part of the fabric of society or on some larger scale, Trujillo's book may trigger interesting thoughts. Or at least give them something to talk about until Opening Day.” --Associated Press, Dallas (full story in BCS Eagle Extra)

"Already controversial is Nick Trujillo's The Meaning of Nolan Ryan . . . It is not a `baseball book' but a sociological examination of the Ryan phenomenon, first as national hero, then as a commercial product . . . “ --Fort Worth Star-Telegram

" . . . a lively sociological look at a baseball legend and genuine American hero. Trujillo . . . displays rare insight in his witty examination of Ryan's image as portrayed in the media." --Los Angeles Daily News

"While not strictly a sports title--it also functions as a book about the mass media--this study should do well in comprehensive sports collections." --Library Journal

"The work is ground-breaking because sports–Ryan in particular--is not a subject that spends much time under academia's analytical microscope." --Sacramento Bee

" . . . a good study of a highly complex phenomenon. . . . Baseball fans of all descriptions will find much of value in this short study of Nolan Ryan.” --Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Social Policy Perspectives