Luke Wilson, Ezekiel Elliott, Olivia Dunne, Nolan Ryan top list of All-Star celebrities
There may have been others on hand the 2024 MLB All-Star Game with more social media followers and influential cache.
But there was no greater baseball royalty on hand than Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who starred for the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros among four teams during a still-mythical MLB career.
Ryan headed a list of Rangers legends to throw at the ceremonial first pitch at the franchise’s home park, joining Hall of Fame pitcher Fergie Jenkins, Hall of Fame catcher Pudge Rodriguez and newly elected Hall of Fame third-baseman Adrian Beltre.
But all took at backseat to Ryan, who pitched for the Rangers at the end of his 27-year career, from 1989 to 1993. With the Rangers, he won his 300th game, threw his 5,000th strikeout and threw his sixth and seventh career no-hitters, burnishing his first-ballot Baseball Hall of Fame credentials.
Rangers, who served as the Rangers’ President and CEO from 2008-2013, was honored to be back home.
“It’s always interesting to see this group of people come together to celebrate the game,” Ryan said. ”It brings a lot of people together. And they have done a great job with the new stadium.”
Other notable names in attendance were actor Luke Wilson, comedian Marcello Hernandez, singer Cody Johnson, former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who walked red carpet before the game with boyfriend and Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, who started the game for the National League.
“This is so cool,” Dunne, a social media sensation, said. “It’s different from any other red carpet I’ve ever been on. This is so chaotic; I’m having a blast! I’ve never walked on a carpet with anybody, so I was like ‘Alright are we going to hold hands? What are we going to do?’ It just came to us naturally when we got out here.”
Also at the game were Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who heads to training camp to kickoff the 2024 season in less than a week, former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, former NFL Star Todd Gurley, Miami Dolphins tackle Terron Armstead and Formula One McClaren CEO Zak Brown.