The creative force behind the fitness overhaul of the Rangers pitching staff liked what he saw during his frequent visits to the club's spring-training home in Surprise, Ariz.

That says something coming from Nolan Ryan, who said he worked out as long as five hours some days during the latter part of his 27-year career.

Nolan Ryan was known for his conditioning program when he pitched for the Rangers.

The Hall of Fame pitcher says he's lucky to get an hour a day in now as the Rangers' president. But Ryan still steadfastly believes that what he did over four decades still applies 15 years after he retired.

It's hard to argue with the results Ryan had en route to becoming a 300-game winner and baseball's all-time strikeout leader. He hopes an off-season of tougher conditioning makes the pitching staff better in 2009.

Why did you feel an urgency to get the conditioning program rolling before this season?

I thought it was important that we start establishing our foundation. We didn't do that last year, so I felt like it was important that we gave them as much notice at the end of the season of where we were going to be.

What feedback have you received?

I think they've accepted well. They embraced it. They came into camp in shape. They've been working hard. We haven't heard a bunch of complaining. They knew what our expectations were. We gave them plenty of notice and didn't spring anything on anybody.

How much of what you did to get ready for a season or for a start was also geared toward being an example to younger pitchers?

My intent wasn't to try to be a positive influence, but I felt like if you worked hard and did what you needed to do to get ready and if somebody wanted to see what you did, then you could be a positive influence.

What was the one key thing you had to do between starts or during the off-season?

FILE 2008

Pitchers Scott Feldman (left) and Michael Ballard participated in a Rangers conditioning camp in November. Ryan wants the pitchers to build stamina.

You had to build a foundation to work off of, and you had to develop stamina because my intent was to pitch a lot of innings.

Strength and conditioning coach Jose Vazquez has been your go-to guy during this process. What have you seen from him?

He's my go-to guy on the conditioning aspect because that's his area. And he and I are on the same page and have been since the day I got here. He was operating under, in the past, some restrictions. So, we've addressed that, and he understands what I want to see accomplished. He has my full support.

What restrictions?

I think we had some veterans here that had had physical issues, so they shied away from doing certain things in hopes of not creating more problems. I think it just evolved that way.

At what point will you be able to see results?

I think it's when the season gets started and our pitchers maintain their stuff better, throw more strikes, pitch deeper in games and when they do pitch deeper in games they maintain their stuff and they bounce back quicker and not have as many peaks and valleys in performances.

Do you expect fewer injuries?

I would hope there are. The better condition you are, you lessen your chances of injuries more. But you don't know the history of the pitchers and you don't know the damage that has been done to them. You don't know who's walking around with a potential issue.

Ideally, in the future, what characteristics would all five members of the starting rotation have?

The dedication and work ethic that it takes to pitch an entire season as a starting pitcher and the discipline to continue to maintain his routine all year. And he wants the ball every fifth day, and he's going to go out there with the intent of pitching late into games and not complaining.