HOUSTON -- A Texas couple has sued Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan for unspecified damages, claiming Ryan broke a contract they had with him for exclusive rights to sell likenesses of his hand.

Bronze Memories Inc. and its owners, Roy and Bernadette Champiomont of Katy, filed suit against Ryan, businessman Matt Merola and Mattgo Enterprises.


The lawsuit claims Merola and his company, Mattgo, along with Ryan negotiated a contract with the Champiomonts and their company.

The case has been assigned to the 215th state district court, Harris County court records showed Wednesday.

According to the suit, Ryan signed a contract with Bronze Memories in June 1989. The Champiomonts later learned of a contract Ryan signed in 1985 awarding LTD Premium Co. the licensed rights to produce items bearing his likeness, particularly his face and hands.

Merola participated in the negotiation of both contracts, the Champiomonts' lawsuit said.

Their lawsuit said they agreed to pay Ryan $25,000 to sign 2,500 baseballs and 2,500 pictures and to make himself available for one day so a mold for bronze castings could be made of his throwing hand.

Each casting of Ryan's pitching hand was to contain one of the baseballs. The photos were to be sold along with the bronze castings.

The mold of his hand was done but meanwhile the couple learned of the 1985 contract.

'My clients are just hardworking people who had to save their money to get this contrct and produce these hands at their foundry,' said their attorney, Alexander B. Klein.

The mold of Ryan's hand was made four years after L.T.D. Premium Co. paid Ryan $10,000 for the right to his likeness, Klein said.

Only 2,000 castings were to be made, selling for more than $1,000 apiece. More than 200 had been sold when the Champiomonts learned of the earlier contract, Klein said.

Ryan, a former pitcher for the Houston Astros, could not be reached for comment.

The plaintiffs are suing for violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, breach of contract and fraud, since they did not get the exclusive rights for which they were contracting.

In the lawsuit, the couple asked for at least $5,000 but the exact amount was not specified. They asked for compensation for mental anguish, punitive damages, actual damages and attorney's fees.