SURPRISE, Ariz. - Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington admitted he made a “huge mistake” when he used cocaine and failed a Major League Baseball drug test last season. In his first public admission, he apologized yesterday for his behavior, eight months after he told Rangers President Nolan Ryan, who turned down Washington’s offer to resign.

Reid and Reese Ryan, of Ryan-Sanders Baseball, will visit The Diamond and the proposed site of a Shockoe Bottom ballpark today and then attend an evening meeting with community leaders and Eastern League President Joe McEacharn. When the sons of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan return to Texas, presumably they’ll do so with a better sense of whether they should continue exploring potential ownership of the Double-A Eastern League franchise coming to Richmond next season, and the possibility of building a stadium here.

Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan’s Texas-based baseball business is sending representatives to Richmond this week to investigate possible ownership of the Eastern League franchise that is to move here next season. Also, more than one Double-A Eastern League franchise wants to relocate to Richmond, sources recently confirmed.