Michael James Ryan (November 25, 1941July 7, 2020) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who played 11 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

), before becoming a longtime

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

as well as a minor league

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

from 1964 to 1974. He batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He was a native of

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

, where he graduated from St. James High School. Ryan was signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox in 1960 and played for four of their minor league affiliates until September , when he was promoted from Double-A to the major leagues. After spending 2 full seasons with Boston, he was traded to the Phillies after the Red Sox'

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pennant-winning campaign. He appeared in 392 games for the Phils over the next six years before he was dealt to the Pirates in . He played only 15 games as a Buc—his last on September 10 of that year—but would return to the Phillies as a bullpen coach for 16 seasons, beginning in their world championship 1980 season.

Playing career

After a one-game, late-season trial in 1964 and an extended audition in , Ryan's major league career began in earnest in . Although an excellent defensive catcher, he struggled as a hitter during his MLB tenure. In 636 MLB

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, he collected 370 hits in 1,920

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

for a .193

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. Of all non-pitchers since 1930 with at least 1,000 at-bats, only one,

Ray Oyler Raymond Francis Oyler (August 4, 1937 – January 26, 1981) was an American baseball player, a major league shortstop for the Detroit Tigers (1965–1968), Seattle Pilots (1969), and California Angels (1970). He is best remembered as the slic ...

(.175 BA), has a lower average. During Ryan's nine full seasons in the majors, he batted over .200 only three times. As Boston's most-used catcher in 1966, Ryan hit .214 in 116 games. Three years later, again as a first-string receiver who appeared in 133 games with the 1969 Phillies, he hit a career-high 12

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and batted .204. Then, in , in limited service backing up regular

Bob Boone Robert Raymond Boone (born November 19, 1947) is an American former catcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who was a four-time All-Star. Born in San Diego, California, he is the son of MLB player Ray Boone, and he is the father o ...

, Ryan hit .232 in 69

. Ryan's solid defensive credentials were reflected by his .991

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. In 1967, appearing in a team-high 79 games as a catcher, Ryan helped the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox win the

pennant. He was the roommate of

Tony Conigliaro Anthony Richard Conigliaro (January 7, 1945 – February 24, 1990), nicknamed "Tony C" and "Conig", was a Major League Baseball outfielder and right-handed batter who played for the Boston Red Sox (1964–1967, 1969–1970, 1975) and California ...

, before Conigliaro sustained a season-ending injury after being

hit by a pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

on August 18. Ryan appeared in Game 4 of the

1967 World Series The 1967 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1967 Major League Baseball season, 1967 season. The 64th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL ...

as a late-inning replacement for starting catcher

Elston Howard Elston Gene Howard (February 23, 1929 – December 14, 1980) was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and a left fielder. During a 14-year baseball career, he played in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball from 1948 t ...

, going hitless in two at bats against

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

. Then in 1974, Ryan was a reserve on the Pirates team that won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

Eastern Division. On May 2, , Ryan and

Tim McCarver James Timothy McCarver (born October 16, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardinal ...

both broke their hands in a game between the Phillies and the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. With their catching corps depleted, the Phils were forced to use

Jim Hutto James Neamon Hutto (born October 17, 1947) is an American former professional baseball utility player in Major League Baseball (MLB), who played for the Philadelphia Phillies () and the Baltimore Orioles (). Baseball career Hutto was selected out ...

as a defensive substitute, even though he was an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. Ryan was able to return two months later on July 6, but landed on the disabled list again on August 15. Consequently, he played only 46 games that season.

Longtime coach

After his playing career, Ryan managed and coached in the Pirates' and Phillies'

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

organizations from 1975 to 1979, then coached at the big-league level for the Phillies for 16 seasons, from until . He had surgery following the season on his right shoulder, the cumulative result of his years of throwing batting practice and warming-up pitchers. He worked two more seasons with ongoing pain and retired after the 1995 season. He was on the staff of three National League champions in Philadelphia, and the 1980 World Series champion, and worked for seven managers. Ryan's coaching tenure with the Phillies was the longest in franchise history until it was surpassed by

John Vukovich John Christopher Vukovich (July 31, 1947 – March 8, 2007), nicknamed "Vuk" or "Johnny Vuk", was an American professional baseball utility infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB),

in 2004. It remains the second-longest coaching stint in franchise history . Ryan died in his sleep on July 7, 2020, in

Wolfeboro, New Hampshire Wolfeboro is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,416 at the 2020 census. A resort area situated beside Lake Winnipesaukee, Wolfeboro includes the village of Wolfeboro Falls. History The town was granted ...

, at the age of 78.

References

External links

Mike Ryan
st SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Mike Ryan
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Mike 1941 births 2020 deaths Baseball coaches from Massachusetts Baseball players from Massachusetts Boston Red Sox players Charleston Patriots players Charleston Pirates players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball catchers Olean Red Sox players People from Wolfeboro, New Hampshire Philadelphia Phillies coaches Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Reading Red Sox players Sportspeople from Carroll County, New Hampshire Sportspeople from Haverhill, Massachusetts Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Waterloo Hawks (baseball) players