Raymond Roy Rippelmeyer (July 9, 1933 – September 9, 2022) 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 ...

player and

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

. During his 12-season active career, he was a , right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who spent part of one year 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), ...

as a member of the Washington Senators. He coached for the

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 ...

from to .

Playing career

Rippelmeyer was born on July 9, 1933, and grew up on a family farm near

Valmeyer, Illinois __NOTOC__ Valmeyer is a village in Monroe County, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. The population was 1,263 at the 2010 United States Census. History After the Great Flood of 1993 the residents of Valmeyer decided to relocate the town two mi ...

. He attended Valmeyer High School, and played on the baseball and basketball teams. He graduated in 1951. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Southern Illinois Salukis The Southern Illinois Salukis are the varsity athletic teams representing Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The nickname comes from the Saluki, the Royal Dog of Egypt and the Persian greyhound, which ties into the fact that southern Illino ...

. In 1953, his basketball teammates named him their

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. Ripplemeyer signed with the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

in 1954. No longer eligible to play basketball in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, he transferred to

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Col ...

to play for the

Southeast Missouri State Redhawks The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks are the athletic teams of Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO), located in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States. The Redhawks athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and compe ...

in the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

. He spent eight full seasons in the

minor leagues 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 ...

, in the

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

s of the Braves and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. The Washington Senators selected Ripplemeyer in the Rule 5 draft on November 27, 1961. He made the 1962 Senators

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster and appeared in 18

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, 17 of them in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

. Rippelmeyer won his first major league game on June 1, 1962, against the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, pitching two hitless

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

and

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

one as Washington won in

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

4–3 on a

home run 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 ...

Chuck Hinton Charles Edward Hinton Jr. (May 3, 1934 – January 27, 2013) was an American professional baseball player. An outfielder, Hinton played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators (1961–64), Cleveland Indians (1965–67, 1969–71) an ...

. One month later, on July 1, Rippelmeyer made his only

start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

against the same team, but he lasted only innings, surrendered two two-run homers (to

Lenny Green Leonard Charles Green (January 6, 1933 – January 6, 2019) was an American professional baseball baseball player, player. The outfielder played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 12 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles (1957–59; 1964), Washington ...

and

Bernie Allen : ''This is about the baseball player. For the musical project of Travis McCoy called Bernie Allen, see Bernie Allen (band).'' Bernard Keith Allen (born April 16, 1939) is a former Major League Baseball player for the Minnesota Twins, Washingt ...

), and left the game trailing, 4–0. The Senators eventually fell, 9–0. It was his last major league appearance; in 39

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

over his 18 games, he had a 1–2

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

, a 5.73

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 17

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s, allowing 24

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an err ...

s, 47

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and 17 walks. Ten days later, the Senators returned Rippelmeyer to the Cincinnati organization. He was sold to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, and pitched for them into middle of the 1965 season, when he retired.

Coaching career

Ripplemeyer was hired as the

manage 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 ...

the

Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Class A

Aberdeen Pheasants The Aberdeen Pheasants was the primary moniker minor league baseball teams located in Aberdeen, South Dakota between 1920 and 1997. The Pheasants played in the Northern League from 1946 until the league folded in 1971. Aberdeen was the Class C ...

in the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

' system in June 1965. He became a pitching coach in 1966 with the Triple-A Padres. Ripplemeyer became the pitching coach of the

in 1970. After the 1972 season, Rippelmeyer was one of five finalists for their managerial position. Rippelmeyer coached for three

National League East Division The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

champions (1976–1978). He was a minor-league pitching instructor in the Phillies

both before and after his assignment with the major-league staff.

Personal life

Rippelmeyer and his wife, Glenda Faye (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Jones), married in 1955 and had four children. She died in 2015. He died on September 9, 2022, at age 89.

References

External links

Ray Rippelmeyer
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Rippelmeyer, Ray 1933 births 2022 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Monroe County, Illinois Evansville Braves players Indianapolis Indians players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches People from Monroe County, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies coaches San Diego Padres (minor league) players Seattle Rainiers players Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players Toledo Sox players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players Wichita Braves players