Ronald Alvin Negray (February 26, 1930 – November 8, 2018)Ronald Negray Obituary
/ref> 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 Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. 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 ...

, he appeared in 66 games 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), ...

over four seasons between and for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers and

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 ...

. The native of

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

, was listed as tall and . He graduated from Garfield High School and attended

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

. Negray began his 15-year pro career in 1949 in the Brooklyn

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 ...

, winning 21 games in the Class D

Georgia–Florida League The Georgia–Florida League was a minor baseball league that existed from 1935 through 1958 (suspending operations during World War II) and in 1962–1963. It was one of many Class D circuits that played in the Southeastern United States during ...

. His first taste of MLB service came at the tail end of the campaign, when the pennant-bound Dodgers recalled him from the Triple-A

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

. Negray got into four

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

, including one

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 ...

, and allowed 15

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 five

earned runs 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 ...

in 13 full

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 ...

. He then spent 2 more years with St. Paul, winning 17 games for the Saints in 1954. On June 7, 1955, he was recalled by the Dodgers and traded to the Phillies for fellow pitcher Dave Cole. Inserted into the Phils' starting rotation, Negray hurled seven

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

innings on June 19 against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

, surrendering only four hits and one

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

before departing in the eighth inning. (The Phillies would go on to win 1–0 in 15 innings.) Negray was less effective in his next start five days later, permitting 11 hits and five earned runs in seven innings against the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) an ...

, but the Phillies outscored Cincinnati 8–6 to deliver Negray's first big-league win. In his third start on June 29, Negray notched his first

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

in MLB, defeating the

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 ...

6–3 at

Connie Mack Stadium Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, ...

, giving up only two earned runs. He threw his second and last complete game two months later, defeating the Redlegs at Connie Mack Stadium, 8–3. All told, in his half-season with the Phillies, Negray won four of seven decisions in 19 games almost evenly split between starting and relieving. The following year, , was Negray's only full season in the majors. He worked in 39 games, all but four of them in relief, and earned three saves out of the Phillie bullpen. He posted a 2–3 record and his

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 ...

rose from 3.52 to 4.19. During

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in , he was traded back to the Dodgers in a six-player transaction that brought

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

Humberto "Chico" Fernández to Philadelphia. The Dodgers, playing their final season in Brooklyn, sent Negray back to St. Paul for the remainder of 1957. Negray was destined to be a member of the first edition of the Los Angeles Dodgers, however. On March 8, 1958, he was the starting pitcher in the franchise's first spring training game as representatives of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, a 7–4 loss to the Phillies at

Miami Stadium Miami Stadium (later officially known as Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium) was a baseball stadium in Miami, Florida. It was primarily used for baseball, and was the home field of the Miami Marlins minor league baseball team, as well as other minor le ...

. Then, after making the Dodgers' 28-man early-season roster, he appeared in the first regular

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 ...

game in Los Angeles Dodger history on April 15 at

Seals Stadium Seals Stadium was a minor league baseball stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Francisco, California; it later became the first home of the major league San Francisco Giants. Opened in the Mission District in 1931, Sea ...

, as the Dodgers fell to 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 ...

, 8–0.Retrosheet box score: 1958-04-15
/ref> In that game, he allowed one earned run in two innings of mop-up relief. Three more relief appearances followed before Negray returned to the minor leagues for the rest of his career in May 1958. In the majors, he split 12 decisions and posted a career earned run average of 4.04 in 66 games, including 15 starts. He allowed 170 hits and 57 bases on balls in 162 innings pitched, posting two complete games, three saves, no shutouts, and 81

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. He won 113 games in minor league baseball, including 58 during all or parts of six seasons with the St. Paul Saints. After his baseball career, he resided in

New Franklin, Ohio New Franklin is a city located at the southern edge of Summit County, Ohio, United States, in the northeastern part of the state. It is bounded by Coventry Township, as well as the cities of Barberton and Norton to the north; by Chippewa Tow ...

, and become a salesman of athletics equipment.

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Negray, Ron 1930 births 2018 deaths Baseball players from Akron, Ohio Brooklyn Dodgers players Elmira Pioneers players Hawaii Islanders players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball pitchers Montreal Royals players Newport News Dodgers players People from Summit County, Ohio Philadelphia Phillies players Pueblo Dodgers players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Valdosta Dodgers players