Ronn Dwayne Reynolds (born September 28, 1958), is an American former

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 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) for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

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 ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, and

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 ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

Career

After playing college baseball at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

, Reynolds was drafted by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

in the 5th round in 1979. After not signing with the Athletics, he was again drafted in the 5th round in 1980, this time by the Mets. Reynolds played 51 games for two of the Mets' class-A

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 ...

teams, getting 29

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 ...

in 149

at bat 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 ...

s. In 1981, Reynolds was promoted to the Mets' class-AA team in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

. There he played 88 games, getting 272 at-bats and posting a

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 .235, a

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

of .309 and an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

of .314. He repeated at Jackson in 1982, improving to a .255 batting average, a .360 slugging percentage and a .344 on-base percentage in 123 games and 431 at-bats. His 1982 performance earned him a late season promotion to the Mets. He made his major league debut for the Mets on September 29, 1982 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 ...

. In total, he played 2 games for the Mets in 1982, going hitless in 4 at-bats. In 1983, Reynolds split the season between the Mets and their class-AAA affiliate in Tidewater, getting a chance to play in the majors largely due to the injury to the

John Stearns John Hardin Stearns (August 21, 1951 – September 15, 2022), nicknamed "Bad Dude", was an American professional baseball catcher and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the New York Mets from 1975 to 1984 after playing a single ...

. He played with the Mets from April 27 through June 13, playing 24 games and getting 66 at-bats. He posted a .197 batting average, a .280 slugging percentage and a .212 on-base percentage. As a catcher, he allowed 27

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 38 attempts. The Mets television and radio announcers often commented in the unusual spelling of his first name (with two n's) when he came to bat that season. During his time with Tidewater, he played 40 games, getting 128 at-bats, posting a .211 batting average, a .273 slugging percentage and a .246 on-base percentage. Reynolds spent the entire 1984 season with Tidewater, posting a batting average of .261, a slugging percentage of .418 and an on-base percentage of .303 in 90 games and 280 at bats. His 11

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 ...

s that season were a career high as a professional. Although he started the 1985 season at Tidewater, playing 3 games there, he was promoted to the Mets early in the season to back up

Gary Carter Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "the Kid" for his y ...

. He played 28 games for the Mets, with a batting average of .209, a slugging percentage of .227 and an on-base percentage of .256 in 43 at-bats. He allowed just 10 stolen bases in 19 attempts. In

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

's 1985

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

hoax, ''The Curious Case of

Sidd Finch Sidd Finch is a fictional baseball player, the subject of the notorious April Fools' Day hoax article "The Curious Case of Sidd Finch" written by George Plimpton and first published in the April 1, 1985, issue of ''Sports Illustrated''. According ...

'', Reynolds was mentioned as the catcher who painfully caught Sidd Finch's 168 mph fastball. After the 1985 season, Reynolds was traded to the

along with Jeff Bittiger in exchange for Rodger Cole and Ronnie Gideon, neither of whom ever played a major league game. He split the 1986 season between the Phillies and their class-AAA minor league affiliate in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. He played 43 games for the Phillies, with a batting average of .214 (his Major League high), a slugging percentage of .242 and an on-base percentage of .317 in 126 at-bats. He also hit 3 of his 4 lifetime Major League home runs that season. He allowed 46 stolen bases in 59 attempts. After the 1986 season, he was traded again to the

for Jeff Calhoun. He split the 1987 season between the Astros and their class-AAA minor league affiliate in

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. He played 38 games for the Astros, with a batting average of .167, a slugging percentage of .189 and an on-base percentage of .235 in 102 at-bats. He allowed 46 stolen bases in 59 attempts. On October 1, Reynolds was the victim of a rare triple-steal versus the

Atlanta 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) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. With the bases loaded, Reynolds made a return throw to

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 ...

Danny Darwin Danny Wayne Darwin (born October 25, 1955), known as the "Bonham Bullet" and "Dr. Death", is an American professional baseball pitcher and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, ...

and the Braves'

Gerald Perry Gerald June Perry (born October 30, 1960) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played from 1983 to 1995 for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Career In 1988, ...

broke from third towards

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

. Darwin threw back to Reynolds but Reynolds dropped the ball and all three runners were safe. Not only were the Braves credited with three stolen bases but Reynolds was injured on the play and left the game. He was released by the Astros after the 1987 season and signed as a free agent with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. He never played a game for the Brewers, spending the 1988 and 1989 seasons playing for the Brewers' class AAA affiliate in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. His 1989 season was shortened by a pre-season

Achilles tendon rupture Achilles tendon rupture is when the Achilles tendon, at the back of the ankle, breaks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of sharp pain in the heel. A snapping sound may be heard as the tendon breaks and walking becomes difficult. Rupture typica ...

. He was granted free agency after the 1989 season and signed with the

. He played most of the 1990 season with the Padres class-AAA affiliate in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. He did play 8 games for the Padres, getting just one hit (a double) in 15 at-bats. He played his last major league game for the Padres on July 5, 1990. In all, Reynolds played 143 Major League games in 6 seasons, getting 356 at-bats, 4 home runs, a career batting average of .188, a career slugging percentage of .228 and a career on-base percentage of .256. His minor league totals were 701 games, 2193 at-bats, 49 home runs, a .238 batting average, a .358 slugging percentage and a .309 on-base percentage.

Career

References

External links