Ryan Dale Minor (born January 5, 1974) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, minor league baseball manager and professional basketball player. He played all, or parts of four 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), ...

, from 1998 to 2001, with 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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. He is known for replacing

Cal Ripken Jr. Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed " The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his posit ...

, when Ripken ended his consecutive games played streak on September 20, 1998.

Basketball career

Minor was an All-American

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 ...

player at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

. With the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaig ...

, he twice led the Big Eight Conference in points per game. As a junior in 1995, he was named the Big Eight Co-Player of the Year alongside senior

Bryant Reeves Bryant Reeves (born June 8, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Reeves spent his entire career with the National Basketball Association's Vancouver Grizzlies, playing with the team from 1995 until 2001. He was nicknamed "B ...

. Despite being projected as a potential lottery pick after his junior year, Minor elected to return to Oklahoma for his senior season. Minor was selected in the second round of the

1996 NBA draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball playe ...

by the Philadelphia 76ers. After playing in seven preseason games, including one in which he scored 15 points, Minor was released by the 76ers. He had been blocked at the position by players including

Jerry Stackhouse Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores men's team. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ...

and

Clarence Weatherspoon Clarence Weatherspoon, Sr. (born September 8, 1970) is a former American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) born in Crawford, Mississippi. He is currently the assistant coach for Jones County JC. Previousl ...

. After his release from the 76ers, Minor played in 32 games for the

Oklahoma City Cavalry The Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry was a professional basketball team based in Lawton, Oklahoma. They played in the Premier Basketball League after having been in the Continental Basketball Association. They have one PBL championship and also were ...

of the Continental Basketball Association. In January 1997, he left the team upon receiving an invitation to spring training from the

. He had averaged 9.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game with the Cavalry.

Baseball career

At Hammon High School in

Hammon, Oklahoma Hammon is a town in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, the majority of which is in Roger Mills County, but some of which extends into Custer County. It is located at the junction of Oklahoma State Highways 33 and 34. The town is named for Indian age ...

in 1992, Minor was named to the ABCA/Rawlings High School All-America Baseball Third Team. He went on to play

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 p ...

for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

. He helped lead the Sooners to a championship as a sophomore in the

1994 College World Series The 1994 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1994 NCAA Division I baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Serie ...

and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Minor was selected in the seventh round of the 1995 MLB draft by 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 ...

but chose not to sign. The following year, he was selected in the 33rd round of the 1996 MLB draft by the

. After playing two-plus 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 No ...

, Minor made his major league debut in 1998. He split the next two seasons between the Orioles and their farm clubs, mostly the Rochester Red Wings. His most notable contribution in the Major Leagues was being the first player to start in front of

to end his consecutive games played streak. After the 2000 season, he was traded to the Expos for

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 ...

Jorge Julio Jorge Dandys Julio Tapia (born March 3, 1979) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball relief pitcher. He previously played for the Baltimore Orioles from 2001 to 2005, New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2006, and the Florida Marlins ...

. He then split time in the 2001 season between the Expos and the

Ottawa Lynx The Ottawa Lynx were a Minor League Baseball team that competed in the Triple-A International League (IL) from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 15 seasons, the team was an affiliate of the Montreal ...

. Overall, Minor played 142 games during his MLB career. From 2002 until 2004, Minor played with three different organizations, along with stints with the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American minor league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball. T ...

and

Atlantic City Surf The Atlantic City Surf were a professional minor league baseball team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Surf was most recently a member of the Can-Am League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The Surf played its home games ...

of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He joined the

Lancaster Barnstormers The Lancaster Barnstormers (colloquially known as the Stormers) are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a ...

for their inaugural 2005 season. He hit the first-ever Barnstormers home run on May 17, 2005 at Clipper Magazine Stadium. With Lancaster, Minor batted .268 with 26 homers (a team best) and 99 RBIs, which were second most on the Barnstormers team and tied for third in the league. He finished his career with a lifetime .265 average, 154 homers and 567 RBI.

Coaching and managerial career

After Minor retired from professional baseball, he went on to coach the 2006 Road Warriors. In December 2006, Minor became the hitting and infield coach of the

York Revolution The York Revolution is an American professional minor-league baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania. It is a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Baseba ...

, also of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. In 2008, he started serving in a similar capacity with the

Delmarva Shorebirds The Delmarva Shorebirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Salisbury, Maryland. They are members of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Their home games are played at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Shor ...

, the Orioles' class A affiliate in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. From 2010-2012, Minor managed the Class-A Delmarva Shorebirds. In 2013, Minor was promoted to manager of the Advanced-A

Frederick Keys The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. A new team masc ...

. He was replaced for the 2014

season by

Luis Pujols Luis Bienvenido Pujols Toribio (born November 18, 1955) is a Dominican former professional baseball player coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the Houston Astros whe ...

. He then returned to the Delmarva Shorebirds for four seasons (2014-2017) before becoming the Frederick Keys manager again for the 2018 season. After the Keys finished 2019 in last place with its worst season since 2004, his contract was not renewed by the Orioles. By January 2020 he had signed on with the Detroit Tigers, where he was set to manage the Gulf Coast League West Tigers in 2020. He received the same assignment for the 2021 season.

Personal life

Minor's twin brother, Damon, was also a Major League Baseball player for the San Francisco Giants. They were teammates at the University of Oklahoma from 1993 to 1995. In late October 2022, Minor was diagnosed with colon cancer.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minor, Ryan 1974 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Major League Baseball third basemen Baltimore Orioles players Montreal Expos players Bluefield Orioles players Delmarva Shorebirds players Bowie Baysox players Rochester Red Wings players Gulf Coast Orioles players Frederick Keys players Ottawa Lynx players Tacoma Rainiers players Newark Bears players Jacksonville Suns players Vero Beach Dodgers players Atlantic City Surf players Carolina Mudcats players Lancaster Barnstormers players Minor league baseball managers Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Baseball players from Canton, Ohio Small forwards Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Basketball players from Canton, Ohio American men's basketball players Twin sportspeople Oklahoma City Cavalry players