Former Baltimore Orioles corner infielder Ryan Minor passed away at the age of 49 on Friday according to Minnyvonne Burke of NBC News. The cause of death was cancer. Minor, a native of Canton, Ohio is best known for taking Cal Ripken Jr.’s spot in the infield on September 20, 1998. As a result, Ripken Jr.’s Major League Baseball consecutive game streak of 2632 games came to an end.
Strong First Year Season
Minor was very productive in nine games with the Baltimore Orioles in 1998. During 14 plate appearances, and 14 at bats, he scored three runs, and had six hits, one double, one run batted in, and seven total bases. Minor had a batting average of .429, slugging percentage of .500 and an on base percentage of .429. In Minor’s first Major League game, he was a pinch hitter in a 12-7 Orioles win over the Anaheim Angels. Minor registered a base hit single and scored a run as a pinch hitter. The game where Ripken Jr. ended his consecutive game streak, the Orioles lost by a score of 5-4. Minor played third base.
Struggles over the next two seasons in Baltimore
Minor was unable to hit the baseball with much consistency during the 1999 and 2000 seasons. He only batted .194 in 1999 (24 hits in 124 at bats), and then was 69 points below the Mendoza line in 2000 (11 hits in 84 at bats for a batting average of .131).
Final MLB season
Minor ended his MLB career with the Montreal Expos in 2001. He only batted .158 as he had 15 hits (11 singles, two doubles and two home runs in 55 games). Minor was traded by the Expos to the Orioles for right handed pitcher Jorge Julio of Caracas, Venezuela on December 22, 2000. Ironically, he was traded exactly 23 years prior to the date he passed away. In addition to playing MLB, Minor was drafted in the second round, 32nd overall, by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1996 National Basketball Association Draft.
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