Ryan Matthew Church (born October 14, 1978) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, and

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Career

Minors

Drafted by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in the 14th round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft, Church signed June 7, 2000, after graduation from the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

. By January , he was traded by the Indians with Maicer Izturis to the

for Scott Stewart.

Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals

Church made his major league debut for the Expos in August 2004, struggling in the 30 games he played in the last two months of the season. He ended the season with a .187

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 ...

. After struggling in the first month of the season Church was considered a candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award, until he injured himself running into the outfield wall at

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth location to serve as the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. Opened during the 2001 Major League Baseb ...

on June 22, 2005. At the time of the incident, Church was batting .325 with a .544

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, an ...

. After the incident, Church made two trips to the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

and was unable to match his hitting performance from the first half of the season. In , Church was demoted to Triple-A

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

after struggling early in the year. However, Church was sent back to the majors on July 23, and ended up hitting .276 with a career best 10

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and .892 OPS. His 10 home runs in just 196

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 upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

s in 2006 projects to around 30 home runs for an entire season. In , Church had career highs in games (144), at bats (470), runs (57), hits (128), doubles (43), home runs (15), and RBI (70). He finished the year batting .272, slugging .464 and a .813 OPS.

New York Mets

After the 2007 season, Church was mentioned in trade talks, with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

and

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) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

all reportedly interested in his services. However, on November 30, 2007, Church was traded, along with Brian Schneider, to the

for Lastings Milledge. In

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

, Church was involved in a collision with

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Marlon Anderson Marlon Ordell Anderson (born January 6, 1974) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six teams, over 12 seasons. He was widely known for his clutch hits, and writers ...

that resulted in a Grade 2 concussion for Church. He recovered without any serious injuries. On May 20, 2008, Church suffered a minor concussion while sliding into

shortstop Yunel Escobar. It appeared as though when Church initially slid, his head made contact with Escobar's right knee. After Church struck his head, he slid about eight feet past second base with his forehead dragging on the dirt. Church made his return to the starting lineup on June 1, 2008, against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

, collecting three hits including a home run and a double. However, he was placed on the disabled list with aftereffects of the concussion. On September 3, Church had his second career grand slam, off Dave Bush. On September 28, Church made the final out in

Shea Stadium William A. Shea Municipal Stadium ( ), typically shortened to Shea Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

for Jeff Francoeur, but was designated for assignment on December 8, 2009, in order to make room for the return of Rafael Soriano. On December 12, 2009, the Braves decided to non-tender Church, making him a free agent.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On January 11, 2010, Church agreed to a deal with the

Arizona Diamondbacks

On July 31, 2010, Church, Bobby Crosby and D. J. Carrasco were traded to the

for Chris Snyder and Pedro Ciriaco. He was non-tendered following the 2010 season, despite a .265/.345/.490 line in 55 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks.

Controversy

In 2005, the Nationals suspended Jon Moeller, a volunteer

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

, and issued an apology after Church, a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, revealed conversations he had with him about a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish former girlfriend. Church told the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' that the chaplain nodded when he asked whether Jews were "doomed" because they "don't believe in

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

." After Jewish community leaders complained, Church issued a statement saying, "I am not the type of person who would call into question the religious beliefs of others."

References

;Notes

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Ryan 1978 births Living people Akron Aeros players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona Diamondbacks players Atlanta Braves players Binghamton Mets players Brooklyn Cyclones players 21st-century American sportsmen Columbus RedStixx players Edmonton Trappers players Gulf Coast Mets players Harrisburg Senators players Kinston Indians players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Expos players New Orleans Zephyrs players New York Mets players Nevada Wolf Pack baseball players Sportspeople from Lompoc, California Baseball players from Santa Barbara County, California Pittsburgh Pirates players Baseball players from Atlanta Washington Nationals players