Riccardo Benay Ingram (September 10, 1966 – March 31, 2015) was a professional baseball player. He played for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and the

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) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

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), ...

. At the time of his death, Ingram was serving as a roving instructor in the Twins Minor League system.MLB.com – Twins announce 2014 Minor League coaching staff
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Career

His career is profiled in the book, "Journeymen: 24 Bittersweet Tales of Short Major League Sports Careers." Ingram played baseball and football at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

where he stood out in both sports winning the McKelvin Award as the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

athlete of the year, the first

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to win that award. Upon leaving Georgia Tech, Ingram was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 4th Round (105th overall) of the

1987 Major League Baseball draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional cont ...

. He made his debut with the Tigers in 1994 getting 5 hits in 23

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 only 12 games played. After the 1994 season he was granted

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

. On January 26, 1995 he signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Twins. He played in 4 games in 1995 gathering 1 hit in 8 at-bats. After the season, he signed another free agent contract with the

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 ...

but did not play in any regular season games for them. 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 ...

Ingram compiled a .276

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 ...

, with 74 home runs and 428 RBI over 9 seasons. In 1995, he won the Triple A batting crown with the

Salt Lake Buzz Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

with a .348 average. After his playing career was over Ingram became a coach in the Twins minor league system. He coached in Ft. Wayne (1998), Quad City (1999), Ft. Myers (2000–2002), and

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

(2003–2007 (serving as the team's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

in 2006 and 2007)) before being promoted to Rochester as the Red Wing's new hitting coach. In 2009, Ingram was diagnosed with brain cancer and returned to coaching following six weeks of radiation therapy. The cancer returned in 2014 and Ingram died on March 31, 2015 at the age of 48.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Riccardo 1966 births 2015 deaths All-American college baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico African-American baseball players African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball managers Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Detroit Tigers players Fayetteville Generals players Georgia Tech alumni Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Lakeland Tigers players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players London Tigers players Major League Baseball outfielders Mexican League baseball players Minnesota Twins players Minor league baseball coaches Minor league baseball managers People from Douglas, Georgia Salt Lake Buzz players Sultanes de Monterrey players Toledo Mud Hens players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people