Garrabrant Ryerson Alyea (December 8, 1940 – February 4, 2024) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 in

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 ...

(MLB) for the Washington Senators,

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 ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

, and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. In 1965, he became the ninth player to hit a home run on his first MLB pitch.

Early life

Born in

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was List of municipalities in New Jersey, the state's 16th-most-populous ...

, Alyea grew up in

Rutherford, New Jersey Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 18,834, an increase of 773 (+4.3%) from the 2010 census count of 18,061, which in turn reflected a de ...

and graduated from Rutherford High School, where he played basketball and quarterbacked the football team, in addition to baseball.

Career

Originally signed by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

, Alyea was drafted a year later by the Washington Senators. Alyea made his major league debut on September 12, 1965. Called to the plate as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

, he hit a

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 ( ...

off

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

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Rudy May Rudolph May Jr. (July 18, 1944 – October 19, 2024) was an American professional baseball left–handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1965 and from 1969 to 1983 for the Los Angeles / California Angels, New York Yankees, ...

on the first pitch he saw in the Majors. His most productive season came in 1970 for the

, when he posted career numbers in

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 ...

(.291) home runs (16) and

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(61), including seven-RBI games on April 7 (Opening Day) and September 7. Alyea was sent to the Texas Rangers on December 1, 1972, completing a trade from 33 days prior on October 30 involving the

acquiring

Paul Lindblad Paul Aaron Lindblad (August 9, 1941 – January 1, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball left-handed middle-relief pitcher. During his career, he pitched primarily for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics. At the time of his retirement in ...

for Bill McNulty. In between, Alyea played winter ball for the

Cardenales de Lara The Cardenales de Lara () is a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP). Founded in 1942 and based in Barquisimeto, the Cardenales have won seven domestic titles, including back-to-back in 1998 and 1999, 2019, 2020 and ...

Tiburones de La Guaira The Tiburones de La Guaira () are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP). Though they nominally represent La Guaira (playing at the Estadio Jorge Luis García Carneiro), they also play home games at the Estadio Un ...

and

Tigres de Aragua The Tigres de Aragua () is a baseball team that plays in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League and represents the state of Aragua. Founded in 1965, the Tigres plays its home games at the Estadio José Pérez Colmenares in Maracay. The team ...

clubs of the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (, or LVBP) is the top-level professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Background and predecessors Baseball had been play ...

, leading the circuit in home runs in 1968 (17) and 1971 (12), and for RBI in 1971 (36). In addition, he played with the VPBL champion Tigres in the

1972 Caribbean Series The fifteenth edition of the Caribbean Series (''Serie del Caribe'') was played in . It was held from February 1 through February 6 with the champions teams from Dominican Republic ( Aguilas Cibaeñas), Mexico ( Algodoneros de Guasave), Puerto Rico ...

Later life

After his baseball playing days were over, Alyea oversaw the crap tables at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

. Alyea died on February 4, 2024, at the age of 83.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alyea, Brant 1940 births 2024 deaths Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Florida Instructional League Senators players Geneva Redlegs players Hawaii Islanders players Hofstra Pride baseball players Iowa Oaks players Major League Baseball outfielders Minnesota Twins players Montgomery Rebels players Oakland Athletics players Pawtucket Red Sox players Peninsula Senators players Rutherford High School (New Jersey) alumni Baseball players from Passaic, New Jersey Sportspeople from Rutherford, New Jersey Baseball players from Bergen County, New Jersey St. Louis Cardinals players Tiburones de La Guaira players Tigres de Aragua players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players 20th-century American sportsmen York White Roses players

Early life

Career

Later life

See also

References

External links