Cornelius Joseph Ryan (February 27, 1920 – January 3, 1996) 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 ...
second baseman
In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...
,
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 Baseball scorekeep ...
,
coach and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
who served as interim manager of two
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 ...
teams, the
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 ...
and the
Texas Rangers.
A native of
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 ...
who attended
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
, he batted and threw right-handed and was listed as tall and .
During his playing days, Ryan appeared in 1,184 games over 12 MLB seasons, and compiled a lifetime
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 ...
of .248 with 988 career
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...
(among them 58
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) with the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
,
Boston Braves
The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...
,
Cincinnati Reds / Redlegs,
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
and
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
.
On April 16, 1953, Ryan (then with the Phillies) made six hits in six
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, ...
s in a 14–12 loss to Pittsburgh, tying a then-Major League record. Ryan's safeties included two
doubles; he scored three
runs and had one
run 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 ...
.
Ryan spent much of his baseball career in the Braves organization, working for them in three different cities: as a player in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
(he was a utility infielder for the
1948 National League champions); a coach and minor league manager for
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
during the late 1950s (he was the third-base coach on
Fred Haney
Fred Girard Haney (April 25, 1896 – November 9, 1977) was an American third baseman, manager, coach and executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a manager, he won two pennants and a world championship with the Milwaukee Braves. He late ...
's staff during the Braves'
1957 world championship season); and as a coach (1971; 1973–74), interim manager (1975) and
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
** Scouts BSA, sect ...
for the
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
club during the 1970s. Ryan succeeded
Clyde King as skipper of the Atlanta Braves on
August 30, 1975,
and guided the team to a record of 9–18 over the final 27 games of the season.
In 1977, Ryan began the season as a coach with the
Texas Rangers. Texas manager
Frank Lucchesi was replaced by
Eddie Stanky, a teammate of Ryan's on the 1948–49 Braves, on June 22. Stanky resigned after one game, and Ryan served as interim manager for six games (with Texas winning two) from June 23 to 27. The Rangers signed
Billy Hunter, the longtime
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...
third-base coach, as their permanent manager. Ryan's career managerial mark was 11–22 (.333). He remained a Rangers' coach through 1979.
During the 1960s, Ryan also spent several seasons as a scout and minor league manager with the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...
and briefly worked with the
Kansas City A's.
He died at age 75 in
Metairie, Louisiana
Metairie ( ) is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and is part of the New Orleans metropolitan area. With a population of 143,507 in 2020, Metairie is ...
.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders
In baseball, a Hit (baseball), hit is credited to a Batting (baseball), batter when he reaches first base – or Extra-base hit, any subsequent base – Safe (baseball), safely after hitting a fair ball, without the benefit of an Error (baseball) ...
References
External links
Connie Ryanat SABR (Baseball BioProject)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Connie
1920 births
1996 deaths
Atlanta Braves coaches
Atlanta Braves managers
Atlanta Braves scouts
Atlanta Crackers players
Austin Senators players
Baseball players from New Orleans
Boston Braves players
Chicago White Sox players
Cincinnati Redlegs players
Cincinnati Reds players
Corpus Christi Clippers players
Houston Astros scouts
Jersey City Giants players
Kansas City Athletics scouts
Louisiana State University alumni
Louisville Colonels (minor league) players
Major League Baseball second basemen
Major League Baseball third base coaches
Milwaukee Braves coaches
National League All-Stars
New York Giants (baseball) players
Savannah Indians players
Philadelphia Phillies players
Texas Rangers coaches
Texas Rangers managers
Texas Rangers scouts
Jesuit High School (New Orleans) alumni
Seattle Rainiers managers
20th-century American sportsmen