Merven John "Red" Ryan (July 11, 1897 – August 16, 1969), born Mervin Ferguson, was an American

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 ...

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, ...

in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

. He played from 1915 to 1932 with several teams, playing mostly with the

Hilldale Club The Hilldale Athletic Club (informally known as Darby Daisies) were an American professional Negro league baseball team based in Darby, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia. Established as a boys team in 1910, the Hilldales were developed by their ...

Career

Ryan began his career with the Pittsburgh Colored Stars of Buffalo in 1915. He pitched for the

Lincoln Stars The Lincoln Stars are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Stars' home ice is the Ice Box on the former Nebraska State Fair grounds and adjacent to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Histo ...

in 1916 and

Brooklyn Royal Giants The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initiall ...

in 1919 before joining the

Bacharach Giants The Bacharach Giants were a Negro league baseball team that played in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Founding The club was founded when two African-American politicians moved the Duval Giants of Jacksonville, Florida, to Atlantic City in 1916 and ...

in 1920. The Bacharch club faced both independent black teams in the summer of 1920 before taking part in the

Cuban League The Cuban League ( Spanish: ''Liga cubana'') was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the ...

season that winter. He also pitched for the Pittsburgh Colored Stars in September 1920. After playing for the Giants in 1921 and the

Harrisburg Giants The Harrisburg Giants were a U.S. professional Negro league baseball team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. History Originally formed in April 1890 by Colonel William "C.W." Strothers as an amateur team, they became s ...

in 1922, Ryan joined the

of the

Eastern Colored League The Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Clubs, more commonly known as the Eastern Colored League (ECL), was one of the several Negro leagues, which operated during the time organized baseball was segregated. League history Founding The ECL ...

in 1923, for which he would spend at least part of eight of the next seasons with. Ryan pitched in the

1924 Colored World Series The 1924 in baseball, 1924 Colored World Series was a best-of-nine match-up between the Negro National League (1920–31), Negro National League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Eastern Colored League champion Hilldale Club, Hilldale. In a t ...

, earning

no decision A no decision (sometimes written no-decision) is one of either of two sports statistics scenarios; one in baseball and softball, and the other in boxing and related combat sports. Baseball and softball A starting pitcher who leaves a game withou ...

s in both of appearances, as the club lost the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

. He pitched a game in

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

in the

1925 Colored World Series The 1925 Colored World Series was the second edition of the championship series in Negro league baseball. The series featured a rematch between the Hilldale Club of Darby, Pennsylvania, champion of the Eastern Colored League (ECL), and the Ka ...

, with Hilldale beating the Monarhcs for the championship. Ryan briefly appeared for the independent

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cum ...

in the fall of 1927 before joining the

Lincoln Giants The New York Lincoln Giants were a Negro league baseball team based in New York City from 1911 through 1930. Founding The Lincoln Giants can trace their origins back to the Nebraska Indians, of Lincoln, Nebraska, from the 1890s. According t ...

in early 1928. He was traded back to Hilldale early in the season for George Carr and

Nip Winters James Henry Winters, Jr. (April 29, 1899 – December 12, 1971), nicknamed "Nip" and "Jesse", was an American pitcher and first baseman in Negro league baseball, playing for many top eastern teams from 1920 to 1933, and considered one of the to ...

before being traded to the

Baltimore Black Sox The Baltimore Black Sox were a professional Negro league baseball team active between 1913 and 1936, based in Baltimore, Maryland. Founding The Black Sox started as an independent team in 1913 by Howard Young. They were one of the original s ...

during the 1929 season. He pitched exclusively for the Lincoln Giants in 1930. In 1931, he pitched for the Harlem Stars before rejoining Hilldale later that year. Ryan was released by Hilldale in early 1932 and spent his final season with the Newark Browns of the East-West League.

Personal life

Ryan was the son of John Ryan and Georgana Ferguson. He married Ramona Cortes on September 6, 1924 in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

."New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:246C-V5T : 21 August 2022), Mervin J. Ryan and Ramona Cortes, 1924.

References

External links

an
Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats
an
Seamheads
1897 births 1969 deaths Hilldale Club players New York Lincoln Giants players Brooklyn Royal Giants players Newark Browns players Harrisburg Giants players Homestead Grays players Bacharach Giants players Baltimore Black Sox players Baseball pitchers 20th-century American sportsmen {{Negro-league-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub