Rob Ryan (born June 24, 1973) is a former

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 cat ...

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), ...

who played for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

. He attended

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

from 1993–1996, and was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 26th round (785th overall pick) of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft. He signed with the Diamondbacks two days later on June 6. Ryan, who batted and threw left-handed, was listed at 5' 11" in height, and 192 lb in weight.

Major league career

Debut

Ryan made his major league debut on August 20, with the Diamondbacks against the

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 (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. They were playing at Three Rivers Stadium, with 23,934 people attending the game. In the top of the seventh

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

, Ryan was asked to

pinch hit In baseball, a pinch hitter 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, America ...

for

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Greg Swindell Forest Gregory Swindell (born January 2, 1965) is an American former professional baseball player. He had a 17-year career in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from to . He played for the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins and Bost ...

, batting ninth. With runners on

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

third base 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 scoring system us ...

, Pirates

Marc Wilkins balked in Ryan's first

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 bat ...

, which made all the players on base advance to the next base as a result, with the runner on third, Steve Finley, scoring a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

for the Diamondbacks. Ryan ultimately grounded out, second to first, on his at-bat. In the bottom of the seventh, pitcher Dan Plesac was called to replace Ryan, pitching and batting ninth. The Diamondbacks lost the game by the score of 5–4.

Career after debut

On June 19, , Ryan was traded by the Diamondbacks to the

for

Ryan Christenson Ryan Alan Christenson (born March 28, 1974) is an American professional baseball former outfielder, minor league manager, and current bench coach for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played six seasons in MLB with the Athl ...

. He played his last major league game on October 7 of that year. One year and two days after being traded, on July 21, 2002, Ryan was purchased by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

from the Athletics. From this point, Ryan was signed, released, or granted free agency multiple times for about the next three years. Ryan was then granted free agency on September 30, 2002. On November 18, he signed as a free agent with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. On June 19, 2003, the Blue Jays released Ryan, who was signed three days later on June 22, this time by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

as a free agent. He was granted free agency again on October 15. The

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

signed Ryan as a free agent on February 5, 2004. On June 18, he was yet again granted free agency, just to be signed almost a month later by the Florida Marlins as a free agent on July 19. On October 15, Ryan was granted free agency, and was signed again with the Marlins as a free agent on November 11 after the season ended.

References

External links

Baseball AlmanacFangraphsThe Baseball Nexus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Rob 1973 births Living people People from Havre, Montana Major League Baseball outfielders Arizona Diamondbacks players Oakland Athletics players Baseball players from Montana Washington State Cougars baseball players South Bend Silver Hawks players Tucson Sidewinders players Sacramento River Cats players Pawtucket Red Sox players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Fresno Grizzlies players Carolina Mudcats players Albuquerque Isotopes players New Orleans Zephyrs players Lethbridge Black Diamonds players