Ryan Adrien Bukvich (born May 13, 1978) is an American former 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 ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

. 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

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, Texas Rangers,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Career

Bukvich attended the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

. Bukvich was called up to the White Sox in June along with Bret Prinz, replacing the struggling

David Aardsma David Allan Aardsma (; born December 27, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, currently serving in the Toronto Blue Jays front office as a coordinator of player development. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 200 ...

and Mike MacDougal. While Prinz remained with the team for only a matter of days, Bukvich stayed on the roster despite the subsequent return of both Aardsma and MacDougal. Bukvich appeared in 45 games with the White Sox in 2007, going 1–0 with a 5.05 ERA. His win on June 30, 2007, against the Royals was his first since 2003. He became a cult hero at

U.S. Cellular Field Rate Field (formerly named Comiskey Park, U.S. Cellular Field and Guaranteed Rate Field) is a baseball stadium located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox, one of the city ...

, earning the nickname "Iceman" for his cool demeanor in pressure situations. Bukvich signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles on December 7, 2007. Bukvich spent time during

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

recovering from an oblique injury. After several days of extended spring training, he joined the Triple-A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's loc ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

. He became a free agent at the end of the season. In May 2009, Bukvich signed with the Newark Bears.

References

External links

1978 births Living people Kansas City Royals players Texas Rangers players Baltimore Orioles players Chicago White Sox players Baseball players from Chicago Major League Baseball pitchers Ole Miss Rebels baseball players Sportspeople from Naperville, Illinois Wilmington Blue Rocks players Spokane Indians players Charleston AlleyCats players Wichita Wranglers players Omaha Royals players Arizona League Rangers players Bakersfield Blaze players Oklahoma RedHawks players Charlotte Knights players Norfolk Tides players Newark Bears players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub