Ray Ryan (baseball)
Ryan Ryan was an important minor league baseball figure. At that level, he played, managed, served as a team owner and league president, and worked in multiple team front offices. At the major league level, he scouted for the Cleveland Indians.
A catcher, Ryan played from 1906 to 1910, from 1912 to 1916 and in 1922. In 1910, he was a phantom ballplayer - on the Chicago White Sox active roster to begin the season, he did not appear in a game with the team. Overall, he played in 684 games and, according to available statistics, usually batted around the Mendoza Line. He often served as a player-manager.
As manager, he led the Chillicothe Infants, Wheeling Stogies, Norfolk Tars, Rocky Mountain Carolinians, Rocky Mountain Tar Heels, Richmond Colts, Jeannette Reds, Allentown Brooks, McKeesport Tubers, Logan Indians and Palatka Azaleas. He led the Carolinians to a Virginia League championship victory in 1915. In 1931, he was part-owner of the Richmond team - he also served as the team's business manager for a time.
In 1937, he was elected president of the Mountain State League. He also served as president of the Virginia State League and Appalachian League - he was president of all three leagues at the same time.
He died on August 9, 1958 in Miami, Florida.
Ryan was inducted posthumously into the Salem-Roanoke Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. His granddaughter Nancy Foye-Cox accepted the award on his behalf.
