Ryan Minor, who was best known for replacing Cal Ripken Jr. on the night the Iron Man ended his consecutive-games streak, died on Friday, his twin brother Damon announced on social media.
Minor, who had colon cancer, was 49.
Drafted by the Orioles in the 33rd round of the 1996 draft, Minor made his major league debut with the team on September 13th, 1998. A week later, Ripken approached manager Ray Miller before the team’s final home game of the season and told him he wanted to end his streak at 2,632 games.
Miller told Minor he would play in Ripken’s place. At first, Minor thought it was a joke. He was 1-for-4 that night.
Minor played 87 games for the Orioles from 1998-2000 and was traded to Montreal after the 2000 season. He finished his major league career with 55 games with the Expos.
In 142 games, Minor hit .187 with five home runs and 27 RBIs.
After playing in the minor leagues and in independent ball, Minor became the hitting coach for Single-A Delmarva in 2008 and 2009. He had two stints managing the Shorebirds for seven seasons and two managing High-A Frederick for three seasons from 2010-2019.
Minor also managed in the Detroit Tigers minor league system after leaving the Orioles.
He was also drafted from the University of Oklahoma by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 1996 NBA draft but was released after playing in seven preseason games. Minor played in the CBA before joining the Orioles for spring training in 1997.
Damon Minor is the hitting coach for Triple-A Sacramento in the San Francisco Giants organization.
Minor was diagnosed with colon cancer in October 2022.
After a courageous and hard fought battle I’m sad to say that Ryan lost his fight with cancer this afternoon. He truly was the best twin brother you can ask for. His family and I want to thank everyone for the prayers and support during this time. BOOMER SOONER.. pic.twitter.com/MRqaHrhbSj
— Damon Minor (@ReedMinor) December 23, 2023