Shorebird of the Week – June 24, 2010

This is a very special edition of my Shorebird of the Week feature.

Since its inception to begin the 2006 season, each and every Thursday during the Shorebird season I have selected a player as my Shorebird of the Week. As I detailed Tuesday, I’ve selected a total of 90 players to be honored for a week on my site, with some players being honored twice over two seasons. With 22 players selected each season over the last four campaigns, I figured out the twelfth such selection this season would be the 100th Shorebird of the Week selected. Thus I wanted it to be special.

Over the 4 1/2 seasons I’ve done this, I’ve always selected players who were playing on the roster. But this year I have the opportunity to harken back on the team’s 15 year history and do something unprecedented.

An enjoyable part of Ryan Minor's job is to hand out various organization awards. Here Minor (right) presents the Orioles Pitcher of the Month award to Shorebird hurler Nathan Moreau.

Less than a year after Ryan Minor played here and helped lead the Shorebirds to their first SAL championship (in 1997, just their second year of existence) his rocket ride through the Orioles’ minor league system ended with a September callup. He’ll forever be known to Orioles fans as the player who replaced Cal Ripken Jr. in the lineup to end Ripken’s consecutive game streak.

Unfortunately his debut turned out to be the peak of his major league career and after two unsuccessful seasons in Baltimore and a trade to Montreal failed to resurrect his fortunes, Minor became a baseball nomad, cycling through three organizations (even trying his hand on the mound) and several independent league teams before finally calling it a playing career after the 2005 season.

Fast forward to 2008 when the Orioles game him a chance to return home as a coach for the Shorebirds, where he served under managers Ramon Sambo and Orlando Gomez before being handed the keys to the team for the 2010 season. While his 32-38 record as manager isn’t eyepopping, the more important test for his future managerial ambitions is how he develops the players for higher levels.

Yet with the situation at the big league club in flux, there’s always the possibility that Ryan’s move up the managerial chain could be as fast as it was when he played. Life could present the 36-year-old Minor a second chance at Orioles success if he wants to leave his adopted hometown to pursue it.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.