Jump to content

Chris Ray

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Christopher Ray, seeChristopher Ray (disambiguation).

Chris Ray
Ray with the Baltimore Orioles
Pitcher
Born:(1982-01-12)January 12, 1982(age 42)
Tampa, Florida,U.S.
Batted:Right
Threw:Right
MLB debut
June 14, 2005, for the Baltimore Orioles
Last MLB appearance
July 29, 2011, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Win–loss record18–19
Earned run average4.10
Strikeouts230
Teams

Christopher Thomas Ray(born January 12, 1982) is an American formerprofessional baseballpitcher.He played inMajor League Baseball(MLB) for theBaltimore Orioles,Texas Rangers,San Francisco Giants,andSeattle Mariners.

Early life and career

[edit]

Ray graduated fromHillsborough High SchoolinTampa, Florida,[1]and attendedThe College of William and Mary,where he started on theirbaseball team.In 2002, he playedcollegiate summer baseballwith theBourne Bravesof theCape Cod Baseball Leagueand was named a league all-star.[2][3]He was selected by the Orioles in the third round of the2003 Major League Baseball Draft.

Professional career

[edit]

Minor leagues

[edit]

He spent the2003and2004seasons in the Orioles minor league system before being called up in June of2005.

Baltimore Orioles

[edit]

2005

[edit]

In 2005, Ray allowed only twoearned runsin just under 20 innings. However, during the month of August, Ray was optioned to the Orioles' Double-A affiliate, theBowie Baysox.His stint at Bowie was brief, as he was called up again in late August. The second stint with the Orioles saw Ray allow 4 earned runs in 16 innings. Ray finished 2005 with a 2.66ERAin 40innings pitchedover 41 games, compiling a record of 1-3 with 8holds.Ray also compiled a 1.28WHIP.

The Orioles coaching staff had been so impressed by Ray's 2005 season that they were considering him theircloserof the future. But, since the Orioles have had little success with rushing prospects into big league roles, they planned to ease Ray into the closer role sometime in2007.However, closerB.J. Ryanleft the Orioles as afree agentto theToronto Blue Jays,and the Orioles were unable to sign a closer on the free agent market to serve as a short term solution, causing Ray to be the Orioles' de facto closer.

2006

[edit]

Ray became the full-time closer of Baltimore Orioles for the start of the2006season. Ray had a very successful first season as the closer for the O's. Ray compiled 33saveswith a 2.73 ERA and 51strikeoutsand allowed an opponentbatting averageof just.193. Given his success, the Orioles stuck with Ray as their closer for the 2007 regular season. However, his success would not carry over, resulting in a sub par year. During the 2007 season Ray's numbers dropped to 16 saves with a 4.43 ERA and 44 strikeouts.[4]

2007-09

[edit]

Ray underwentTommy John surgeryon August 17, 2007.[5]In August 2008 he made nine rehabilitation appearances in the minor leagues, but did not pitch for the Orioles during the season. In 2009, he made the opening day roster but posted an era of 7.27.

Texas Rangers

[edit]

Ray was traded to theTexas Rangerson December 9, 2009 forKevin Millwood.He had 35 appearances and an ERA of 3.40.

San Francisco Giants

[edit]

Ray was traded to theSan Francisco Giants,along with pitching prospect Michael Main, forBengie Molinaon June 30, 2010.[6]Sportswriter Andy Baggarly referred to him as the "fifth inning, runners on second and third with two outs" member of the bullpen.[7]

On December 2, 2010, the Giants non-tendered Ray, making him a free agent.

Seattle Mariners

[edit]

Ray signed a minor league contract with theSeattle Marinerson January 25, 2011. The deal included an invite to spring training.[8]On August 1, 2011, Ray was placed on the 15-daydisabled listwith a strained right shoulderlatissimus dorsi.[9]He was released on August 16.[10]

Cleveland Indians

[edit]

Ray attendedspring trainingin 2012 with theCleveland Indiansas a non-roster invitee.[11]Reassigned to minor-league camp on March 30, 2012,[12]Ray began the season pitching in theTriple-AColumbus Clippersopening game on April 5, 2012.[13]Ray was released by the Indians on July 7.

Oakland Athletics

[edit]

On July 13, Ray signed with theOakland Athleticsand was assigned to the Triple-ASacramento River Cats.He was released on July 26. In the 2012-2013 offseason, he retired.[14]

Personal life

[edit]

Chris and his wife Alice have two children together. Chris stated in a March 2013 interview he was now retired from baseball.[15]

In November 2012 Chris, his brother Phil Ray, and their families opened a craft brewery inAshland, Virginia,Center Of The Universe (COTU) Brewing.[16][17]

Ray is an avid homebrewer and released a collaborative charity beer with Fremont Brewing Company in July 2011, benefitingOperation Homefront.Named Homefront IPA, it was sold atSafeco Field,Fremont Brewing Company and various retail stores in the Seattle area.[18][19]In 2013 Homefront IPA was collaboratively produced by nine breweries from all over the country, including Center of the Universe Brewing.[20]In 2014 eleven breweries were involved.[21]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Encina, Eduardo A. (September 19, 2006)."Home offers no respite for Rays".St. Petersburg Times.Archived fromthe originalon November 18, 2006.
  2. ^"2002 Bourne Braves".thebaseballcube.RetrievedSeptember 23,2021.
  3. ^"West Division All Stars".capecodbaseball.org.RetrievedMay 6,2020.
  4. ^"Chris Ray Stats".ESPN.RetrievedAugust 26,2021.
  5. ^"Orioles' Ray likely out for '08 after elbow surgery".ESPN.Associated Press.August 17, 2007.
  6. ^Bollinger, Rhett (July 1, 2010)."Texas trades for San Fran catcher Molina".MLB.MLB Advanced Media. Archived fromthe originalon July 4, 2010.RetrievedJuly 1,2010.
  7. ^Baggarly, Andy (October 7, 2010)."Updated:Giants release Division Series roster — and Jose Guillen isn't on it".San Jose Mercury News.RetrievedSeptember 2,2021.
  8. ^Spratt, Gerry (January 25, 2011)."Mariners sign right-hander Ray with spring invite".Seattle Post-Intelligencer.Hearst Corporation.Archived fromthe originalon January 29, 2011.
  9. ^"Mariners place Ray on DL".9news.August 1, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon July 14, 2013.RetrievedJuly 14,2013.
  10. ^Nicholson-Smith, Ben (August 15, 2011)."Mariners Release Chris Ray".MLBTradeRumors.RetrievedAugust 16,2011.
  11. ^Bastian, Jordan (March 15, 2012)."Final bullpen spots still to be hashed out".Indians.MLB.Archived fromthe originalon April 3, 2015.RetrievedApril 7,2012.
  12. ^Hoynes, Paul (March 30, 2012)."Jeanmar Gomez is latest Cleveland Indians pitcher to be injured".The Plain Dealer.Cleveland, Ohio.RetrievedApril 7,2012.
  13. ^Massie, Jim (April 5, 2012)."Janish home runs lift Bats past Clippers in opener".The Columbus Dispatch.RetrievedApril 7,2012.
  14. ^Axisa, Mike (May 22, 2013)."Former big leaguer Chris Ray now co-owns a brewery with his brother".CBSSports.RetrievedAugust 26,2021.Ray, 31, pitched in Triple-A last summer before deciding to retire from the game over the winter.
  15. ^Graves, Lee (March 22, 2013)."The Brew: On the business of brotherly love".Richmond BizSense.RetrievedMarch 23,2013.
  16. ^Glassner, Greg (March 16, 2012)."Baseball pitcher, brother to open brewery in Ashland".The Herald-Progress.Ashland, Virginia:Lakeway Publishers, Inc. Archived fromthe originalon October 19, 2012.RetrievedApril 3,2012.
  17. ^"10K After Party at Center of the Universe Brewing Company with Richmond".Richmond Times-Dispatch.April 10, 2013.Archivedfrom the original on August 26, 2021.RetrievedApril 14,2013.
  18. ^"A Relief Pitcher of Beer".Washington Beer Blog.June 13, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on August 1, 2014.RetrievedAugust 26,2021.
  19. ^"Homefront IPA".Fremont Brewing.Archived fromthe originalon October 18, 2011.RetrievedSeptember 19,2011.
  20. ^Somerville, Maella (March 27, 2013)."Homefront IPA: A Drink That Gives Back".Richmond Times-Dispatch.RetrievedApril 14,2013.
  21. ^"Homefront IPA beer sales support military veterans".WTOP-FM.Washington, D.C.May 22, 2014.RetrievedMay 28,2014.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chris_Ray&oldid=1221787289"