BOSTON — Mike Ryan, the backup catcher on the Boston Red Sox’s 1967 “Impossible Dream” team during a 35-year career in professional baseball, has died. He was 78.
The Red Sox said Ryan died in his sleep Tuesday in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
A native of Haverhill, Ryan appeared in 636 games with the Red Sox, Phillies and Pirates from 1964-74. He was Boston’s backup catcher for the AL championship team in ’67, going hitless in his only two World Series at-bats when the Red Sox lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
In his career, he had a .991 fielding percentage and threw out 43.6% of runners attempting to steal a base.
Ryan went on to manage the Pirates’ Single-A affiliate and work for the Phillies as a minor league catching instructor and Triple-A manager. He also was the bullpen coach in Philadelphia for 16 years, including the 1980 World Series championship team.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have one? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login to participate in the conversation. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.