Randy Ready Explained

Randy Ready
Position:Second baseman / Third baseman / Left fielder
Bats:Right
Throws:Right
Birth Date:8 January 1960
Birth Place:San Mateo, California, U.S.
Debutleague:MLB
Debutdate:September 4
Debutyear:1983
Debutteam:Milwaukee Brewers
Finalleague:MLB
Finaldate:July 9
Finalyear:1995
Finalteam:Philadelphia Phillies
Debut2league:NPB
Debut2date:March 30
Debut2year:1996
Debut2team:Chiba Lotte Marines
Final2league:NPB
Final2date:May 31
Final2year:1996
Final2team:Chiba Lotte Marines
Statleague:MLB
Stat1label:Batting average
Stat1value:.259
Stat2label:Home runs
Stat2value:40
Stat3label:Runs batted in
Stat3value:239
Stat2league:NPB
Stat21label:Batting average
Stat21value:.200
Stat22label:Home runs
Stat22value:1
Stat23label:Runs batted in
Stat23value:11
Teams:

Randall Max Ready (born January 8, 1960) is a former professional baseball player and former manager for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Ready played in the major Leagues primarily as a utility player from to . He also played one season in Japan for the Chiba Lotte Marines in . He was a minor league coach for the Detroit Tigers and served as a minor league coach for the Padres.

Professional playing days

Ready played in Puerto Rico's winter league for the Indios de Mayagüez in 1985–86. In 1984, he was second in the race for the league's batting title. He batted .361, finishing behind Don Mattingly, who batted .368. On June 12, 1986, Ready was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later. On October 29, 1986, the Padres sent Tim Pyznarski to the Milwaukee Brewers to complete the trade.[1]

Only days after his trade to San Diego, Ready's wife Doreen suffered a heart attack that caused brain damage.[2] [3] At the time, the Readys had three children. Four years later, Ready was awarded $24.7 million by a jury that ruled a physician who had prescribed diet pills to Doreen Ready was responsible for the heart attack she had suffered.[4]

On June 2, 1989, he was traded by the San Diego Padres with John Kruk to the Philadelphia Phillies for Chris James.[5] [6]

On April 28, 1991, Ready was on the verge of completing a rare unassisted triple play. In the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres, Ready caught a line drive hit by Tony Gwynn, stepped on second to force out Paul Faries and could have easily tagged out Tony Fernández for the third and final out, but he elected to throw the ball to first baseman Ricky Jordan.[7] [8] It was the Phillies' first triple-play in the history of Veterans Stadium.[9]

Career statistics

In 777 games over 13 seasons, Ready posted a .259 batting average (547-for-2110) with 312 runs, 107 doubles, 21 triples, 40 home runs, 239 RBI, 326 bases on balls, .359 on-base percentage and .387 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .966 fielding percentage playing at first, second and third base and left and right field.

Managing career

Ready returned to baseball as a manager for the Oneonta Tigers in 2002–2003, where he was named the New York–Penn League Manager of the Year after leading the Tigers to a 47–27 (.635) record and a division title 2002. Ready returned to the San Diego Padres minor league system and served as manager of the Fort Wayne Wizards (Class A, Fort Wayne, Indiana) from 2004 until 2006. In 2007, Ready was named the manager of the San Antonio Missions (Class AA, San Antonio, Texas) for their inaugural season with the San Diego Padres organization. He led the team to a 73–66 (.525) record and the Texas League championship. On December 14, 2007, Ready was named the manager of the Portland Beavers (Class AAA, Portland, Oregon),[10] a position he held until being named the hitting coach of the San Diego Padres on July 31, 2009.[11] Following the 2009 season, Ready was a candidate to be the next manager of the Houston Astros,[12] however, the position was filled by Brad Mills.[13]

The Padres finished the 2011 season with a 71–91 record while hitting a major league-low 91 home runs and finishing last in the National League (and next to last in MLB) in batting average (.237) and OPS (.653).[14] [15] They scored the third fewest runs in MLB, and they were shut out 19 times.[14] [16] Ready was fired by the Padres after the end of the season.[14]

In 2012, he was the Texas Rangers' minor league hitting coordinator.

On November 12, 2012, Ready was hired to be the next manager for the Atlanta Braves' Triple-A affiliate, Gwinnett.[17] He was replaced by Brian Snitker on October 14, 2013.[18]

On January 8, 2016, Ready was hired to be the next manager for the Miami Marlins' Single-A affiliate, Jupiter Hammerheads.[19]

Ready was named as the manager for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in the Miami Marlins organization for the 2018 season. In 2019, he was replaced by Kevin Randel.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Friend. Tom. Padres Send Pyznarski to Milwaukee to Complete Deal for Randy Ready. May 26, 2016. Los Angeles Times. October 30, 1986.
  2. News: Ready's wife remains critical. May 26, 2016. The Milwaukee Journal. June 17, 1986.
  3. News: Williams. Norman D.. Heart attack took normal life from wife, family, Ready says. May 26, 2016. The Milwaukee Journal. June 22, 1990.
  4. News: Knoche. Eldon. Christopolos. Mike. Ex-Brewers family wins $24.7 million in lawsuit. May 26, 2016. The Milwaukee Sentinel. August 4, 1990.
  5. News: Holbreich. Curt. Padres Deal Kruk, Ready to Phillies for Chris James : In Trade, Team Hopes for Power From New Player. May 26, 2016. Los Angeles Times. June 3, 1989.
  6. News: Phillies, Padres swap James, Kruk. May 26, 2016. Deseret News. June 4, 1989.
  7. News: Phils' Ready Opted for 'Easy' Toss And Missed Unassisted Triple Play. May 26, 2016. New York Times. Associated Press. April 29, 1991.
  8. News: Hagen. Paul. Ready nearly made history with 1991 triple play. May 26, 2016. MLB.com. August 27, 2015.
  9. Book: Westcott, Rich. Veterans Stadium: field of memories. 2005. Temple University Press. Philadelphia. 1-58261-303-6 . 81 .
  10. http://www.portlandbeavers.com/news/press/index.html?article_id=1025 portlandbeavers.com: Press Releases
  11. http://www.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090731&content_id=6164794&vkey=pr_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sd
  12. McTaggart, Brian. Yost stresses his credentials . MLB.com. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  13. McTaggart, Brian. Mills named Astros manager . MLB.com. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  14. News: Padres fire another hitting coach . September 29, 2011 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20111001113654/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/29/padres-fire-another-hitting-coach/ . dead . October 1, 2011.
  15. News: Will Venable's slam helps Padres dump Cubs in finale . September 28, 2011 . . ESPN.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20111002194911/http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310928125 . dead . October 2, 2011.
  16. News: Canepa . Nick . Hoyer's offseason whiffs contributed to Padres' slump . September 27, 2011 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20110930122029/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/27/hoyers-offseason-whiffs-contributed-to-padres/ . dead . September 30, 2011.
  17. Web site: Braves Name Randy Ready as New Triple-A Manager . AtlantaBraves.com . Braves Press Release . November 12, 2012.
  18. Web site: Snitker to take over managerial duties at Gwinnett. October 14, 2013. October 14, 2013. MLB.com.
  19. Web site: Miami Marlins Announce 2016 Jupiter Field Staff MiLB.com News The Official Site of Minor League Baseball. MiLB.com. 2016-07-21.