Ryan Minor, the man who started at third base for the Orioles to end Cal Ripken's streak, dies at 49

Former MLB player and Oklahoma two-sport star Ryan Minor died Friday of colon cancer. He was 49.

Minor played baseball and basketball at Oklahoma and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1996. He made his MLB debut on Sept. 13, 1998, and a week later replaced Cal Ripken Jr. in the lineup at third base to end Ripken’s record of consecutive games played at 2,632.

Minor played parts of four seasons in the big leagues before moving into a managerial career in the minors. He managed two Orioles affiliates from 2010 to 2019. He appeared in 142 games for the Orioles and Montreal Expos and had 56 hits across 317 at-bats.

The Oklahoma native was drafted by the Orioles in the 15th round out of high school but chose to go to the University of Oklahoma, where he was one of the school’s biggest stars of the 1990s. Minor was part of the Oklahoma baseball team that won the 1994 national title and was the 1994-95 Big Eight basketball player of the year. He averaged nearly 24 points and more than eight rebounds per game that season.

Minor was also drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 1996 NBA Draft but chose to pursue a professional baseball career. He was picked by the New York Mets in the seventh round of the 1995 MLB Draft before returning to school for one more season. He was eventually drafted again by the Orioles in the 33rd round of the 1996 draft.

He played in 118 basketball games in four seasons for the Sooners and averaged 12.5 points per game in his career. His 1,946 career points are the sixth-most in school history.