Oklahoma Great Ryan Minor, Who Replaced Cal Ripken After Record Streak, Dies at 49

The former Oklahoma Sooners standout was a college star in both basketball and baseball.

Ryan Minor, a former two-sport star at Oklahoma and MLB player, died after a battle with cancer Friday at age 49. He is best known for replacing Cal Ripken Jr. in the lineup after Ripken broke MLB’s consecutive-games streak with the Baltimore Orioles in 1998.

Minor played basketball and baseball at Oklahoma, shining in both sports through his four-year college career. In basketball, Minor earned third-team All-America honors and was named Big Eight Player of the Year in 1995. He was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers and played two years for the Oklahoma City Cavalry in the Premier Basketball League.

In baseball, Minor was a member of Oklahoma’s College World Series-winning team in 1994 and was drafted twice by MLB teams, first by the New York Mets in ’95 and then by the Orioles in ’96. Minor made his major league debut with Baltimore in ’98, eventually starting at third base in place of Ripken, whose MLB-record streak of 2,632 consecutive games played ended on Sept. 20, 1998.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of former third baseman and longtime minor league manager Ryan Minor, who courageously fought cancer.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Ryan’s family and friends at this time. pic.twitter.com/7ajmZedNBK

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) December 23, 2023

The former Sooners star recently was named to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame class of 2024.

Minor last appeared in the major leagues in 2001 with the Montreal Expos, but he went on to play for independent teams for a few years before officially retiring in ’05. He then became a minor league baseball coach, including managing stints in the Orioles organization.