Mike Ryan connected with Steve Carlton behind the plate, not at the plate.
A catcher of superior defensive skills, Ryan played in the 1967 World Series for the Red Sox against the Cardinals.
Ryan played in 11 seasons in the big leagues because of his glove work and strong throwing arm. His career batting average with the Red Sox (1964-67), Phillies (1968-73) and Pirates (1974) was .193.
Ryan’s strength and weakness were illustrated by his interactions with Carlton. With the Phillies from 1968-71, Ryan was hitless in 26 at-bats against the Cardinals’ left-hander. When Carlton got traded to the Phillies in 1972, Ryan became one of his catchers in an award-winning season.
New England tough
Ryan was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, about 35 miles north of Boston and near the border of New Hampshire. He grew up a Red Sox fan and took up catching when he was 9. “A catcher’s mitt wasn’t the first glove I owned, but it was my favorite,” Ryan told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I guess I liked the idea of being in on every play.”
A prominent sandlot player, Ryan signed with the Red Sox when he was 18 and played in their farm system from 1961-64.
On the last weekend of the 1964 season, injuries left the Red Sox short of catchers and they called up Ryan. Manager Billy Herman put him in the starting lineup in a Saturday game against the Senators at Boston’s Fenway Park. Bill Monbouquette pitched a shutout for the Red Sox. Ryan caught seven innings and drove in two runs in his major-league debut. Boxscore
With a Massachusetts accent described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “thick as chowder,” Ryan was a natural for the Red Sox. He spent part of 1965 with them and was their Opening Day catcher in 1966 and 1967. In August 1967, the Red Sox acquired catcher Elston Howard from the Yankees and he supplanted Ryan as the starter for the pennant stretch.
Howard, 38, appealed to Red Sox manager Dick Williams more than Ryan, 25, did because Howard had played in nine World Series for the Yankees. Ryan objected to being displaced and spoke out about it. He considered himself a better defensive catcher than Howard, and Howard (.147) did even less at the plate for the Red Sox than Ryan did (.199).
“They put the screws to me around here,” Ryan told the Boston Globe.
The Red Sox clinched the American League pennant on the last day of the 1967 season. In the World Series versus the Cardinals, Howard did most of the catching. Ryan’s only appearance came in Game 4 at St. Louis when he replaced Howard in the fifth inning and went hitless in two at-bats against Bob Gibson. Boxscore
During the regular season, Red Sox ace Jim Lonborg, who won the 1967 American League Cy Young Award, started more games with Ryan as his catcher than he did with Elston Howard, or backups Russ Gibson and Bob Tillman.
In a tribute to Ryan in the Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Massachusetts, Lonborg said, “He taught me what New England toughness was all about. Broken fingers, cracked ribs. The game must go on.”
Two months after the Cardinals prevailed in the 1967 World Series, Ryan was traded to the Phillies. “I’m glad to get away, to get a chance,” Ryan told the Boston Globe.
Good field, no hit
Ryan “has a strong arm, a sure glove and handled Boston’s young pitchers intelligently,” the Philadelphia Daily News noted.
He was the Phillies’ Opening Day catcher in 1968 and 1969. In the off-seasons, Ryan and his wife collected antiques. “The catcher has a poet’s soul,” wrote the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Bill Lyon.
Ryan led National League catchers in percentage of runners caught attempting to steal (57.6) in 1968 and in assists (79) in 1969, but his batting marks for those seasons were .179 and .204.
“Mike Ryan can’t hit a lick and that’s the pity of it,” Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote. “He’s tried a dozen stances and a jillion bats, but nothing has helped.”
Ryan told Sandy Padwe of the Philadelphia Inquirer, “There have been times I was so confused that I didn’t even know my name when I went up to bat. The whole thing is so frustrating. It takes so much out of you. Maybe I’m just not a hitter, but I can’t believe that.”
Collecting Cardinals
In October 1969, looking to get more production from the catcher position, the Phillies acquired Tim McCarver from the Cardinals and Ryan became a backup.
McCarver and Ryan were involved in a freak occurrence on May 2, 1970, in a game at San Francisco. In the sixth inning, a foul tip by Willie Mays fractured McCarver’s right hand. Ryan replaced him. After Mays singled and Willie McCovey doubled, Ken Henderson singled to right. Ron Stone’s throw to Ryan nailed McCovey at the plate, but Ryan fractured his left hand when spiked by McCovey. Boxscore
McCarver hit .287 in 1970 and .278 in 1971, but his defensive skills were slipping.
The Phillies acquired Steve Carlton from the Cardinals in February 1972. The deal reunited Carlton with McCarver, who was Carlton’s catcher with the Cardinals from 1965-69, but Phillies manager Frank Lucchesi was becoming disenchanted with McCarver’s weak throwing.
“If Mike Ryan had McCarver’s .280 bat, he would be a six-figure everyday player, a great star,” declared the Philadelphia Daily News. “If McCarver had Ryan’s sure, soft hands and lightning release, he’d be an all-star.”
Neither Carlton nor McCarver got off to a strong start with the 1972 Phillies. At the end of May, Carlton was 5-6 and McCarver was batting .208. “The Phillies watched McCarver three-hop balls to second and handle pitches as if they were live grenades while waiting for a bat which never came around,” according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
On June 14, 1972, the Phillies dealt McCarver to the Expos for catcher John Bateman.
Teaching and helping
With Bateman starting and Ryan backing up, Carlton put together a big season (27-10, 1.97 ERA) for a bad team (59-97) and won the 1972 National League Cy Young Award. “I could have told the hitters what was coming and they still wouldn’t have touched Steve,” Ryan told The Sporting News. “He dominated hitters.”
In 1973, rookie Bob Boone became the Phillies’ catcher, Bateman departed and Ryan remained the backup. In two seasons (1972-73) together, Carlton and Ryan formed the Phillies’ battery in 10 games. Ryan also was reunited in 1973 with Lonborg, who was acquired by the Phillies.
Ryan finished his playing career in 1974 with the Pirates. He was a manager in the Pirates’ farm system for two years (1975-76) and mentored a teen catching prospect, Tony Pena. Ryan also managed Phillies minor-league teams for two seasons (1977-78) and helped advance the career of outfielder Lonnie Smith.
For 16 years (1980-95), Ryan was a Phillies coach. The Phillies got to the World Series three times in that stretch, including 1993, when their catcher was Darren Daulton, who bonded with Ryan. “He’s as solid as they come,” Daulton told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “How much do I think of him? I named my son for him: Zachary Ryan Daulton.”
RetroSimba 
Up until the trade for Elston Howard, Mike Ryan was hitting .224, which for him, was pretty good. After the trade, Howard and Ryan hit a combined .120. In 1968, the Cardinals were 4 for 9 in stolen bases with Mike behind the plate.
Thanks. Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote, “Mike Ryan has this unique style of throwing where he sacrifices velocity for quickness of release and accuracy. He does it from his crouch, with only a tiny step and his back leg anchored.” Conlin also said of Mike Ryan, “Few catchers have better hands, quicker, stronger arms, or a more understanding way with pitchers.”
Nice story. Mike Ryan played in the 1960 Hearst Sandlot Classic along with Mike Marshall, Bill Freehan, and four other future major league players. I have interviewed several players from that game, including Marshall, but never had the opportunity to speak with Ryan.
Thanks for the insight. Impressive that the 1960 Hearst Sandlot Classic had a pair of catchers, Mike Ryan and Bill Freehan, who would play for a couple of 1960s American League pennant winners: Ryan with the 1967 Red Sox and Freehan with the 1968 Tigers.