Red Ryan

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records

Red Ryan was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for 7 teams, including the Brooklyn Royal Giants. Across 178 career appearances, he went 84-57 with a 3.33 ERA and 477 strikeouts. He also batted .212 with 2 home runs. His totals include Negro Leagues seasons, which MLB recognized as major league in 2020. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 13668.0.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):
For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated

W–L 84–57
ERA 3.33
WHIP 1.26
SO 477
Pitcher PIV 13668.0
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
5'11" / 170 lb
Born
7/11/1897 in Brooklyn, NY, USA
Died
1969 in New York, NY, USA

Full name: Merven John Ryan

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Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

Red Ryan — Batting
PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
14.0 13.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 .231 .231 .538 .769

Pitching

Red Ryan — Pitching
W L GS CG GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA WHIP
3 5 8 5 3 0 60.0 46 27 8 2 8 11 1.20 0.90

Career Pitching Statistics

Red Ryan — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
84 57 178 131 102 10 1 1204.0 1,190 445 42 327 477 3.33 13668.0

Career ERA 3.33 vs. league average 4.12 across their career seasons — 19.2% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Red Ryan Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1919 BRG EAS 1 2 3 2 1 0 0 18.1 34 16 4 8 7.85 3.09 (-155%) 367.1
1920 AC EAS 6 2 11 7 7 0 0 70.1 49 8 12 45 1.02 3.45 (+70%) 2458.0
1921 AC EAS 8 4 14 11 9 2 0 99.2 90 25 29 43 2.26 4.02 (+44%) 1587.3
1923 HIL ECL 9 5 16 13 10 0 0 113.2 104 31 25 53 2.45 4.03 (+39%) 2805.9
1924 HIL ECL 14 7 26 22 16 2 1 199.0 204 58 35 94 2.62 4.13 (+36%) 4414.3
1925 HIL ECL 5 2 11 4 3 1 0 52.0 45 19 9 17 3.29 4.55 (+28%) 768.2
1926 HIL ECL 8 11 23 17 15 3 0 163.0 158 66 45 71 3.64 4.11 (+11%) 1660.0
1927 HIL ECL 8 8 18 15 12 1 0 145.2 131 54 52 44 3.34 4.08 (+18%) -586.2
1928 HIL EAS 8 5 16 12 10 0 0 103.0 104 48 26 31 4.19 4.13 (-1%) 360.2
1929 BBS ANL 8 6 19 14 8 1 0 99.2 113 54 34 29 4.88 4.60 (-6%) -70.2
1929 HIL ANL 2 0 4 3 3 0 0 27.0 22 6 8 12 2.00 4.60 (+57%) 450.5
1930 NLG IND 4 4 11 7 4 0 0 71.1 96 51 35 20 6.43 4.80 (-34%) -1098.1
1931 HAR IND 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 7.2 13 5 5 3 5.87 — 0.0
1931 HIL IND 3 0 3 3 3 0 0 28.0 21 2 5 5 0.64 4.10 (+84%) 550.9
1932 NWB EWL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5.2 6 2 3 2 3.18 — 0.0
Career · 15 seasons 84 57 178 131 102 10 1 1,204.0 1,190 445 327 477 3.33 — 13,668

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Red Ryan — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
191 462 50 98 14 3 2 33 7 20 8 .212 .245 .268 .513 -1,058

Career AVG .212 vs. league average .282 across their career seasons — 24.7% below league average.

Career OBP .245 vs. league average .343 across their career seasons — 28.7% below league average.

Career SLG .268 vs. league average .393 across their career seasons — 31.8% below league average.

Career OPS .513 vs. league average .736 across their career seasons — 30.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Red Ryan Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1919 BRG EAS 4 12 2 3 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1920 AC EAS 12 24 3 5 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 .208 — — — — 0.0
1921 AC EAS 15 37 1 6 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 .162 — — — — 0.0
1923 HIL ECL 16 40 3 8 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 .200 — — — — 0.0
1924 HIL ECL 27 76 5 11 1 0 0 5 3 3 1 .145 .283 (-49%) .345 (-49%) .389 (-59%) .734 (-54%) -671.3
1925 HIL ECL 12 20 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100 — — — — 0.0
1926 HIL ECL 23 62 5 14 3 0 0 3 0 3 4 .226 .279 (-19%) .345 (-24%) .390 (-30%) .735 (-27%) -279.1
1927 HIL ECL 20 55 6 14 1 1 1 4 1 3 0 .255 .282 (-10%) .344 (-15%) .392 (-7%) .736 (-11%) -107.8
1928 HIL EAS 18 38 4 6 1 0 0 1 0 3 2 .158 — — — — 0.0
1929 BBS ANL 19 39 10 10 2 1 1 5 0 2 0 .256 — — — — 0.0
1929 HIL ANL 5 8 2 3 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 .375 — — — — 0.0
1930 NLG IND 12 32 6 9 1 0 0 5 0 1 0 .281 — — — — 0.0
1931 HAR IND 2 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 — — — — 0.0
1931 HIL IND 4 13 2 6 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 .462 — — — — 0.0
1932 NWB EWL 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 15 seasons 191 462 50 98 14 3 2 33 7 20 8 .212 — — — — -1,058

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Red Ryan — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Red Ryan — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1925 NWS HIL 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1924 NWS HIL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Red Ryan — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 0 3 2 0 8.1 9 7 2 4 7.56

Playoff Pitching by Year

Red Ryan — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1925 NWS HIL 1 0 1 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 1 0.00
1924 NWS HIL 0 0 2 2 0 6.1 8 7 2 3 9.95

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Red Ryan — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 8 3 5 1 0 0
P 178 131 43 303 32 7

Season-by-Season Fielding

Red Ryan — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1919 BRG OF 2 1 5 0 0 0
1919 BRG P 3 2 4 5 0 0
1920 AC P 11 7 2 26 0 2
1921 AC P 14 11 5 27 2 1
1923 HIL P 16 13 5 32 2 0
1924 HIL P 26 22 9 49 3 0
1925 HIL P 11 4 0 0 0 0
1926 HIL P 23 17 6 44 6 2
1927 HIL OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1927 HIL P 18 15 7 22 4 0
1928 HIL OF 1 0 0 1 0 0
1928 HIL P 16 12 3 45 7 1
1929 BBS P 19 14 1 23 7 1
1929 HIL OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1929 HIL P 4 3 0 10 0 0
1930 NLG OF 1 1 0 0 0 0
1930 NLG P 11 7 0 14 0 0
1931 HAR P 2 1 0 1 0 0
1931 HIL OF 1 1 0 0 0 0
1931 HIL P 3 3 1 5 1 0
1932 NWB OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1932 NWB P 1 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Red Ryan Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 178
Center Field 3
Right Field 5

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

  1. 98
    Dizzy Dismukes
    75-65, 3.31 ERA
  2. 66
    Lefty Williams
    82-48, 3.13 ERA
  3. 55
    Leon Cadore
    68-72, 3.14 ERA
  4. 41
    Dicta Johnson
    76-62, 3.57 ERA
  5. 37
    Cy Blanton
    68-71, 3.55 ERA
  6. 35
    Chet Brewer
    69-60, 3.44 ERA

Red Ryan: the record in brief

Red Ryan's record on this page is drawn from the season tables, which run from 1919 to 1932. The season rows list, in order, the Brooklyn Royal Giants (1919), the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1920 through 1921), the Hilldale Club (1923 to 1931), the Baltimore Black Sox (1929), the New York Lincoln Giants (1930), the Harlem Stars (1931), and the Newark Browns (1932). Ryan, born on July 11, 1897, in Brooklyn, NY, USA, is listed as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio gives 170 pounds on a 5-foot-11 frame. The bio records the death in 1969, in New York, NY, USA. Ryan's full given name, per the bio, is Merven John Ryan.

Ryan went 84-57 with a 3.33 ERA in 178 games, 131 of them starts. Also on Ryan's record: 477 strikeouts, 102 complete games, and 10 shutouts. Against a 4.12 league ERA for the same years, Ryan was 19.2% better. No season topped the 14 wins of 1924.

Frequently Asked Questions about Red Ryan

Was Red Ryan a pitcher?
Yes. Red Ryan pitched in the major leagues, recording 84 wins and 477 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Red Ryan hit?
Red Ryan hit 2 career home runs with 98 hits.
What teams did Red Ryan play for?
Red Ryan played for 7 teams: the Brooklyn Royal Giants (1919), the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants (1920–1921), the Hilldale Club (1923–1929, 1931), the Baltimore Black Sox (1929), the New York Lincoln Giants (1930), the Harlem Stars (1931), and the Newark Browns (1932).
What were Red Ryan's career stats?
In 178 games, Red Ryan went 84-57 with a 3.33 ERA, 477 strikeouts, 1,204.0 innings pitched, and 1 saves. At the plate he had 98 hits and 2 home runs.
What position did Red Ryan play?
Red Ryan played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Red Ryan and how much did he weigh?
Red Ryan was listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 170 pounds.
What was Red Ryan's career ERA?
Red Ryan finished with a 3.33 career ERA, going 84-57 with 477 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Red Ryan have?
Red Ryan recorded 477 career strikeouts.
Is Red Ryan in the Hall of Fame?
No. Red Ryan has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.