Brendan Ryan

Brendan Wood Ryan (born March 26, 1982) is an American former professional baseball infielder.

He played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels.

Ryan was a shortstop but was a versatile enough defender that he made professional appearances at every position but catcher.

Ryan was born in Los Angeles on March 26, 1982, to Katie and Jim Ryan.

He is the youngest of their four children.

Ryan attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California.

His father was an infielder for Loyola Marymount University and holds the school's single-season record for the most hits with a wooden bat.

One of his uncles, Willie Ryan, was a National Champion First Team All-American first baseman for the USC Trojans baseball team; his other uncle, Dr. Patrick Ryan, was a college sprinter at UCLA and Michigan State.

In the fall of 2000, Ryan enrolled at Lewis–Clark State College to play college baseball in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

In his first season, he batted .375 with 5 triples, the third most ever by a Warrior.

As a sophomore shortstop, he hit .359 with 34 RBIs and hit .378 with runners on.

During the 2002 season, he hit safely in 18 straight games.

Beyond his solid offensive numbers, Ryan gained a reputation as a good defensive infielder.

In the 2002 summer season, Brendan played collegiate summer baseball for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in the Alaska Baseball League.

In 2003, Ryan entered the MLB amateur draft and was selected in the seventh round (215th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ryan hit .311 for the Cardinals' rookie league affiliate, the New Jersey Cardinals, in 2003.

In 2004, he was promoted to the Cardinals' Class A affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs.

With a .322 batting average and 30 steals in the 2004 season, another promotion came for Ryan, this time to the High A Class team, the Palm Beach Cardinals, where Ryan was selected as a Florida State League All-Star.

He was promoted again during the middle of 2005 season to the Class AA Springfield Cardinals.

In 2006, Ryan suffered a wrist injury in spring training limiting him to 28 games spread among four stops in the minors.

That same year, Ryan appeared in 28 games for the Peoria Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League and batted .310 (39-for-126) with two home runs, 19 runs and 20 RBI.

His 39 hits were tied for tops for the 2006 AFL season.

He collected two four-hit games and hit safely in his first eight AFL games (.425 BA) and 10 of his first 11 (.396).

Ryan was originally called up on and made his major league debut for the Cardinals on June 2, 2007, against the Houston Astros.

He was later sent down on July 27, 2007, but was recalled on August 12, 2007, and remained with the Cardinals for the rest of the season.

In his rookie year, he hit for a .289 batting average with 4 home runs and 11 runs batted in.

Ryan also scored 29 runs and recorded 7 stolen bases without being caught stealing.

He batted significantly better against left-handed pitching in his first season with a batting average of .354, as opposed to his .232 average against right-handers.

His first major league home run was a game-winner in the top of the 11th inning off of Scott Schoeneweis of the New York Mets on June 26, 2007.

His second home run also came rather dramatically, as he contributed to a four run comeback on July 4, 2007 when the Cardinals were at one point behind 4–1.

The Cardinals won the game 5–4 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Ryan opened the 2008 season on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain suffered in spring training.

He rehabbed injury in the minor leagues in the first month of the season until called up on April 23.

He was the Cardinals' primary utility infielder for the most of the season, although he played three games in the outfield.

He was optioned to Memphis on August 6 and recalled again on September 2.

Ryan started the 2009 season in St. Louis.

He went on the 15-day disabled from April 30 through May 15 with a left hamstring strain, making a rehab stint in Memphis.

By June, he moved up to be the everyday shortstop, batting over .300 and playing spectacular defense.

On August 20, 2009, in the second inning of the Cardinals and Padres Game, Ryan hit his first career grand slam off of San Diego pitcher Tim Stauffer.

The 2012 winner of the Fielding Bible Award, Ryan had a reputation as one of the best defensive players in baseball.