Ryan Minor Cause of Death: What was former Orioles infielder and long time minor league manager suffering from?

Former Baltimore Orioles third baseman Ryan Minor died on Friday at the age of 49. The former MLB star was battling against colon cancer for a while, according to his brother. Minor spent four seasons in the major leagues, the first three with the Orioles and one with the Montreal Expos. He then went on to have a coaching career in the minors with the Orioles organization.

Ryan Minor was a sportsman at a young age and first tried his hand at basketball, being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996. He went on to play seven preseason games before being released. He also played baseball during his school days and was eventually selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1996 MLB draft. After spending more than two years in the minors, Minor made his major league debut for the Orioles in 1998 and went on to play three seasons for them. He went on to play for the Montreal Expos in the 2001 season.

However, his playing career was short-lived and Minor went on to become a coach in 2006, first with the Atlantic League's Road Warriors and then with the York Revolution in the same league. He then rejoined the Orioles organization in 2008 and became the hitting coach for their Single-A side Delmarva Shorebirds. In 2013, he was promoted to the manager of Advance-A Frederick Keys and remained in the Orioles organization for the rest of his career.

Ryan Minor is still best remembered for replacing Cal Ripken Jr.

When Ryan Minor stepped up to make his MLB debut for the Baltimore Orioles in 1998, he was replacing one of the greatest legends of the team, Cal Ripken Jr. Ripken was the Orioles shortstop who held the record for the longest streak of consecutive games played, at 2,632 games, a record that stands till today.

Minor told reporters during an interview in 2018 that he does not mind being remembered for that:

“I guess it’s better to talk about it than to be forgotten.”