# Ralph Bryant

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Bryant
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{{short description|American baseball player (born 1961)}}
{{for|a professor of forestry|Ralph C. Bryant}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Ralph Bryant
|image=1987 Albuquerque Dukes Police - Ralph Bryant (cropped).jpg
|caption=Bryant with the [Albuquerque Dukes](/source/Albuquerque_Dukes) {{circa}} 1987 
|position=[Outfielder](/source/Outfielder)
|bats=Left
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1961|5|20}}
|birth_place=[Fort Gaines, Georgia](/source/Fort_Gaines%2C_Georgia), U.S.
|debutleague=MLB
|debutdate=September 8
|debutyear=1985
|debutteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
|debut2league=NPB
|debut2date=June 29
|debut2year=1988
|debut2team=Kintetsu Buffaloes
|finalleague=MLB
|finaldate=October 4
|finalyear=1987
|finalteam=Los Angeles Dodgers
|final2league=NPB
|final2date=June 11
|final2year=1995
|final2team=Kintetsu Buffaloes
|statleague=MLB
|stat1label=[Batting average](/source/Batting_average_(baseball))
|stat1value=.253
|stat2label=[Home run](/source/Home_run)s
|stat2value=8
|stat3label=[Runs batted in](/source/Run_batted_in)
|stat3value=24
|stat2league=NPB
|stat21label=[Batting average](/source/Batting_average_(baseball))
|stat21value=.261
|stat22label=[Home run](/source/Home_run)s
|stat22value=259
|stat23label=[Runs batted in](/source/Run_batted_in)
|stat23value=641
|teams=
*[Los Angeles Dodgers](/source/Los_Angeles_Dodgers) ({{mlby|1985}}–{{mlby|1987}})
*[Kintetsu Buffaloes](/source/Kintetsu_Buffaloes) ({{npby|1988}}–{{npby|1995}})
|highlights   = 
*[Pacific League MVP](/source/Nippon_Professional_Baseball_Most_Valuable_Player_Award) (1989)
*3× Pacific League home run leader (1989, 1993, 1994)
*Pacific League RBI leader (1993)
}}
'''Ralph Wendell Bryant''' (born May 20, 1961) is an American former [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) player. He played with the [Los Angeles Dodgers](/source/Los_Angeles_Dodgers) in the major leagues, and with the [Chunichi Dragons](/source/Chunichi_Dragons) and [Kintetsu Buffaloes](/source/Kintetsu_Buffaloes) in [Nippon Professional Baseball](/source/Nippon_Professional_Baseball). He batted left-handed, threw right-handed, and played outfield for most of his career.

==Career==
Born in [Fort Gaines, Georgia](/source/Fort_Gaines%2C_Georgia),  Bryant studied at [Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College](/source/Abraham_Baldwin_Agricultural_College). He was drafted in the first round of the [1981 amateur draft](/source/1981_Major_League_Baseball_Draft) by the [Los Angeles Dodgers](/source/Los_Angeles_Dodgers), having previously been drafted by the Dodgers and [Minnesota Twins](/source/Minnesota_Twins), but did not sign with either team that year.

Bryant was promoted to the major leagues for the first time in {{Baseball year|1985}}, but was unable to establish himself as a regular outfielder, and spent the next three years traveling back and forth between the major and minor leagues. In {{Baseball year|1988}}, the [Chunichi Dragons](/source/Chunichi_Dragons) of the Japanese [Central League](/source/Central_League) showed interest in Bryant, and he was shipped to Japan in May, 1988.

On June 7, 1988, [Dick Davis](/source/Dick_Davis_(baseball_player)), the cleanup batter of the [Kintetsu Buffaloes](/source/Kintetsu_Buffaloes), was arrested on drug charges, and the Buffaloes were forced to let go of one of their best hitters mid-season. Unable to fill the offensive void left by Davis, the Buffaloes found Bryant, who was playing on the Dragons minor league team. After seeing Bryant blast a home run in a minor league game, the Buffaloes offered to purchase his contract. The Dragons minor league staff was opposed to the trade, but regulations allowed for only two non-Japanese players per team, and the Dragons already had [Taiwan](/source/Taiwan)ese baseball star [Genji Kaku](/source/Genji_Kaku) and slugger [Gary Rajsich](/source/Gary_Rajsich) on their roster, leaving no room for Bryant. The purchase was finalized on June 28, giving birth to one of the best left-handed power hitters in Japanese baseball history.

Bryant quickly established his presence with the Buffaloes, hitting 34 home runs in only 74 games to contribute to their huge comeback which put the team in a close second place to the [Seibu Lions](/source/Seibu_Lions) in 1988. Ironically, many Buffaloes home games that year were held in the [Nagoya Baseball Stadium](/source/Nagoya_Baseball_Stadium), the home field of the [Chunichi Dragons](/source/Chunichi_Dragons).

Bryant played his best season in {{Baseball year|1989}}, where his 49 home runs led the Buffaloes to their third [Pacific League](/source/Pacific_League) championship. That 49 home run season would be a Buffaloes franchise record until [Tuffy Rhodes](/source/Tuffy_Rhodes) tied Sadaharu Oh's record of 55 in 2001. He won the season MVP award that year and also tied [Sadaharu Oh](/source/Sadaharu_Oh)'s career record for hitting 3 home runs in a game 5 times. The Buffaloes reached the [1989 Japan Series](/source/1989_Japan_Series) that year for the first and only time in Bryant's career. However, they would fall in a reverse sweep by the [Yomiuri Giants](/source/Yomiuri_Giants) and Central League MVP, fellow foreigner [Warren Cromartie](/source/Warren_Cromartie). Bryant hit just one home run in the series. He continued his success in subsequent seasons and retired in {{Baseball year|1995}} after missing most of that year due to injuries. He was invited back to Japan in {{Baseball year|2005}} by manager [Akira Ogi](/source/Akira_Ogi) as a hitting coach for the [Orix Buffaloes](/source/Orix_Buffaloes). He left this job after only one year but blasted three home runs in an inter-league home run contest during the season.

Though he hit a large number of home runs throughout his career, he also struck out countless times, and holds the top four spots on the single-season strikeout records in [Nippon Professional Baseball](/source/Nippon_Professional_Baseball).

==External links==
{{Baseballstats |mlb=|espn=|br=b/bryanra01|fangraphs=1001607|brm=bryant001ral}}

{{Pacific League MVPs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Ralph}}
Category:1961 births
Category:African-American baseball players
Category:Albuquerque Dukes players
Category:20th-century American sportsmen
Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan
Category:Caimanes del Sur players
Category:American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic
Category:Chunichi Dragons players
Category:Kintetsu Buffaloes players
Category:Midland Angels players
Category:Lethbridge Dodgers players
Category:Living people
Category:Los Angeles Dodgers players
Category:Major League Baseball outfielders
Category:Nippon Professional Baseball coaches
Category:Nippon Professional Baseball designated hitters
Category:Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners
Category:People from Fort Gaines, Georgia
Category:San Antonio Dodgers players
Category:Vero Beach Dodgers players
Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen
Category:21st-century American sportsmen
Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ralph Bryant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Bryant) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Bryant?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.