Ken Ray

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Ken Ray

|image=

|position=Relief pitcher

|team=

|number=

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1974|11|27}}

|birth_place=Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=July 10

|debutyear=1999

|debutteam=Kansas City Royals

|debut2league = KBO

|debut2date=June 14

|debut2year=2008

|debut2team=SK Wyverns

|debut3league = CPBL

|debut3date=March 23

|debut3year=2010

|debut3team=La New Bears

|debut4league = NPB

|debut4date=July 17

|debut4year=2013

|debut4team=Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

|finalleague = MLB

| finaldate = September 30

| finalyear = 2006

| finalteam = Atlanta Braves

|final2league = KBO

|final2date=July 10

|final2year=2008

|final2team=SK Wyverns

|final3league = CPBL

|final3date=

|final3year=2017

|final3team=Lamigo Monkeys

|final4league = NPB

|final4date=

|final4year=2016

|final4team=Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=2–1

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=5.13

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=50

|stat2league = KBO

|stat21label=Win–loss record

|stat21value=1–2

|stat22label=Earned run average

|stat22value=6.64

|stat23label=Strikeouts

|stat23value=11

|stat3league = CPBL

|stat31label=Win–loss record

|stat31value=36–30

|stat32label=Earned run average

|stat32value=2.78

|stat33label=Strikeouts

|stat33value=428

|stat4league = NPB

|stat41label=Win–loss record

|stat41value=5–10

|stat42label=Earned run average

|stat42value=4.13

|stat43label=Strikeouts

|stat43value=98

|teams=

Kansas City Royals ({{mlby|1999}})
Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|2006}})
SK Wyverns ({{by|2008}})
La New Bears / Lamigo Monkeys ({{by|2010}}–{{by|2012}})
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles ({{npby|2013}})
Lamigo Monkeys ({{by|2014}})
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles ({{npby|2015}}–{{npby|2016}})

| highlights =

Japan Series champion (2013)
2x Taiwan Series champion (2012, 2014)

}}

Kenneth Alan Ray (born November 27, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals. Ray made his MLB debut on July 10, {{mlby|1999}}, for the Royals.

Early career

After briefly pitching for the Royals in 1999, Ray spent years battling arm problems while trying to work his way back onto a major league roster.

Back in the majors

He made a meteoric rise from {{Baseball year|2005}} to {{mlby|2006}}. In 2005, Ray started the season with the independent North Shore Spirit of the Can-Am League before being acquired by the Atlanta Braves organization. He spent the remainder of the season with the Triple-A Richmond Braves.

On April 6, {{mlby|2006}}, following an injury to starter Horacio Ramírez, Ray was called up from the Richmond Braves, Atlanta's Triple-A affiliate. In his first appearance for Atlanta in 2006, he struck out Barry Bonds on 3 pitches.

He was claimed off waivers by the Royals in the 2006 offseason. Ray began the {{Baseball year|2007}} season in Triple-A with the Omaha Royals. He was released on August 18, 2007. On August 30, he was signed by the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.

Ray began {{Baseball year|2008}} pitching for the Triple-A Potros de Tijuana of the Mexican League where he held a 6-3 record and a 3.65 ERA.{{Cite web |url=http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Ken%20Ray&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=150208 |title=MiLB profile |access-date=2008-05-07 |archive-date=2011-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519142608/http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Ken%20Ray&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=150208 |url-status=dead }} Ray signed with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization where he finished 2008.

On May 27, 2009, Ray was signed by the Cleveland Indians, and assigned to their AAA affiliate Columbus Clippers.

By March, 2010, Ray was pitching for the La New Bears in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. In 2010 his ERA of 2.32 helped earn him a renewal, and Ray continued to play for the La New Bears (now the Lamigo Monkeys) through 2012 and again in 2014. In 2013 he played in Mexico and then for Nippon Professional Baseball's Rakuten Golden Eagles, for whom he played again in 2015 and 2016. In 2017 at the age of 42, Ray pitched for the Lamigo Monkeys' minor league team.

References

External links

{{baseballstats|mlb=150208|espn=6273|br=r/rayke01|fangraphs=|brm=ray---001ken|retro=R/Pray-k001}}

[http://eng.koreabaseball.com/teams/playerinfopitcher/summary.aspx?pcode=78869 Career statistics and player information] from Korea Baseball Organization

Category:1974 births

Category:Living people

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Mexico

Category:American expatriate baseball players in South Korea

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan

Category:Atlanta Braves players

Category:Baseball players from Atlanta

Category:Bravos de Margarita players

Category:Columbus Clippers players

Category:KBO League pitchers

Category:Fresno Grizzlies players