Ron Bryant

{{Short description|American baseball player (1947–2023)}}

{{distinguish|Ronny Rey Bryant}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Ron Bryant

|position=Pitcher

|birth_date={{Birth date|1947|11|12}}

|birth_place=Redlands, California, U.S.

|death_date={{Death date and age|2023|11|17|1947|11|12}}

|death_place=Boise, Idaho, U.S.

|bats=Switch

|throws=Left

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 29

|debutyear=1967

|debutteam=San Francisco Giants

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=July 29

|finalyear=1975

|finalteam=St. Louis Cardinals

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=57–56

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=4.02

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=509

|teams=

• San Francisco Giants ({{baseball year|1967}}–{{baseball year|1974}})
• St. Louis Cardinals ({{baseball year|1975}})

|highlights=

• NL wins leader (1973)

}}

Ronald Raymond Bryant (November 12, 1947 – November 17, 2023) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher from {{Baseball year|1967}} to {{Baseball year|1975}}. Bryant's career record was 57 wins and 56 losses with a 4.02 earned run average (ERA), mostly with the San Francisco Giants. He had 519 strikeouts in 917 career innings pitched. In 1972, he went 14–7 with a 2.90 ERA. The following year he won 24 games, leading the National League.

His nickname is Bear which was coined by longtime Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy who explained that "Ron looked like a bear with his chunky build, his way of walking and his curly hair" and had nothing to do with Paul Bryant. He kept in his locker and the Giants dugout a three-foot teddy bear which was bought from a girl who was a Cubs fan for $30 in Chicago in 1972 and attired in one of his jerseys.[https://books.google.com/books?id=VCEFY4nqa1sC&dq=ron+bryant+pitcher+giants+bear+nickname&pg=PA136 Schott, Tom and Peters, Nick. The Giants Encyclopedia. Second edition. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing L.L.C, 2003.] Retrieved January 30, 2023. He also had a superstition of carrying in his back pocket the same amount of bubble gum pieces as the win total he was striving to achieve during his starts.[https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/16/archives/people-in-sports-a-surprise-for-carew.html Herman, Robin. "People in Sports: A Surprise for Carew," The New York Times, Thursday, August 16, 1973.] Retrieved January 30, 2023.

In 1973, Bryant had a 24–12 record with a 3.53 ERA for San Francisco. His 24 wins tied him with Wilbur Wood for most victories that year and made him the National League's only 20-game winner. It was also the most by a Giants left-handed pitcher since Carl Hubbell's 26 in 1936.[https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/21/archives/cubs-hand-expos-4th-loss-in-row-giants-halt-reds-phils-edge-cards-6.html "Giants Halt Reds," United Press International (UPI), Thursday, September 20, 1973.] Retrieved January 30, 2023. Despite his achievement, he finished third in that year's National League Cy Young Award balloting behind Tom Seaver and Mike Marshall.[https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/08/archives/orioles-palmer-beats-ryan-for-young-award-palmer-is-voted-best-of.html Durso, Joseph. "Orioles' Palmer Beats Ryan for Young Award," The New York Times, Thursday, November 8, 1973.] Retrieved January 30, 2023. No subsequent Giants pitcher would win at least 20 games in a season until Mike Krukow went 20–9 in 1986.[https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/03/20/Mike-Krukow-retires/2173637909200/ "Mike Krukow retires," United Press International (UPI), Tuesday, March 20, 1990.] Retrieved January 30, 2023.

Bryant sustained a gash along the right side of his torso that required 25 surgical sutures when he tumbled off a body slide and hit the side of a hotel swimming pool before going into the water during spring training on March 15, 1974.[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/17/archives/article-6-no-title.html "Bryant, Giants’ Pitcher, Hurt in Diving Accident," United Press International (UPI), Saturday, March 16, 1974.] Retrieved January 30, 2023. After a stint on the injured list until April 16,[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/03/archives/pappas-released-by-cubs-people-in-sports.html Harvin, Al. "People in Sports: Pappas Released by Cubs," The New York Times, Wednesday, April 3, 1974.] Retrieved January 30, 2023. he went 3–15 with a 5.61 ERA in 1974. His request to be placed on the voluntary retired list was granted by the Giants on April 4, 1975. The primary reason he stated for his decision was a desire to spend more time with his wife and their two children.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19750405&id=PkFSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dnkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6279,3335668&hl=en "Quitting: Ron Bryant chucks baseball for family," United Press International, Saturday, April 5, 1975.]

His contract was dealt by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Larry Herndon and minor league pitcher Tony Gonzales on May 9, 1975. Bryant ended his brief retirement once the mandatory 60-day stay on the voluntary list expired on June 6.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19750510&id=UkFSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=d3kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6106,865131&hl=en "Cards get Bryant's contract," St. Petersburg (FL) Times, Saturday, May 10, 1975.] His major league pitching career ended when he was released by the Cardinals on July 30, 1975 after rejecting a demotion to the Tulsa Oilers.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19750731&id=1O9LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Tu0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3122,5930688&hl=en "Cards give Ron Bryant heave-ho," The Associated Press, Thursday, July 31, 1975.] After being cut by the Los Angeles Dodgers during spring training on March 30, 1976,[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19760331.2.100&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-------- "Dodgers Trim Roster," United Press International (UPI), Wednesday, March 31, 1976.] Retrieved January 30, 2023. he stayed in the organization with the Albuquerque Dukes where he had a 6.89 ERA in {{frac|49|2|3}} innings in 13 games before his release {{frac|3|1|2}} months later on July 13.[https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/15/archives/minors-release-bryant.html "Minors Release Bryant," The Associated Press (AP), Tuesday, July 13, 1976.] Retrieved January 30, 2023.