Randy Ready

From BR Bullpen

Randy Ready.jpg

Randy Max Ready
(Spike)

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

On June 3, 1980 Randy Ready was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 6th round of the 1980 amateur draft. He signed on June 9th. He was sent right to the Rookie Pioneer League and played with the Butte Copper Kings. He led the league in hitting, with .376, 65 runs and made the All-Star team as the second baseman. In 1981 he was with the class A Burlington Bees hitting .308 with 17 home runs and again made the All-Star squad. In 1982 the AA El Paso Diablos had him and he tore up the Texas League, hitting .375 with 178 base hits, including 20 home runs, and scored 122 runs. He again was the third baseman on the All-Star team.

The two-time minor league batting champion shuttled between the Pacific Coast League Vancouver Canadians and the Brewers for three seasons, never hitting below .325 at Vancouver, before a 1986 trade brought him to the San Diego Padres. 1983 saw him hit .329 with 13 home runs for Vancouver and named as the third baseman on the All-Star team. The late days of the season caught Ready's act as the Milwaukee Brewers saw fit to play him for 12 games and he had 37 at bats with 15 hits for a .405 batting average. In 1984 Randy got in 37 games with the Brewers but he hit only .187 in 123 at bats and was sent back to Vancouver. Vancouver had him for 52 games in 1985 where he hit for a .326 average and the Brewers used him in 48 games, where he had 181 at bats with 48 hits for a .265 average.

With the Padres, Ready excelled in a utility role, filling in whenever necessary in the infield or outfield. His career minor league batting average was .343. In 1987, he set career highs in at-bats (350), home runs (12), and RBI (54), with a .309 batting average. In 1988, his numbers tailed off somewhat, and the following season on June 2, 1989 he was traded with John Kruk to the Philadelphia Phillies for Chris James.

Ready was with the Phillies through the 1991 season, never really living up to his past years, and was granted free agency on October 28, 1991. He played with the Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, Montreal Expos and the Phillies again until 1995, when he ended his active major league playing career.

Randy appeared in the PCL with the 1996 Las Vegas Stars where he hit .324 in 35 games and wound up his last playing season in 7 games with the 1997 Lake Elsinore Storm. Ready had appeared in 18 seasons as a professional baseball player and was 37 years old during his last season.

Ready then became a minor league manager for the San Diego Padres. In 2010, he was named their hitting coach. He was let go at the end of the 2011 season, after the Pads had posted the second-worst offense in the National League during the year while finishing last in the NL West. Ready was the minor league hitting coordinator for the Texas Rangers in 2012, then moved to the Atlanta Braves' organization in 2013 as the manager of their AAA team.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record[edit]

Year Team League Record Finish Organization Playoffs
2002 Oneonta Tigers New York-Penn League 47-27 4th Detroit Tigers Lost League Finals
2003 Oneonta Tigers New York-Penn League 45-30 4th Detroit Tigers Lost in 1st round
2004 Fort Wayne Wizards Midwest League 72-68 7th (t) San Diego Padres Lost in 1st round
2005 Fort Wayne Wizards Midwest League 65-75 11th (t) San Diego Padres Lost in 1st round
2006 Fort Wayne Wizards Midwest League 71-66 8th San Diego Padres Lost in 1st round
2007 San Antonio Missions Texas League 73-66 7th San Diego Padres League Champs
2008 Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League 70-74 9th San Diego Padres
2009 Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League 60-84 16th San Diego Padres
2013 Gwinnett Braves International League 60-84 14th Atlanta Braves
2016 Jupiter Hammerheads Florida State League 68-69 8th Miami Marlins
2017 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Southern League 69-71 6th Miami Marlins Lost in 1st round
2018 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Southern League 55-82 10th Miami Marlins

Sources[edit]

Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: Third Edition
Baseball-Reference.com
SABR MILB Database:page

Related Sites[edit]