Ron Plaza

Ronald Charles Plaza

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6', Weight 180 lb.

• Born August 24, 1934 in Passaic, NJ USA
• Died April 15, 2012 in St. Petersburg, FL, USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Ron Plaza played 11 years in the minor leagues (6 at AAA) then coached in the majors and managed in the minors.

Plaza debuted in 1951 with the Johnson City Cardinals and hit .302 with 4 HR and 34 RBI. A left-handed hitter, he was a switch-hitter briefly early in his career. In 1952, Ronny was with the Albany Cardinals. He batted .211/~.312/.300 as the starting third baseman. One highlight came on July 23 when he was the third Albany batter to homer in a three-pitch stretch. He did hit 9 home runs, tying for fourth in the Georgia-Florida League.

He had a big year with the 1953 Hamilton Cardinals. He led the PONY League with 37 errors at third base but he batted .273/~.406/.424 with 37 doubles, 102 walks and 106 RBI. He was third in the league in RBI, fourth in walks and led in doubles.

In 1954, Ronny hit .260 with 6 HR and 67 RBI for the Allentown Cardinals and followed with a .284/8/79 year for Allentown. In 1956, he made it to AAA with the Rochester Red Wings and batted .297/~.379/.393 as Rochester's second baseman. Back in the same role for the same team in 1957, Plaza slipped to a .221/~.330/.368 line, drawing 74 walks and hitting 14 homers.

During 1958, Plaza batted .238 with just 3 homers and 36 RBI for the Omaha Cardinals. He remained there in 1959 and hit .246 with four homers and 48 runs driven in. After not playing in 1960, Ron batted .245 with 5 HR and 36 RBI for the 1961 Charleston Marlins. He finished up in 1962 with the Atlanta Crackers, only managing a .191 average, one home run and 23 RBI.

He was a coach of the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969. He then managed the GCL Reds from 1970 to 1973. Plaza later served as a roving minor league instructor with the Cincinnati Reds and had major league coaching stints with the Reds (1978-1983) and Oakland Athletics (1986). He served as a minor league instructor with the A's from 1984 until his death in 2012.

Sources include 1953, 1954 and 1958 Baseball Guides and Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1963	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	61-66	4th	St. Louis Cardinals	Lost League Finals
1964	Winnipeg Goldeyes	Northern League	52-65	4th	St. Louis Cardinals	Last in Baukol Playoffs
1965	Cedar Rapids Cardinals	Midwest League	62-52	3rd	St. Louis Cardinals	none
1966	Cedar Rapids Cardinals	Midwest League	81-40	1st	St. Louis Cardinals	Lost League Finals
1967	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	96-43	1st	St. Louis Cardinals	League Champs
1968	St. Petersburg Cardinals	Florida State League	80-63	3rd	St. Louis Cardinals	Lost in 1st round
1970	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	25-35	6th	Cincinnati Reds	none
1971	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	23-29	4th	Cincinnati Reds	none
1972	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	21-39	7th (t)	Cincinnati Reds	none
1973	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	20-32	8th	Cincinnati Reds	none
1975	Trois-Rivières Aigles	Eastern League		8th	Cincinnati Reds		replaced Jim Snyder in July

Related Sites

• Ron Plaza at the SABR Bio Project