December 23, 2023

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Ryan Minor has lost his battle with Stage 4 colon cancer.

A member of the 2001 Expos, Minor, 49, passed away Dec. 22. He had been scuffling with the disease for 14 months.

Minor's brother Damon had posted on X on Dec. 1 that specialists at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore ruled out any more possible treatments for Minor.

Minor, 6-foot-7, was selected in the second round of the NBA draft in 1996 by the Philadelphia 76ers but was released after he appeared in seven pre-season games.

Minor is best known as stepping in to replace Cal Ripken Jr. of the Orioles at third base when the ironman stopped his consecutive-games streak at 2,632 in September of 1995.

Minor was acquired by the Expos from the Orioles on Dec. 22, 2000, exactly 23 years prior to his death. He started the 2001 season with the Expos’ triple-A team, the Ottawa Lynx, hitting .245 with five homers and 19 RBIs.

It was his good fortune that the Expos promoted him to the big leagues for a series against his old team in June. In 55 games with Montreal, he batted .158 with two homers and 13 RBIs.