Johnny Ray

“He’s an excellent hitter, doesn’t seek a lot of publicity, leads by example day to day, and is a class person. He’s not a big rah-rah guy. He doesn’t need a lot of people patting him on the back. I respect that.” – Jim Leyland, 19861

In a word, “steady” sums up Johnny Ray’s 10-year major-league career. For seven consecutive years in that span (1982-88), the 5-foot-11 switch-hitting second baseman played at least 151 games, batted at least .273, and rapped out at least 163 hits (including at least 30 doubles). Most often batting second or third in the lineup, he drove in 60 or more runs seven times. He was also consistently one of the toughest players in the majors to fan, averaging just one strikeout per 17.2 plate appearances for his career.

John Cornelius Ray was born on March 1, 1957, in Chouteau, Oklahoma (about 40 miles east of Tulsa). His father, Ray Charles Ray, worked as a drywall contractor. His mother, Dorothy (née Cade2) was a housewife, raising their eight children. Johnny was the second oldest; he had five sisters and two younger brothers.3

Ray started playing baseball at age six. He fondly remembers his first coach, Wayne Doyle, as being “very instrumental and helping me play the game.”4

As a kid, Ray liked the St. Louis Cardinals but also followed the Pittsburgh Pirates – his team for most of his time in the majors – after seeing Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell on TV. He remembered, “The only big-league game I saw as a kid was when we drove six hours to St. Louis. The Pirates played the Cardinals and I remember Al Oliver hit a home run for the Pirates.”5

Ray’s father played semipro baseball for years and spent time in the Negro Leagues.6 “He was a shortstop and one year he went to spring training with the Pirate rookies. His roommate was Donn Clendenon,” Ray recalled.7

The year was 1957, just weeks after Johnny was born. The elder Ray had a chance to make the Pirates squad until his career ended when he hurt his knee breaking up a double play in an exhibition game.8

Growing up in Chouteau, which had just over 1,000 citizens,9 Ray played whichever sport was in season – football, basketball, and baseball – unlike friends who skipped baseball during the summer to play AAU basketball or get an early start on football training.10

“In this part of the country, football was the main thing,” Ray said. “And I think basketball was probably running second at the time.”11

When Ray was a teenager, his father suggested he try switch-hitting. “I started doing that while I was in high school,” he said. “I was intrigued by it to see what it could do, and I just stuck with it. I was a natural righty, but I had more power from the left side. I didn’t even try to figure that out. I guess just from batting more on the left side because you see more right-handers than lefties.”12

Ray earned All-State honors in football and basketball – but not baseball. He was not drafted by a major league team and had few college scholarship offers, so he opted to attend Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, a junior college in nearby Miami, Oklahoma.

Near the end of his first season with the Golden Norse, Ray’s life was altered by tragedy. On May 14, 1976, his father and brother Victor were killed in an automobile accident when hit from behind by a drunk driver; his father died instantly and his brother died hours later.13  Ray had just returned from his first year of junior college and had taken his father to get the vehicle; Ray later drove up on the accident as the police were working the crash scene.14

“He was my rock, he was my motivator,” Ray said of his father in 1986. “He was my biggest critic. He had a philosophy that anything you get, you deserve, because if you work hard enough for it, good things are going to come to you. And I believe that right until this day.”15

Believing it was his duty as the oldest male to help provide for his family, Ray wasn’t sure he should stay in school following his father’s death. But his mother and extended family told him they would handle things at home and that he should continue his education.16

Playing shortstop for Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Ray earned All-Region honors in both 1976 and 1977. He finished his two-year stint with a career batting average of .439.17 Ray was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2014.

Fresh off his success in junior college, Ray received interest from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Wichita State – college baseball powerhouses at the time – as well as Pan American University in south Texas and nearby Oral Roberts University. He opted to transfer to the University of Arkansas, 80 miles east of Chouteau, to play for Norm DeBriyn, who had taken over the Razorbacks program in 1970 and was transforming it from afterthought into contender.18 

“Coach was an integral part of me first going there, and I was impressed with the sincerity which he acted with when he was recruiting me,” Ray said in 2021 upon his induction to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. “Most coaches, usually when your eligibility ends the university doesn’t have any further use for you. But he’s more than that. He’s more than a coach. He is still that today. And that’s one thing I really love about him and his family. He holds a special place in my heart and my family’s.”19 

In two seasons at Arkansas, Ray batted .319 and was twice named All-Southwest Conference. Playing alongside future major leaguers Tim Lollar in 1978 and Kevin McReynolds and Ronn Reynolds in 1979, he helped the Razorbacks to an 80-28 record in his two seasons, including a 1979 SWC championship.20 In the school’s first appearance in the College World Series, the Razorbacks reached the 1979 CWS finals, where they suffered a 2-1 loss to Cal-State Fullerton on a sixth-inning sacrifice fly by Golden Spikes Award winner Tim Wallach.21

“I liked my teammates,” Ray said of his college days. “I wasn’t an outgoing person, so I stayed pretty much to myself and did what I was supposed to do, which was play baseball and go to school.22

On June 5, in the middle of the Razorbacks’ run to the CWS finals, Ray was selected in the 12th round of the amateur draft by the Houston Astros. He received a $1,000 signing bonus.23 When Arkansas’ season ended, he was sent to the Gulf Coast League.

Ray moved quickly through the minors. He hit .311 in 37 games for Houston’s Gulf Coast League team before moving to Daytona Beach of the Florida State League (Class A), where he hit just .221 in 24 games. Still, in 1980 he made the next step, spending the season in Double-A with Columbus (Georgia) of the Southern League. He finished third with a .324 batting average on 161 hits (including 32 doubles and 10 homers), driving in 72 runs.24

The next season Ray tore up Triple-A with the Tucson Toros. He paced the Pacific Coast League with 50 doubles while batting .349 with 183 hits, 83 RBIs and 111 runs scored.

As expected, the 24-year-old Ray was called up to the majors when the rosters expanded in September – but it wasn’t with Houston. When Ray arrived at the Astrodome on August 31, he was told by a doorman that he had been traded.25 Confused, he visited the Astros’ clubhouse but did not see his nameplate or his jersey hanging in any of the lockers.

Ray was eventually informed by Houston manager Bill Virdon that he and two players to be named later (Randy Niemann and minor leaguer Kevin Houston) had been dealt to Pittsburgh in exchange for 1979 World Series hero Phil Garner. The 32-year-old Garner could not come to contract terms with the Pirates and was set to become a free agent. Ray flew to Los Angeles that night to join the Pirates.

“I think when you sign with a team you fall in love with it. I expected to spend this month sitting on the bench with the Houston Astros,” Ray said shortly after arriving in Pittsburgh. “I grew up in their organization, and I never thought about playing anywhere else. I was surprised that I was traded but I’m happy to be here. The guys on the club have treated me great.”26

The Pirates wasted little time getting Ray into a game. On September 2, he made his major-league debut as a pinch-hitter for Tim Foli and flied out against Alejandro Peña in Pittsburgh’s 6-2 loss at Los Angeles.

The following day in San Diego, Ray started at second base and collected his first two big-league hits. He was 0-for-3 before cracking an RBI double in the seventh to score Omar Moreno and subsequently scoring his first run on Lee Lacy’s single. He tacked on a single an inning later.

Ray was Pittsburgh’s primary second baseman for the remainder of the season. He appeared in the club’s final 31 games, starting 25 times. He hit .245 in 102 at-bats with 11 doubles and 10 runs scored.

In spring training of 1982, Ray beat out veterans Vance Law and Dale Berra for the second base job. Law was traded and Berra became the starting shortstop. The previous fall, Law believed the decision had already been made, saying, “They want to see Johnny play and give him some more experience. I’m intelligent enough to observe what is happening.”27 Nonetheless, Ray’s performance prompted Pirates manager Chuck Tanner to say, “Johnny Ray hasn’t done anything wrong this spring. He won the job on ability.”28

Once in the lineup, Ray never left. He started all 162 games in 1982 – completing 155 of them, including 18 extra-inning contests – to join Philadelphia’s Dick Allen (1964) as the only rookies to play in all 162 games.29

Tanner explained, “I thought playing every day would be good for him. I thought going through the ups, the downs, the trials and tribulations would pay off for him in the future, making him better in years to come.”30

Ray got off to a fast start with three hits on opening day and hit .343 through April. His first career home run came on April 10 against Steve Mura of St. Louis.

On April 29, Ray faced the Astros for the first time. He went 4-for-4 and scored twice as the Pirates won 9-6. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pumped up playing against Houston,” he said. “The trade was the best thing that could happen to me. I’m tickled to death just to be in the major leagues. I probably wouldn’t be here (in the majors) if it wasn’t for the trade, because Houston is stacked in the infield.”31

On May 30, Ray hit his only career walk-off homer against San Francisco’s Jim Barr. It gave the Pirates a 7-6 win in 13 innings.

Ray ended the season with a .281 average and 182 hits, including 30 doubles, seven triples, and seven home runs.32 He drove in 63 runs and scored a career-high 79 times. He finished a close second in the National League’s Rookie of the Year voting to Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Steve Sax, whose numbers were either comparable or not as strong, aside from 49 steals.33 However, The Sporting News did name Ray its NL Rookie Player of the Year for 1982.

During the offseason, in January 1983, Ray was with his mother when the water heater in the family’s home exploded, burning it to the ground. The next day, about 40 members of a nearby Amish community – friends of the Ray family for decades – showed up and rebuilt the house in only two days.34

In his second season, Ray ran his consecutive game streak to 231 before Jim Morrison filled in at second on May 28, 1983.35 Starting on May 31, Ray went 110 plate appearances without striking out.

In back-to-back games in July, Ray made significant contributions to Pittsburgh’s season-high nine-game winning streak. On July 13, he hit a game-tying homer against Greg Minton in the top of the ninth; Mike Easler followed with a homer to give the Bucs the lead. The following night, Ray did not start but entered in the seventh. His eighth-inning single advanced Madlock to third and helped a run score, Ray then capped a four-run, ninth-inning rally with a go-ahead two-run double.

After missing five games with a bruised heel, Ray was 6-for-9 in his first two games back against San Diego, including two doubles and a triple on July 26 and his only career two-homer game on July 27. For the season, he hit a sizzling .526 (20-for-38) in 10 games against the Padres with seven doubles, a triple and three of his seven homers.36

On August 2 against Philadelphia, Ray had his first career five-hit game, raising his average to .300. Following a slump in late August, he finished with a .283 average. He struck out just 26 times in 623 plate appearances while cracking 38 doubles, tied for the league lead.37 He won the NL’s Silver Slugger Award for second basemen.

After consecutive fourth-place finishes in the National League East, the Pirates made a run at the division title in 1983, leading by 2½ games on August 3. They were tied for the lead as late as September 17 but lost eight of 14 down the stretch to end at 84-78. They finished six games behind Philadelphia, which ended the season with a blistering 14-2 run. It was the closest Ray would come to appearing in the playoffs.

Following the season, Ray married his high school sweetheart, Tammy McNack. They had two children: Johnny Jr. (1983) and Jasmine (1990).

Ray played the 1983 season under a one-year contract for $165,000. Following the season he and his agent, Tom Selakovich, hoped for a significant pay increase for 1984. They’d been angered upon learning of a proposed August trade that had Ray going to San Francisco as a player to be named later in a four-player package for slugger Jack Clark and left-hander Gary Lavelle.38

When contract talks stalled in mid-January, Ray filed for arbitration, seeking a one-year deal for $455,000 (the Pirates offered $305,000).39 The parties eventually put aside their differences and the 27-year-old Ray signed a five-year contract in late January for $3.75 million including signing bonus and incentives, making him one of the highest-paid second basemen in the majors.40

In 1984, Ray started fast, peaking at .397 on April 28 when he had Pittsburgh’s only two hits in a 7-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. A slump dropped his average below .300 by June, but on July 24 he had his second five-hit game in an extra-inning win at Montreal, raising his average to .314.

In early August, Ray was named NL Player of the Week for hitting .548 (17-for-31), raising his average to .323, with his first homer of the season and nine RBIs. Although Pittsburgh finished last in the NL East with a 75-87 record, Ray carried the Pirates to an 11-4 record in the final two weeks of the season, hitting .344 with 18 RBIs. In six consecutive Pittsburgh wins, including four consecutive games, he had the game-winning RBI. He was voted NL Player of the Week for the second time.41

Ray finished the season with a career-best .312 average, fifth in the NL, with 173 hits and 67 RBIs.42 For the second straight year, he had 38 doubles, again tied for the NL lead.43

Despite rumors of a trade to the Texas Rangers for Larry Parrish, Ray was in Pittsburgh’s spring training camp in 1985 but missed almost two weeks with a pulled hamstring.44 The injury plagued him most of the season, resulting in a career-worst .274 batting average in 154 games. However, he struck out only 24 times in 652 plate appearances (including just six times in 467 PA against right-handers) while driving in 70 runs, his highest total to date.

In 1986, Jim Leyland replaced Tanner. Ray hit .390 (23-for-59) in spring training and carried it into the regular season. After getting five hits in the first two games, Ray’s three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth against Cubs closer Lee Smith gave Leyland his first major league win. Collecting a hit in 16 of 17 games, Ray was named Player of the Month in April for his league-leading .384 average (28-for-73) with 18 RBIs.45 

Ray was batting .400 as late as May 8 and was leading the league with a .361 average when he pulled a hamstring running out a 10th-inning double in a 6-4 loss against Los Angeles on May 30. He missed just three games, but the injury hampered him for the remainder of the season. He hit just .184 in June, and his average dropped to .301.

Until the injury, Ray seemed destined to make his first All-Star team but went unselected when his production fell. “I’ve played with an injury a lot of guys wouldn’t play with,” he said. “I know that hurt my batting average and hurt my chances of making the All-Star team, but I believe in playing in pain. You do what you have to do to help your team win. If I happen to make the team, great. If not, well, it seems like some guys get left off every year.”46

A hot August (.353) brought Ray’s average back to .309. In the final three weeks, he hovered around .300. On the final day of the season, in the second game of a doubleheader, Ray homered and singled in his final two at-bats to finish at .301.47 He had 174 hits, 33 doubles, and 78 RBIs, his second-highest season total.48

Ray had worked to improve his defense after leading NL second basemen with 21 errors in his rookie season. “You get labeled early in your career and sometimes you can’t shake it,” he said. “I got labeled by scouts who, I have found out, don’t know nearly as much as I thought they did. I want to show my critics.”49 

The work paid off – Ray had his best defensive season in 1986. He had 69 consecutive errorless games from April to July and committed just five errors in 764 chances, tying the major league record for fewest errors by a second baseman.50 His fielding percentage of .993 for a second baseman broke the team record of .992 set by Pirate great Bill Mazeroski in 1966.51

For his accomplishments, Ray was named the Roberto Clemente Award winner for 1986 by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers of America.

After finishing last in the division for three straight years, the Pirates began a youth movement in 1986 with the arrival of Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla and the emergence of Sid Bream following a 1985 trade. It continued in 1987 with the April 1 trade of 29-year-old catcher Tony Peña to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Mike Dunne, catcher Mike LaValliere, and outfielder Andy Van Slyke.

Ray was not part of this movement – at least for a while. According to him and his agent, in spring training Pittsburgh general manager Syd Thrift agreed to work on a contract extension following the season to keep Ray in Pittsburgh through 1990.52

The 30-year-old Ray started slowly, batting just .257 through May. He attributed his down year to having lifted weights in the offseason – which was just starting to become popular – for the first time. He found that he had gotten too stiff and tight.53

Later in the season, Thrift claimed he made no such offer regarding a contract extension. Ray felt lied to and asked to be traded.54 With 23-year-old José Lind ready to be called up, Ray was traded to the California Angels on August 29 for minor leaguer Bill Merrifield and a player to be named later.55 

Shortly before the trade, on August 18, Ray had picked up his 1000th career hit against Cincinnati’s Bill Gullickson. He finished at .273 with 19 doubles and 54 RBIs in 123 games with Pittsburgh.

Ray’s biggest regret from his Pittsburgh days was not making the playoffs. Unfortunately, he joined the Pirates as the stars of the 1979 “We Are Family” World Series championship team were aging, and he was traded before Pittsburgh’s young stars blossomed and won three consecutive NL East titles from 1990 to 1992.

“There wasn’t just a whole lot of highlights because we never got a chance to play in the playoffs,” Ray said. “They didn’t have the wild card or the second wild card or nothing like that during my career when I played.”56

Ray joined an Angels squad in fourth place in the AL West – but just 3½ games out of first place. He hit .346 in 30 games, but the Angels faded and tied for last, 10 games out.

In March 1988, the Angels exercised their option to extend Ray’s contract for the 1989 season for $850,000. They also asked him to play a new position. Although he was reluctant about the move, Ray played his first 40 games in left field as Angels skipper Gene Mauch opted for Mark McLemore, a weaker hitter but brilliant defender, at second base. When McLemore, batting just .240, was sidelined with nerve irritation in this throwing arm and had surgery in late May, Ray returned to his customary position.

Ray had a career-high 16-game hitting streak in April on his way to his only All-Star selection. In the AL’s 2-1 win at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium, he pinch-hit for Roger Clemens in the fourth inning and lined to left field against Bob Knepper.

He finished the season with a .306 average – 10th in the American League – and career highs in hits (184), doubles (42). and RBIs (83). However, the Angels finished fourth.

After winning the second base job in spring training in 1989, Ray started slowly. By season’s end, he was hitting .289, but his RBI total fell to 62 and he hit just 16 doubles, his lowest in that category since his September callup in 1981. The Angels were in first place as late as August 20 but faded and finished third in the AL West.

In 1990, Ray hit .277 but had career lows in games played (105), hits (112), and RBIs (43). He clashed with second-year skipper Doug Rader; Ray said that Rader “made it clear he didn’t want me playing another year with the California Angels.”57 In the offseason, the Angels traded for a younger second baseman, Venezuelan Luis Sojo, and Ray asked to be released. That concluded his time in the majors. In 10 seasons, Ray finished with a .290 batting average, 1,502 hits, 294 doubles, 53 homers, and 594 RBI.

Ray wasn’t through playing, though – he’d sought his release to play in Japan. In his first season with the Yakult Swallows, Ray hit .299 with 11 homers in 110 games. However, he tailed off to .190 in just 49 games the following year and was released in midsummer.58 (Yakult had obtained another Venezuelan second baseman, Johnny Paredes.)

At age 35, Ray retired. “I talked to Willie Stargell and he stayed 20-something years in the big leagues,” Ray said. “He said the only regret he had was he didn’t get out earlier so he could be with his family and do things. I didn’t want that for me, and I didn’t want to be a career player and coach or whatever. Once my time was done, I pretty much wanted to get out of it. So, I just came home and stayed here at the house and raised my kids and was an at-home father.”59

As of 2026, Ray lives quietly with his wife in Choteau in a home he built on family land purchased by his grandfather in the 1930s. His children and grandchildren live nearby. In retirement, Ray enjoys spending time with them and hunting and fishing.

A private, family-oriented man, the stress-free life of his hometown appeals to Ray. “There’s no phony to the people back home,” he said in 2021. “I’ve known most of them all my life, and they like me because I’m Johnny Ray, not Johnny Ray the baseball player.”60

“You just kind of live comfortable and do the things you want to do and not have the headaches of individuals coming at you and trying to get you to do this or do that. I like being around my family and being away from people, so it was a perfect scenario for me.”61

His hometown is understandably proud of their native son; Ray was honored in December 2014 with a sign reading “Choteau: Home of Johnny Ray, Professional Baseball Player”.

Last revised: August 18, 2026

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Johnny Ray for his input (email, June 19, 2026).

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David Bilmes and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

Photo credit: Johnny Ray, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Ed Bouchette, “Ray’s Day Dawns,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 8, 1986: 27.

2 Obituary of Elsa Keys, Dorothy’s sister, Shipman Funeral Homes website, August 30, 2012, https://www.shipmanfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/Elsa-Keys?obId=44348783, last accessed July 15, 2026.

3 From Johnny Ray’s email to the author.

4 From Johnny Ray’s email to the author.

5 Charley Feeney, “Ray of Hope Shines in Bucs’ Future Plans,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 11, 1981: 24.

6 Jim Lassiter, “Ray: A Son Who’s Seen the Sun,” The Oklahoman, July 30, 1982.

7 Feeney, “Ray of Hope Shines in Bucs’ Future Plans”.

8 Lassiter, “Ray: A Son Who’s Seen the Sun”.

9 Per the 1970 census https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CH055.

10 Tom Murphy, “Best Hogs in Pro Baseball No. 3: Johnny Ray Just Kept Getting Better,” WholeHogSports.com, July 8, 2020, https://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2020/jul/08/best-hogs-pro-baseball-no-3-johnny-ray-just-kept-g/, (last accessed July 1, 2026).

11 Murphy, “Best Hogs in Pro Baseball No. 3: Johnny Ray Just Kept Getting Better.”

12 Nate Allen, “Where Are They Now: Johnny Ray,” WholeHogSports.com, March 30, 2020, https://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2020/mar/30/where-are-they-now-johnny-ray/, (last accessed July 1, 2026).

13 Lassiter, “Ray: A Son Who’s Seen the Sun”.

14 Johnny Ray: Light It Up, The Hog Pod with Bo Mattingly, June 16, 2021, https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cC3md6bHdX4txfPtcfYWD, (last accessed August 2, 2026).

15 Bouchette, “Ray’s Day Dawns.”

16 Johnny Ray: Light It Up, The Hog Pod with Bo Mattingly, June 16, 2021, https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cC3md6bHdX4txfPtcfYWD, (last accessed August 2, 2026).

17 Johnny Ray (2014) – Hall of Fame – Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Athletics, (last accessed July 1, 2026).

18 DeBriyn coached at Arkansas through 2002 and retired as the winningest coach in school history (1,161–650–6), taking the Razorbacks to 15 NCAA Tournaments, four College World Series, and a 1979 national runner-up finish. He was named conference Coach of the Year seven times and was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025.

19 Tom Murphy, “Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame: Low-key Ray Likes the Quiet,” Arkansasonline.com, April 15, 2021, https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/apr/15/low-key-ray-likes-quiet/, (last accessed July 1, 2026).

20 In 1985, Ray, Lollar, and McReynolds teamed up to donate $200,000 to install the first set of lights at Arkansas’ George Cole Field, where they had played in college. With their home ballpark now equipped for night games, the Razorbacks hosted (and won) the 1985 SWC Tournament. In the NCAA playoffs, they advanced to the College World Series for the second time in school history.

21 Cal-State Fullerton was coached by Augie Garrido, who at the time of his retirement in 2016 was the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, with 1,975 wins over 48 seasons. This was the first of his five College World Series titles, three with Cal-State Fullerton and two with Texas.

22 Tom Murphy, “Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame: Low-key Ray Likes the Quiet.”

23 Bouchette, “Ray’s Day Dawns”.

24 Just behind Ray in the batting race was future major league manager Buck Showalter, who also hit .324 and led the league with 178 hits.

25 Johnny Ray: Light It Up, The Hog Pod with Bo Mattingly, June 16, 2021, https://open.spotify.com/episode/7cC3md6bHdX4txfPtcfYWD, (last accessed August 2, 2026).

26 Feeney, “Ray of Hope Shines in Bucs’ Future Plans”.

27 Dan Donovan, “Law’s Hopes Dashed,” The Pittsburgh Press, September 17, 1981.

28 Charley Feeney, “Ray of Hope in Bucs’ Future,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 5, 1982: 36.

29 Gerry Dulac, “Ray Goes on Hitting Bridge After Rest,” The Pittsburgh Press, July 28, 1983: C1.

30 Bouchette, “Ray’s Day Dawns”.

31 Russ Franke, “Pirates Lumber Past Astros,” The Pittsburgh Press, April 30, 1982: B8.

32 Ray’s career high in both triples (1982, 1983, and 1988) and homers (1982, 1985, and 1986) would be seven.

33 The 1982 season was a good one for NL rookie second basemen – future Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg finished sixth in the voting.

34 Bouchette, “Ray’s Day Dawns”.

35 Ray would have pinch-hit in the ninth for Morrison, but when Cincinnati brought in a lefty reliever, Morrison stayed in the game. Rich Emert, “Reds’ Redus Steals Victory from Pirates, 4-3,” The Pittsburgh Press, May 29, 1983: D1.

36 In his career, Ray hit .362 against San Diego (94-for-260).

37 The other co-leaders were Bill Buckner and Al Oliver.

38 The trade called for outfielder Lee Lacy, pitcher Rod Scurry, and two players to be named later (Ray and first baseman Jason Thompson) to be sent to the Giants for Clark and Lavelle. The Pirates’ plan was to acquire Clark and Lavelle for the pennant stretch drive while keeping Ray and Thompson, who were unaware they had been traded, through the end of the season as well. Because rules dictated that players to be named later could not be members of a team’s 40-man roster, National League president Chub Feeney vetoed the deal. Charley Feeney, “Ray’s Agent Mad, Seeks Big Contract,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 10, 1983: 30.

39 Bruce Keidan, “Ray Hits it Big With Bucs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 28, 1984: 13.

40 Bruce Keidan, “Ray Hits it Big With Bucs”.

41 A game-winning RBI (GWRBI) was an official Major League Baseball statistic that began in 1980 to recognize the player who drove in the run that gave his team the lead that was never relinquished. It was a flawed stat that made no distinction between an RBI groundout in the top of the first inning and a clutch three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. It was quietly done away with following the 1988 season. Ray’s four consecutive games with a GWRBI tied the record set by Kansas City’s George Brett. Milt Thompson (1987) and Ozzie Smith (1988) later tied Ray’s NL record with four consecutive games with a GWRBI. The major league record belongs to Kirk Gibson with five consecutive games for Detroit in 1986. Bob Hertzel, “Pirates Beat Phillies, 2-1, on Mazzilli’s Single in 12th,” The Pittsburgh Press, September 23, 1984: D12.

42 Ray hit .370 in road games but just .252 at his home park of Three Rivers Stadium.

43 The co-leader was Tim Raines.

44The December trade rumors said the Pirates would receive Parrish in exchange for Ray, Mike Easler, and Brian Harper. Bob Hertzel, “Pirates Have Power Shortage With Their New Look,” The Pittsburgh Press, December 10, 1983: D1.

45 Ray was the first Pirate to win Player of the Month since Dave Parker in August 1978.

46 Ron Cook, “Ray Pleads His Case For All-Star Consideration,” The Pittsburgh Press, July 10, 1986: D1.

47 Ray walked in his final plate appearance. Had he made an out, his batting average would have been exactly .300.

48 For the first time since 1938, the Pirates had four players with 30 or more doubles, Sid Bream (37), Jim Morrison (55), Ray (33), and R.J. Reynolds (30).

49 Bob Hertzel, “Game-winning Homer Gets Ray Recognition,” The Pittsburgh Press, October 2, 1986: C3.

50 Minimum of 150 games. Chicago’s Ryne Sandberg also tied the record by committing just five errors in 806 chances.

51 Bob Hertzel, “Game-winning Homer Gets Ray Recognition”.

52 Ray’s contract was set to expire after the 1988 season. Paul Meyer, “Diaz Figures Raines Would Shine On Pirates Parade,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 6, 1987: 17.

53 Paul Meyer, “Ray Doesn’t Take a Shine to Limelight,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 14, 1987: 18.

54 Examiner News Services, San Francisco Examiner, September 5, 1987: C8.

55 Bill Merrifield is the father of major leaguer Whit Merrifield. The player to be named later was pitcher Miguel García.

56 Murphy, “Best Hogs in Pro Baseball No. 3: Johnny Ray Just Kept Getting Better.”

57 Murphy, “Best Hogs in Pro Baseball No. 3: Johnny Ray Just Kept Getting Better.”

58 “Will Lasorda Follow Tradition, Giants?”, Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader, August 11, 1992: 2C.

59 Murphy, “Best Hogs in Pro Baseball No. 3: Johnny Ray Just Kept Getting Better.”

60 Murphy, “Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame: Low-key Ray Likes the Quiet.”

61 Murphy, “Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame: Low-key Ray Likes the Quiet.”