#185-6 Ron Bryant Ron Bryant In Action

A nova that shone briefly then dropped off....an enigma, not much is known about him....came up to the bigs in the usual way for the time....Drafted at 22^nd round by Giants in 1965 draft....worked his way up the farm system and eventually the big club....first as a swingman eventually morphing into a starter....22 starts and lowered ERA  in 1971 upgraded his status as the rearguard starter to Gaylord Perry and Juan Marichial....becomes the club leader in wins a lone bright spot in the wake of the disastrous Perry trade and Marichial’s age....in reality it was his best effort with a sub 3.00 ERA and 4 shutouts....won 10 more games in 1973 to go 24-12....far and away the most wins in NL....was third in NL Cy Young voting but ERA went up and no shut outs....exceptional record seem to more about luck than improving his game....information is spotty, but the consensus is Bryant hurt his back in a diving pool accident during 1974 Spring training...carried on but suffered a nightmarish 3-15 record and surrendered two more runs per game....damaged goods....traded to Cards who tossed him in few games with extremely poor results...let go mid-season 1975....note baseball reference indicates Ron appearing in 21 AAA games in 1976 but no pitching record other than 2-7 win loss is given....fittingly strange end.