| Ray Knight | |
|---|---|
 Knight onNats Xtra in 2007 | |
| Third baseman /First baseman /Manager | |
| Born: (1952-12-28)December 28, 1952 (age 72) Albany, Georgia, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 10, 1974, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 2, 1988, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .271 |
| Home runs | 84 |
| Runs batted in | 595 |
| Managerial record | 125–137 |
| Winning % | .477 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Charles Ray Knight (born December 28, 1952) is an American formerinfielder best remembered for his time with theCincinnati Reds andNew York Mets inMajor League Baseball (MLB). Originally drafted by the Reds in the tenth round of the1970 Major League Baseball draft, he is best remembered to Reds fans as the man who replacedPete Rose atthird base, whereas Mets fans remember Knight for scoring the winning run of game six of the1986 World Series, hitting a go-ahead home run in game 7 to give the Mets a lead they would not relinquish, and as the MVP of that series. He was most recently a studio analyst and occasional game analyst for theMid-Atlantic Sports Network's coverage of theWashington Nationals from 2007 to 2018.
Knight grew up inAlbany, Georgia, and attendedDougherty High School andAlbany Junior College.[1]
Knight made his major league debut with Cincinnati as a September call-up in1974.[2] He spent all of1975 and1976 with the triple AIndianapolis Indians. In 1976, with only one home run coming into the final month of the season, Knight borrowed a bat from Reds starGeorge Foster and hit nine in the remaining games of the year. He would later borrow Foster's bat again in the major leagues when Foster was injured.[3] During those seasons, the Reds won twoWorld Series titles. He returned to the majors in1977.
Knight was a .232 hitter with twohome runs and 19runs batted in when he assumed the role of starting third baseman for the "Big Red Machine" following Rose's signing withPhiladelphia Phillies in1979. Knight responded with a .318Batting average, 10 home runs, 79 RBIs and 64runs scored to finish fifth inNational LeagueMost Valuable Player balloting.
On May 13,1980, Knight broke out of an 0-for-15 slump by homering twice in the fifthinning of a 15–4 win over the Mets.[4] He was the first Red to hit two home runs in one inning.Aaron Boone matched the feat on August 9, 2002.[5] He made his firstAll-star appearance in 1980, hitting asingle offTommy John in his first at-bat.[6]
In1981, Knight batted .259 with six home runs and 34 RBIs. On December 18, 1981, he was traded to theHouston Astros forCésar Cedeño, to accommodateJohnny Bench's move from behind the plate to third base.[7]
Knight split his time between third andfirst base with the Astros. He made the All Star team in1982, and played third base in the game. However, he made more appearances at first than he did at third during the regular season.
After batting .304 in1983, Knight was batting only .237 in1984, he was traded on August 28, 1984, to the New York Mets for three players to be named later (Gerald Young,Manuel Lee and Mitch Cook).
Knight platooned third base with the newly acquiredHoward Johnson for the 1985 and 1986 seasons. In his first full season with the Mets, Knight batted only .218 with six home runs and 36 RBIs. During the off-season, the Mets attempted to trade Knight to thePittsburgh Pirates forLee Mazzilli, but were denied.
Knight adopted a new batting stance in 1986 and saw immediate results, crushing six home runs and batting .306 with twelve RBIs in the month of April.[8] TeammateRon Darling spoke highly of Knight's contributions in a midseason interview: "Besides our pitching, it has been Ray Knight's emergence that has been the difference. He carried us for a long time."[8] On July 22, Knight incited a bench clearing brawl atRiverfront Stadium against his former teammates.[9]Eric Davis pinch-running for Reds player/manager Pete Rose in the tenth inning stole second and third base. Knight took the throw from MetscatcherGary Carter late, brought his glove to Davis' face and knocked his helmet off. A stare off ensued, followed by a right cross from Knight. The benches emptied and as a result of all the ejections from this fight (along withDarryl Strawberry who had previously been ejected for arguing balls and strikes), back-up catcherEd Hearn was brought into the game, and Carter moved from behind the plate to third. The Mets won the game in fourteen innings.[10]
The Mets won 108 games in 1986 and took the National League East convincingly by 21.5 games over the Phillies. For the season, Knight batted .298 with eleven home runs and 76 RBIs to earnNL Comeback Player of the Year honors. Knight batted only .167 in the1986 National League Championship Series against his former teammates, the Houston Astros. In theWorld Series, however, Knight broke out with a .391 batting average and five RBIs.
The Mets won the1986 World Series in seven games over theBoston Red Sox. Trailing 5–3 with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning of Game 6 of the Series, Knight drove in Gary Carter for the first run of the inning, and also pushedKevin Mitchell to third, allowing him to score onBob Stanley'swild pitch. Knight then scored the winning run from second afterMookie Wilson's ground ball went through the legs ofBill Buckner, and Knight's celebration as he rounded third to score was one of the indelible images of the series.[11]
He hit the tiebreaking home run in game seven, and was rewarded with the World SeriesMVP award and theBaseball Writers' Association of America'sBabe Ruth Award for the best performance in the World Series.
Unable to agree on a contract with general managerFrank Cashen for1987, Knight became the first player to join a new team the season after winning the World Series MVP award, signing with theBaltimore Orioles. The Orioles finished sixth in theAmerican League East in 1987, narrowly avoiding one hundred losses (95). For his own part, Knight batted .256 with 65 RBIs and tied his career high with fourteen home runs. Following the season, he was traded to theDetroit Tigers forpitcherMark Thurmond. Knight served primarily as the Tigers'first baseman ordesignated hitter, though he did see some playing time at third and in theoutfield. Knight batted only .217 with three home runs, and retired at the end of the season.
| Seasons | Games | AB | Runs | Hits | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | HBP | Avg. | Slg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1495 | 4829 | 490 | 1311 | 266 | 27 | 84 | 595 | 14 | 343 | 579 | 36 | .271 | .390 |
Upon retiring from baseball, Knight became anESPN broadcaster. He accepted his first coaching job with the Reds in1993. Early in the1995 season, Reds ownerMarge Schott announced that Knight would replaceDavey Johnson as manager of the Reds in1996 regardless of how the Reds did. Schott and Johnson had never gotten along, and relations between the two had deteriorated to the point that she almost fired Johnson after the1994 season. However, the Reds were doing so well under Johnson (they led theNational League Central at the time of the1994 Major League Baseball strike and won the division in 1995) that she instead opted to name Knight as assistant manager, with the understanding that he would succeed Johnson in 1996.
Knight managed the Reds from 1996 to1997, and served as acting manager for a single game in2003. He made his managerial debut on April 1, 1996, but the game was postponed when home plate umpireJohn McSherry suffered a severe cardiac episode and later died after only seven pitches.[12] In 1997, he forgot how many outs there had been in a half-inning in which the Reds were at bat and called for abunt at an inopportune time. He later fined himself$250 for the incident. The team's lack of success would lead to his firing midway through the 1997 season in favor ofJack McKeon.
From 2007 to 2018, Knight was a broadcaster with theMid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and co-hostedNats Xtra, MASN's pregame and postgame show for itsWashington Nationals broadcasts.[13]Johnny Holliday, Knight's fellow MASN broadcaster andNats Xtra co-host, playfully referred to him as the "Silver Fox."
| Team | From | To | Regular season record | Post–season record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Win % | W | L | Win % | |||
| Cincinnati Reds | 1996 | 1997 | 124 | 137 | .475 | — | ||
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | |||||
| Total | 125 | 137 | .477 | 0 | 0 | – | ||
| Ref.:[14] | ||||||||
Knight was one of several members of the 1986 championship team not to attend the 20th anniversary celebration atShea Stadium on August 19, 2006; the others included managerDavey Johnson, (who was managingTeam USA inCuba),Dwight Gooden (who was serving a jail sentence),Roger McDowell (who was theAtlanta Braves pitching coach at the time),Lee Mazzilli (who was theNew York Yankees bench coach at the time), and pitching coachMel Stottlemyre. Knight's absence was due to a previous commitment.[15]
Knight marriedLPGAgolferNancy Lopez on October 25, 1982, inPelham, Georgia. The wedding, the second for both, was at the home of his partner in a Pelham sporting goods store.[1] Knight and Lopez met by chance inKorakuen Stadium inTokyo in 1978.[16] He and Lopez had three daughters together, Ashley Marie (1983), Erinn Shea (1986) and Torri Heather Knight (1991).[17] They lived inAlbany, Georgia, and also had a home inThe Villages, Florida.[18] Lopez designed her first golf course for The Villages and the three nines of the 27-hole Lopez Legacy course are named for the daughters: Ashley Meadows, Torri Pines, and Erinn Glenn.[19] In 1985, he had a 7 handicap in golf and sometimes caddied for her, but not in big tournaments.[16] Knight and Lopez divorced in 2009.[20] A son from his first marriage, Brooks Knight, died in 2022.[16]
In 2013, Phoebe Putney Hospital in Albany, Georgia, unveiled a street on the property named Ray Knight Way.[21]
Knight is good friends with former Reds' teammateHarry Spilman, who grew up twenty minutes away from Knight in Georgia. While they were both in the Reds' system, the two spent $700 on apitching machine to work on their hitting.[22]
Knight is a member of theGolden Gloves boxing association.
On October 23, 2017, Knight was arrested after an altercation at his condo in theAlexandria, Virginia, area with an unidentified 33-year-old man. Both were taken to the hospital and Knight was charged withassault andbattery.[23] The charges were subsequently dropped.[24]
Knight participated in the 2021ESPN30 for 30 documentary series about the1986 New York Mets season,Once Upon a Time in Queens.[25]
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