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{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{short description|American baseball player and manager (born 1952)}}
{{distinguish|Ray Knight (rodeo organizer)}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Ray Knight
|image=Ray Knight 2007.jpg
|caption=Knight on ''Nats Xtra''
|position=[[Third baseman]] / [[First baseman]] / [[Manager (baseball)|Manager]]
|birth_date ={{Birth date and age|1952|12|28}}
|birth_place=[[Albany, Georgia]], U.S.
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
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Knight grew up in [[Albany, Georgia]], and attended [[Dougherty Comprehensive High School|Dougherty High School]] and [[Albany Junior College]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QttaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o20DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4508,5487844|access-date=2021-09-17|website=news.google.com}}</ref>
==
===Cincinnati Reds===
Knight made his major league debut with Cincinnati as a September call-up in {{by|1974}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN197409100.shtml|title=Cincinnati Reds 5, San Diego Padres 2|date=1974-09-10 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He spent all of {{by|1975}} and {{by|1976}} with the triple A [[Indianapolis Indians]]. In 1976, with only one home run coming into the final month of the season, Knight borrowed a bat from Reds star [[George Foster (baseball)|George 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.<ref>{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Frank|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19790802&id=T14gAAAAIBAJ&pg=1565,262830&hl=en|title=Foster sidelined, but his bat still assisting Reds|newspaper=The Lewiston Evening Journal|date=August 2, 1979|access-date=January 9, 2020}}</ref> During those seasons, the Reds won two [[World Series]] titles. He returned to the majors in {{by|1977}}.
Knight was a .232 hitter with two [[home run]]s and 19 [[runs batted in]] when he assumed the role of starting third baseman for the "Big Red Machine" following Rose's signing with [[Philadelphia Phillies]] in {{by|1979}}. Knight responded with a .318 [[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]], 10 home runs, 79 RBIs and 64 [[run (baseball)|runs]] scored to finish fifth in [[National League (baseball)|National League]] [[Most Valuable Player]] balloting.
On May 13, {{by|1980}}, Knight broke out of an 0-for-15 slump by homering twice in the fifth [[inning]] of a
In {{by|1981}}, Knight batted .259 with six home runs and 34 RBIs. On December 18, 1981, he was traded to the [[Houston Astros]] for [[César Cedeño]], to accommodate [[Johnny Bench]]'s move from behind the plate to third base.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=knighra01|title=Ray Knight Trades and Transactions by Baseball Almanac|first=Baseball Almanac|last=Inc.|website=www.baseball-almanac.com}}</ref>
===Houston Astros===
Knight split his time between third and [[first base]] with the Astros. He made the All Star team in {{by|1982}}, 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 in {{by|1983}}, Knight was batting only .237 in {{by|1984}}, he was traded on August 28, 1984, to the New York Mets for three players to be named later ([[Gerald Young (baseball)|Gerald Young]], [[Manuel Lee]] and Mitch Cook).
===New York Mets===
Knight platooned third base with the newly acquired [[Howard Johnson (baseball)|Howard 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 the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] for [[Lee Mazzilli]], but were denied.
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He hit the tiebreaking home run in game seven, and was rewarded with the World Series [[Most Valuable Player|MVP]] award and the [[Baseball Writers' Association of America]]'s [[Babe Ruth Award]] for the best performance in the World Series.
===Baltimore Orioles===
Unable to agree on a contract with general manager [[Frank Cashen]] for {{by|1987}}, Knight became the first player to join a new team the season after winning the World Series MVP award, signing with the [[Baltimore Orioles]]. The Orioles finished sixth in the [[American 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 the [[Detroit Tigers]] for [[pitcher]] [[Mark Thurmond]]. Knight served primarily as the Tigers' [[first baseman]] or [[designated hitter]], though he did see some playing time at third and in the [[outfield]]. Knight batted only .217 with three home runs, and retired at the end of the season.
===Career stats===
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Upon retiring from baseball, Knight became an [[ESPN]] broadcaster. He accepted his first coaching job with the Reds in {{by|1993}}. Early in the {{by|1995}} season, Reds owner [[Marge Schott]] announced that Knight would replace [[Davey Johnson]] as manager of the Reds in {{by|1996}} 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 the {{by|1994}} season. However, the Reds were doing so well under Johnson (they led the [[National League Central]] at the time of the [[1994 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 to {{by|1997}}, and served as acting manager for a single game in {{by|2003}}. He made his managerial debut on April 1, 1996, but the game was postponed when home plate umpire [[John McSherry]] suffered a severe cardiac episode and later died after only seven pitches.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.recordnet.com/story/news/1996/04/02/umpire-dies-on-field-heart/50846409007/ |title=Umpire dies on the field: Heart attack kills John McSherry on Opening Day |work=The Record |date=April 1, 1996 |accessdate=May 5, 2024 }}</ref> In 1997, he forgot how many outs there had been in a half-inning in which the Reds were at bat and called for a [[Bunt (baseball)|bunt]] at an inopportune time. He later fined himself [[United States dollar|$]]250 for the incident. The team's lack of success would lead to his firing midway through the 1997 season in favor of [[Jack McKeon]].
From 2007 to 2018, Knight was a broadcaster with the [[Mid-Atlantic Sports Network]] (MASN) and co-hosted ''Nats Xtra'', MASN's pregame and postgame show for its [[Washington Nationals]] broadcasts.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Janes |first1=Chelsea |title=Ray Knight will not return to MASN's Nationals broadcasts next season |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2018/11/04/ray-knight-will-not-return-nationals-masn-broadcasts-next-season/ |
===Managerial record===
{{updated|August 2, 2016}}
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==Personal life==
Knight married [[LPGA]] [[golf]]er [[Nancy Lopez]] on October 25, 1982, in [[Pelham, Georgia]]. The wedding, the second for both, was at the home of his partner in a Pelham sporting goods store.<ref name=":0" /> Knight and Lopez met by chance in [[Korakuen Stadium]] in [[Tokyo]] in 1978.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|last=Durso|first=Joseph|date=1985-03-31|title=KNIGHT AND LOPEZ KEEP HOME AND HEART IN PLAY|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/31/sports/knight-and-lopez-keep-home-and-heart-in-play.html|access-date=2021-09-17|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He and Lopez had three daughters together, Ashley Marie (1983), Erinn Shea (1986) and Torri Heather Knight (1991).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bio {{!}} LPGA {{!}} Ladies Professional Golf Association|url=https://www.lpga.com/players/nancy-lopez/81218/bio|access-date=2021-09-17|website=LPGA|language=en}}</ref> They lived in [[Albany, Georgia|Albany]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and also had a home in [[The Villages, Florida|The Villages]], [[Florida]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-04|title=Villages 101: Did Hall of Fame golfer Nancy Lopez ever call The Villages home?|url=https://www.villages-news.com/2020/01/04/villages-101-did-hall-of-fame-golfer-nancy-lopez-ever-call-the-villages-home/|access-date=2021-09-17|website=Villages-News: News, photos, events in The Villages, Florida|language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Golf The Villages|url=https://www.golfthevillages.com/championship-golf/NANCY%20LOPEZ/clubhouse.asp?course=NANCY%20LOPEZ|access-date=2021-09-17|website=www.golfthevillages.com}}</ref> In 1985, he had a 7 handicap in golf and sometimes caddied for her, but not in big tournaments.<ref name=":1" /> Knight and Lopez divorced in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nancy Lopez And Ray Knight Splitting After 27 Years|url=https://radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/07/exclusive-nancy-lopez-and-ray-knight-splitting-after-27-years/
In 2013, Phoebe Putney Hospital in Albany, Georgia, unveiled a street on the property named
Knight is good friends with former Reds' teammate [[Harry Spilman]], who grew up twenty minutes away from Knight in Georgia. While they were both in the Reds' system, the two spent $700 on a [[pitching machine]] to work on their hitting.<ref name="replace rose">{{cite web|agency=Associated Press|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19780312&id=oQwpAAAAIBAJ&pg=2764,1976220&hl=en|title=Replace Rose is dream of Spilman|newspaper=[[The Gadsden Times]]|date=March 12, 1978|access-date=January 9, 2020}}</ref>
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Knight is a member of the [[Golden Gloves]] boxing association.
On October 23, 2017, Knight was arrested after an altercation at his condo in the [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]], [[Virginia]], area with an unidentified 33-year-old man. Both were taken to the hospital and Knight was charged with [[assault]] and [[Battery (crime)|battery]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/washington-nationals-tv-analyst-charles-knight-arrested-for-assault-and-battery-in-alexandria|title=Washington Nationals TV analyst Charles Ray Knight arrested for assault and battery in Alexandria|work=[[WTTG]]|access-date=2017-10-23|language=en-US |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The charges
Knight participated in the 2021 [[ESPN]] ''[[30 for 30
==See also==
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{{ESPN Major League Baseball}}
{{Cincinnati Reds managers}}
{{authority control}}
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[[Category:Baltimore Orioles players]]
[[Category:Detroit Tigers players]]
[[Category:ESPN people]]
[[Category:Indianapolis Indians players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball third basemen]]
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[[Category:Mid-Atlantic Sports Network]]
[[Category:World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners]]
[[Category:Sioux Falls Packers players]]
[[Category:Trois-Rivières Aigles players]]
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