Ronald Gene Rightnowar (born September 5, 1964) is an American former major league baseball player who played for one year—1995—for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Rightnowar is known for having been a replacement player who crossed picket lines during spring training in 1995 while the 1994 Major League Baseball strike was still going on.
Early life and education
Rightnowar graduated from Whitmer High School in Toledo. He also attended and played baseball at Eastern Michigan University.
Minor-league career
After college, Rightnowar was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent on September 30, 1986. In 1987, Rightnowar began his minor-league career by spending the entire season pitching for the Fayetteville Generals in the Class A South Atlantic League. Rightnowar went 7-7 for Fayetteville (which was in its first season of existence), making 39 appearances, striking out 65, walking 37, saving 6 games and posting a 4.96 earned run average.
In 1988, Rightnowar was promoted to the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the High-A Florida State League, where he went 2–0 in 17 games with 32 strikeouts and just 11 walks in 49⅓ innings pitched. Rightnowar also posted a 1.46 ERA.
In 1989, Rightnowar advanced to AA ball, pitching for the London Tigers and going 2–8 with a 5.00 ERA in 36 appearances. Rightnowar saved five games that season.
The following year, Rightnowar divided his time between three Detroit Tigers minor-league teams: London (2-2, 3.25 ERA, 33 strikeouts, 9 walks, 4 saves, 44⅓ innings pitched and 23 games), the Class-A Niagara Falls Rapids (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk, 7 innings pitched in just one appearance), and the AAA Toledo Mud Hens (4-5, 4.74 ERA, 28 strikeouts, 10 walks, 6 saves, 38 innings pitched in 28 games).
In 1991, Rightnowar divided his time between London (2-1, 3.91 ERA, 18 strikeouts, 8 walks, 3 saves, 25⅓ innings pitched in 15 appearances) and Toledo (1-1, 3.94 ERA, 5 strikeouts, 15 walks, 3 saves, 29⅔ innings pitched in 23 games).
The following year, Rightnowar played solely for his hometown Mud Hens and continued his role as a middle reliever, posting a 3–2 record but a high 6.16 ERA. He pitched 57 innings in 34 games, picking up three saves, striking out 33 and walking 18.
In 1993, Rightnowar began the season with Toledo again, going 2–2 with a 3.55 ERA in 58-1/3 innings pitched. Appearing in 22 games, Rightnowar struck out 32, walked 19 and saved one game. On August 28, 1993, the Detroit Tigers traded Rightnowar to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later. With the trade, Rightnowar joined the Brewers' AAA New Orleans Zephyrs minor-league club for the remaining week of the minor-league season, pitching in four games and posting an 0–0 record with a 10.38 ERA. Rightnowar also struck out eight and walked two in 8-2/3 innings pitched.
In 1994, Rightnowar's pitching improved dramatically, as he played a full season for the Zephyrs. He went 8–2 with a 2.25 ERA in 51 games, pitching 88 innings, striking out 79, walking just 21 and saving 11 games. Unfortunately, Rightnowar did not receive a September call-up, because major-league baseball players went on strike on August 12, 1994.
Replacement baseball
As the 1995 baseball season neared, Rightnowar was asked by the Brewers' coaches if he would be interested in being a replacement player in the 1995 season. "The major-league coaching staff made it clear that I needed to pitch," Rightnowar told the Ottawa Citizen later in 1995. "They said they needed to see me and see what I could offer the club."
The 234-day players strike ended before the 1995 baseball season ever officially began. While Rightnowar did pitch in some spring-training games (which was enough for the major-league baseball players union to classify Rightnowar and all such players as strike-breakers), he was sent down to the Brewers' AAA New Orleans minor-league team once the strike ended, and started the 1995 season pitching for New Orleans.
Major-league debut and career
After Cal Eldred went on the disabled list for the rest of the season, the Brewers promoted Rightnowar to the major leagues on May 19, 1995. He was to be the first replacement player to join the Brewers' big-league club that season. Before he even threw a pitch, Rightnowar was given a frosty reception from the major-leaguers. "My first day, everyone was kind of cold toward me," Rightnowar told the Ottawa Citizen in 1995. "I understood. I respect their right to be angry. But then I called the leaders on the club and asked to speak to the team. I wanted to tell them my side of the story."