MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-Phoenix, Arizona — Respected veteran baseball front-office executive Terry Ryan is the recipient of the Arizona Fall League’s 2009 Roland Hemond Award.


The award is presented annually to recognize baseball executives who have provided at least 15 years of outstanding service to professional baseball and served the Arizona Fall League in a key leadership capacity. Ryan will receive the award in pre-game ceremonies on Tuesday, November 3 at Scottsdale Stadilum prior to the 6:35 p.m. Peoria Javelinas-Scottsdale Scorpions contest.


Ryan, who is in his seventh year as a member of the Arizona Fall League’s oversight committee, will be honored in pre-game ceremonies on Tuesday, November 3 at Scottsdale Stadium prior to the 6:35 p.m. game between the Peoria Javelinas and Scottsdale Scorpions.
“Terry Ryan is one of the most respected executives in baseball,” offers Arizona Fall League Director Steve Cobb. “The class with which he ran the Twins’ organization for 13 years and the success the team achieved during his tenure speaks for itself. Additionally, he has played a vital part in the growth of the Arizona Fall League.”


Ryan — During his 22-year (1986–2007) tenure in Minnesota’s front office, including the last 13 as executive vice president and general manager, the Twins won four American League Central Division titles (2002–04, ’06). Over his final seven seasons at Minnesota’s helm, the Twins posted a composite winning percentage of .546 (619–514). The Twins also recorded five 90-win seasons under Ryan’s tutelage.


Ryan is a two-time Sporting News Major League Executive-of-the-Year (2002, ’06) and the 2004 recipient of the Andrew “Rube” Foster Legacy Award as American League Executive-of-the-Year by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. In 2002, the Twins were named Organization-of-the-Year by Baseball America, USA Today and Sportsticker. Ryan won the Baseball America honor again in 2004. He also won the Topps’ Advancement Through the Game Award in 1998.


Ryan began his professional baseball career with the Twins in 1972 after being drafted in the 35th round out of Parker High School in Janesville, Wisconsin. He pitched in the Twins’ minor-league system for four seasons, posting a 14–3 composite record, including 10–0 in 1973, before an arm injury cut his career short. In 1975, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with a degree in physical education in 1979.


Ryan returned to baseball in 1980 as Midwest scouting supervisor for the New York Mets, a position he held for six years before being named the Twins’ scouting director in January, 1986, and later vice president-player development in 1991. He became general manager in September, 1994.


Since handing the Twins’ reins to Bill Smith following the 2007 season, Ryan has served as senior advisor to his successor in addition to his ongoing contributions to the Arizona Fall League. Smith, currently the Twins senior vice president/general manager, offers, “Terry Ryan is a scout at heart, and one of the most respected evaluators in the game. He annually plans 10 days in the Arizona Fall League as a chance to watch two games on most days and immerse himself among the best young talents in the game of baseball. The Arizona Fall League provides the perfect environment for scouts throughout the game, and Terry’s leadership on various AFL committees has helped the league become a key development stop for many future major-league players.”


Ryan resides in Eagan, Minnesota with his his wife, Karilyn.


Hemond — Hemond, one of baseball’s foremost ambassadors, is considered the “Architect of the Arizona Fall League.” Currently a special assistant to the president of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Hemond is a veteran baseball executive and three-time winner of MLB’s Executive-of-the-Year Award. His dream of creating a six-week off-season league for baseball’s top prospects in Arizona each fall became reality when the Arizona Fall League began play in 1992 after he spent two years selling the concept to baseball’s hierarchy — first general managers, then owners.

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