Ray Knight
Encyclopedia
Charles Ray Knight is a former right-handed Major League Baseball
third baseman
best remembered for his time with the Cincinnati Reds
and New York Mets
. Originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds
in the tenth round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft
, he is likely best remembered to Reds fans as the man who replaced Pete Rose
at third base
, whereas Mets fans remember Knight as the man who scored the winning run of game six of the 1986 World Series
and the MVP of that series. He is now a studio analyst and occasional game analyst for MASN's coverage of the Washington Nationals
.
before returning to the majors in . During that time, the Reds won both World Series
titles.
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 defection to the Philadelphia Phillies
in . Knight responded with a .318 Batting average
, ten home runs 79 RBIs and 64 runs
scored to finish fifth in National League
Most Valuable Player
balloting.
On May 13, , Knight broke out of an 0-for-15 slump by homering twice in the fifth inning
of a 15-4 win over the Mets. He is still the only Red to homer twice in one inning. He made his first All-star
appearance in 1980, hitting a single
off Tommy John
in his first at-bat.
In , Knight batted .259 with six home runs and 34 RBIs. Following the season, he was traded to the Houston Astros
for Cesar Cedeno
to accommodate Johnny Bench
's move from behind the plate to third.
After batting .304 in , Knight was batting only .237 in , and had fallen out of favor with the Astros' organization when he was traded on August 28, 1984 to the New York Mets for three players to be named later.
for Lee Mazzilli
, but were denied. Instead, they went into the season with Knight and Howard Johnson platooning at third.
Knight came out of the gate eager to prove the Mets wrong, crushing six home runs and batting .306 with twelve RBIs in the month of April. On July 22, Knight incited a bench clearing brawl at Riverfront Stadium against his former teammates. Eric Davis pinch-running for Reds player/manager Pete Rose in the tenth inning stole second and third base. Knight took the throw from Mets catcher
Gary 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, back-up catcher Ed Hearn was brought into the game, and Carter moves from behind the plate to third. Roger McDowell
replaced Jesse Orosco
on the mound, and Orosco went into right field. They traded positions with two outs in the eleventh, and McDowell traded positions with left fielder
Mookie Wilson
with one out in the 12th. This rotation continued for the remainder of the game, which the Mets won in fourteen innings.
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 earn NL Comeback Player of the Year honors. Knight batted only .167 in the 1986 National League Championship Series
against his former teammates, the Houston Astros. In the World Series
, however, Knight broke out with a .391 batting average and five RBIs.
The Mets won the 1986 World Series
in seven games over the Boston Red Sox
. Knight's single in the now-legendary tenth inning of game six of the Series drove in Gary Carter for the first run of the inning, and also pushed Kevin Mitchell to third, allowing him to score on Bob Stanley
's wild pitch
. Knight then scored the winning run from second after Mookie Wilson's ground ball went through the legs of Bill Buckner
, and Knight's celebration as he rounded third to score was one of the indelible images of the series.
He hit the tiebreaking home run in game seven, and was rewarded with the World Series MVP
award and the Baseball Writers Association of America
's Babe Ruth Award
for the best performance in the World Series.
for , Knight earned the distinction of becoming 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 a 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.
, Knight became an ESPN
broadcaster. He accepted his first coaching job with the Reds in . Early in the season, Reds owner Marge Schott
announced that Knight would replace Davey Johnson
as manager of the Reds in 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 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 , and served as acting manager for a single game in . 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 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 of Jack McKeon
.
Knight is currently a broadcaster with the Washington Nationals, and hosts Nats Xtra, MASN's pregame and postgame show. Johnny Holliday, Knight's fellow MASN broadcaster, has playfully referred to him as the "Silver Fox."
on August 19, 2006; the others included manager Davey Johnson
, (who was managing Team USA
in Cuba
), Dwight Gooden
(who was serving a jail sentence), Roger McDowell
(who is the Atlanta Braves
pitching coach), Lee Mazzilli
(who was the New York Yankees
bench coach), and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre
(whose reasons for not attending are unknown). While the official reason given for Knight's absence was a previous commitment, many have speculated that it was more likely because of his treatment by the organization immediately following his heroics in the 1986 World Series.
, a former LPGA
golf
er. Rumors began circulating in July that the couple was divorcing, but as of November 2009 they had not. They have three children together: Ashley Knight who is the oldest, Erinn Knight who is the middle, and Torri Knight who is the youngest. He also briefly caddied for her. They live in Albany, Georgia
and also have a home at The Villages, Florida
. He also has a son from a previous marriage, Brooks Knight. Knight is a member of the Golden Gloves
boxing association.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...
best remembered for his time with the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
and New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
. Originally drafted by the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
in the tenth round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft
1970 Major League Baseball Draft
-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.* Did not sign- Background :The regular and secondary phases of the January draft proved more fruitful to major league clubs than the June draft...
, he is likely best remembered to Reds fans as the man who replaced Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
at third base
Third Base
is a 1978 Japanese film directed by Yōichi Higashi.-External links:...
, whereas Mets fans remember Knight as the man who scored the winning run of game six of the 1986 World Series
1986 World Series
The 1986 World Series pitted the New York Mets against the Boston Red Sox. It was cited in the legend of the "Curse of the Bambino" to explain the error by Bill Buckner in Game 6 that allowed the Mets to extend the series to a seventh game...
and the MVP of that series. He is now a studio analyst and occasional game analyst for MASN's coverage of the Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
.
Cincinnati Reds
Knight made his major league debut with Cincinnati as a September call-up in . He spent all of and with the triple A Indianapolis IndiansIndianapolis Indians
The Indianapolis Indians are a minor league baseball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team, which plays in the International League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates major-league club. The Indians play at Victory Field, located in downtown Indianapolis...
before returning to the majors in . During that time, the Reds won both World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
titles.
Knight was a .232 hitter with two home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s and 19 runs batted in when he assumed the role of starting third baseman for the "Big Red Machine" following Rose's defection to the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
in . Knight responded with a .318 Batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
, ten home runs 79 RBIs and 64 runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
scored to finish fifth in National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Most Valuable Player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
balloting.
On May 13, , Knight broke out of an 0-for-15 slump by homering twice in the fifth inning
Inning
Inning is a municipality in the district of Erding in Bavaria in Germany....
of a 15-4 win over the Mets. He is still the only Red to homer twice in one inning. He made his first All-star
All-star
All-star is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry...
appearance in 1980, hitting a single
Single (baseball)
In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...
off Tommy John
Tommy John
Thomas Edward John Jr. is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball whose 288 career victories rank as the seventh highest total among left-handers in major league history...
in his first at-bat.
In , Knight batted .259 with six home runs and 34 RBIs. Following the season, he was traded to the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
for Cesar Cedeno
César Cedeño
César Cedeño Encarnación is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the Houston Astros , Cincinnati Reds , St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers . He batted and threw right-handed....
to accommodate Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Bench is a former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame...
's move from behind the plate to third.
Houston Astros
Knight split his time between third and first base with the Astros. He made the All Star team once again in , and was used at third base in the game, however, he made more appearances at first than he did at first during the regular season (96 to 67).After batting .304 in , Knight was batting only .237 in , and had fallen out of favor with the Astros' organization when he was traded on August 28, 1984 to the New York Mets for three players to be named later.
New York Mets
Knight batted only .218 with six home runs and 36 RBIs his first full season with the Mets. During the off-season, the Mets attempted to trade Knight to the Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
for Lee Mazzilli
Lee Mazzilli
Lee Louis Mazzilli, , is a former Major League Baseball player, coach, and manager. On December 11, 2006, he was hired as the lead studio analyst for SportsNet New York, the New York Mets' cable television network...
, but were denied. Instead, they went into the season with Knight and Howard Johnson platooning at third.
Knight came out of the gate eager to prove the Mets wrong, crushing six home runs and batting .306 with twelve RBIs in the month of April. On July 22, Knight incited a bench clearing brawl at Riverfront Stadium against his former teammates. Eric Davis pinch-running for Reds player/manager Pete Rose in the tenth inning stole second and third base. Knight took the throw from Mets catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
Gary Carter
Gary Carter
Gary Edmund Carter , nicknamed "Kid" and "Kid Carter", is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. During a 19-year baseball career, mostly with the Montreal Expos and the New York Mets, Carter established himself as one of the premier catchers in the National League, winning three Gold...
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, back-up catcher Ed Hearn was brought into the game, and Carter moves from behind the plate to third. Roger McDowell
Roger McDowell
Roger Alan McDowell is the pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves and was a right-handed relief pitcher for twelve seasons in Major League Baseball from 1985 to 1996. He played for the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League and the Texas Rangers and...
replaced Jesse Orosco
Jesse Orosco
Jesse Russell Orosco is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who holds the major league record for career pitching appearances. He pitched most notably for the New York Mets in the 1980s. He won a World Series in 1986 with the Mets and in 1988 with the Dodgers. He threw left-handed,...
on the mound, and Orosco went into right field. They traded positions with two outs in the eleventh, and McDowell traded positions with left fielder
Left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
Mookie Wilson
Mookie Wilson
William Hayward "Mookie" Wilson is an American former Major League Baseball center fielder and current coach for the New York Mets. He played 12 years in baseball for the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays . He was a switch hitter primarily known for his impressive speed and positive attitude...
with one out in the 12th. This rotation continued for the remainder of the game, which the Mets won in fourteen innings.
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 earn NL Comeback Player of the Year honors. Knight batted only .167 in the 1986 National League Championship Series
1986 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 8, 1986 at Astrodome in Houston, TexasGame 1 featured a pitching duel between eventual NLCS Most Valuable Player Mike Scott and Dwight Gooden. Scott allowed just five hits and walked one while striking out 14 in a complete-game effort as the host Astros prevailed 1–0...
against his former teammates, the Houston Astros. In the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
, however, Knight broke out with a .391 batting average and five RBIs.
The Mets won the 1986 World Series
1986 World Series
The 1986 World Series pitted the New York Mets against the Boston Red Sox. It was cited in the legend of the "Curse of the Bambino" to explain the error by Bill Buckner in Game 6 that allowed the Mets to extend the series to a seventh game...
in seven games over the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
. Knight's single in the now-legendary tenth inning of game six of the Series drove in Gary Carter for the first run of the inning, and also pushed Kevin Mitchell to third, allowing him to score on Bob Stanley
Bob Stanley
Robert William "Bob" Stanley is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played with the Boston Red Sox.Over his 13-year career, Stanley played only for the Red Sox from 1977-89...
's wild pitch
Wild pitch
In baseball, a wild pitch is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, perhaps even the batter-runner on strike three or ball four, to advance.A wild pitch usually...
. Knight then scored the winning run from second after Mookie Wilson's ground ball went through the legs of Bill Buckner
Bill Buckner
William Joseph Buckner is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. Despite winning a batting crown in , representing the Chicago Cubs at the All-Star Game the following season and accumulating over 2,700 hits in his twenty-year career, he is best remembered for a fielding error during Game 6...
, and Knight's celebration as he rounded third to score was one of the indelible images of the series.
He hit the tiebreaking home run in game seven, and was rewarded with the World Series MVP
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
award and the Baseball Writers Association of America
Baseball Writers Association of America
The Baseball Writers' Association of America is a professional association for baseball journalists writing for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying Web sites. The BBWAA was founded on October 14, 1908, to improve working conditions for sportswriters in the early part of the 20th century...
's Babe Ruth Award
Babe Ruth Award
The Babe Ruth Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball player with the best performance in the postseason. The award, created by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America in honor of Babe Ruth, was first awarded in 1949 to the MVP of the World Series, one...
for the best performance in the World Series.
Baltimore Orioles
Unable to agree on a contract with general manager Frank CashenFrank Cashen
John Francis Cashen is a former Major League Baseball general manager. He is widely considered to be the architect of the World Champion 1986 New York Mets and was also an executive while the Baltimore Orioles won the 1966 World Series and 1970 World Series.-Early life:Cashen was born in...
for , Knight earned the distinction of becoming the first player to join a new team the season after winning the World Series MVP award, signing with the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
. The Orioles finished sixth in the American League East
American League East
The American League Eastern Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions . This division was created before the start of the 1969 season along with the Western Division...
in 1987, narrowly avoiding a 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
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
for pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Mark Thurmond
Mark Thurmond
Mark Anthony Thurmond , is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1983-1990...
. Knight served primarily as the Tigers' first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
or designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
, though he did see some playing time at third and in the outfield
Outfield
The outfield is a sporting term used in cricket and baseball to refer to the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield...
. Knight batted only .217 with three home runs, and retired at the end of the season.
Post-playing career
Upon retiring from baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, Knight became an ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
broadcaster. He accepted his first coaching job with the Reds in . Early in the season, Reds owner Marge Schott
Marge Schott
Margaret Unnewehr Schott was the managing general partner, president and CEO of the National League's Cincinnati Reds franchise from 1984 to 1999...
announced that Knight would replace Davey Johnson
Davey Johnson
David Allen "Davey" Johnson is an American Major League Baseball player and current manager of the Washington Nationals. He was the starting second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles when they won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1965 and 1972...
as manager of the Reds in 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 season. However, the Reds were doing so well under Johnson (they led the National League Central
National League Central
The National League Central Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the Western Division and three teams from the Eastern Division of the National League...
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 , and served as acting manager for a single game in . 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 at an inopportune time. He later fined himself $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
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
Jack McKeon
John Aloysius McKeon , nicknamed Trader Jack, is a former Major League Baseball manager. In 2003, he won a World Series with the Florida Marlins...
.
Knight is currently a broadcaster with the Washington Nationals, and hosts Nats Xtra, MASN's pregame and postgame show. Johnny Holliday, Knight's fellow MASN broadcaster, has playfully referred to him as the "Silver Fox."
1986 Mets reunion
Knight was one of several members of the 1986 championship team not to attend the 20th anniversary celebration at Shea StadiumShea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
on August 19, 2006; the others included manager Davey Johnson
Davey Johnson
David Allen "Davey" Johnson is an American Major League Baseball player and current manager of the Washington Nationals. He was the starting second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles when they won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1965 and 1972...
, (who was managing Team USA
United States national baseball team
The United States National Baseball team represents the United States in international baseball competition. The United States has won the previous two Baseball World Cups, having lost this title to the Netherlands in 2011, and is currently second in the IBAF World Rankings, behind Cuba.The team...
in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
), Dwight Gooden
Dwight Gooden
Dwight Eugene Gooden , nicknamed "Doc Gooden" or "Dr. K", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was one of the most dominant and feared pitchers in the National League in the middle and late 1980s.-Career:...
(who was serving a jail sentence), Roger McDowell
Roger McDowell
Roger Alan McDowell is the pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves and was a right-handed relief pitcher for twelve seasons in Major League Baseball from 1985 to 1996. He played for the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League and the Texas Rangers and...
(who is the Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
pitching coach), Lee Mazzilli
Lee Mazzilli
Lee Louis Mazzilli, , is a former Major League Baseball player, coach, and manager. On December 11, 2006, he was hired as the lead studio analyst for SportsNet New York, the New York Mets' cable television network...
(who was the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
bench coach), and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre
Mel Stottlemyre
Melvin Leon Stottlemyre, Sr. is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and pitching coach. He played 11 years in the Major Leagues, all of them with the New York Yankees...
(whose reasons for not attending are unknown). While the official reason given for Knight's absence was a previous commitment, many have speculated that it was more likely because of his treatment by the organization immediately following his heroics in the 1986 World Series.
Personal life
Ray Knight is married to Nancy LopezNancy Lopez
Nancy Marie Lopez is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events during her LPGA career, including three major championships.-Amateur career:...
, a former LPGA
LPGA
The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...
golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er. Rumors began circulating in July that the couple was divorcing, but as of November 2009 they had not. They have three children together: Ashley Knight who is the oldest, Erinn Knight who is the middle, and Torri Knight who is the youngest. He also briefly caddied for her. They live in Albany, Georgia
Albany, Georgia
Albany is a city in and the county seat of Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. It is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia metropolitan area and the southwest part of the state. The population was 77,434 at the 2010 U.S. Census, making it the...
and also have a home at The Villages, Florida
The Villages, Florida
The Villages is a master-planned age-restricted retirement community located mainly in Sumter County, Florida, United States, but also includes portions of Lake and Marion counties. The community is controlled by several Community Development Districts , most of which are controlled by H. Gary...
. He also has a son from a previous marriage, Brooks Knight. Knight is a member of the Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
boxing association.