Ryan Knox, Assistant Baseball Coach
Assistant Baseball Coach
Ryan Knox is a former professional baseball player embarking on his first coaching experience at Heartland Community College. Knox, born in Peoria, Ill., has been an assistant coach with the Hawks since the program’s inception in 2008 and has helped Heartland to a 178-46-1 all-time record.
Knox attended Peoria Manual High School which led to a successful collegiate career at Illinois State University. With the Redbirds Knox earned Baseball America’s Freshmen All-American honors, Missouri Valley Conference All-Conference honors and Missouri Valley Academic All-Conference honors.
Knox was drafted twice, (’98 in the 18th round by the Texas Rangers and ’99 in the 24th round by the Milwaukee Brewers). He spent over seven years professionally, and in 1999 he led the Pioneer League in both hitting (.349) and stolen bases (44) which granted him All-Star Honors and the Milwaukee Brewers Player of the Month award for August. Escalating through the Brewers organization, he reached class AAA (Indianapolis) in 2003, in which he led his team in stolen bases (17) while appearing in just 36 games. Spending most of four years in AAA, Knox was a Pacific Coast League Champion in 2005 as a member of the Nashville Sounds (AAA Milwaukee).
Knox compiled an average of .265 in 789 games played in his professional career. He also boasts 139 career doubles, 28 home runs and 254 stolen bases in 2,759 official at-bats. Knox finished his career in 2006 with the Tampa Bay Devil Ray’s organization where he split time between Montgomery (AA) and the Durham Bulls (AAA). His career highlight came in a Major League Spring Training game when he homered off of Ricardo Rincon of the Oakland Athletics in March, 2004. Knox compiled an average of .300 over three Major League Spring Training appearances.
Knox resides with his wife Stacey and his son Owen in Bloomington, Ill.
Contact Information
Phone: (309) 268-8189
Email: Ryan Knox
