Former Baltimore Orioles infielder Ryan Minor died Friday at the age of 49 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Minor was best known for his role in baseball history. The former infielder was the first player to start ahead of Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. following the latter’s 2,632 consecutive games played streak.

Minor’s twin brother and former San Francisco Giants first basemen Damon announced the news on X.

“After a courageous and hard fought battle I’m sad to say that Ryan lost his fight with cancer this afternoon,” said Damon. “He truly was the best twin brother you can ask for. His family and I want to thank everyone for the prayers and support during this time.”

Minor was a two-sport athlete for the University of Oklahoma, starring for both the Sooners’ men’s basketball and baseball teams. Minor was drafted both by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1996 NBA Draft and the Orioles in the 1996 MLB Draft.

After first pursuing an NBA career, Minor went on to focus on baseball. He was invited to Orioles’ spring training in 1997 and eventually made his major league debut in 1998. On Sept. 20, just a week after his debut, Minor got the start ahead of Ripken Jr.

Minor played four seasons in the majors — three with the Orioles and one with the Montreal Expos. He batted .177 with 5 home runs and 27 RBIs across 142 games played for his career.

The Reds designated Kolozsvary for assignment last October before losing him on waivers to the Orioles. Baltimore, in turn, successfully outrighted the Florida native in November to keep him in the organization without occupying a spot on its 40-man roster.

Kolozsvary served as upper-minors catching depth for the first three months of the 2023 season. His contract was then selected from Triple-A Norfolk on June 13 as a corresponding move for Ryan Mountcastle hitting the injured list with vertigo. He made his Orioles debut that same night but did not register a plate appearance, instead serving as a defensive replacement for Adley Rutschman in the ninth inning of an 11-6 win over the Blue Jays at Camden Yards.

The following afternoon, Kolozsvary was designated for assignment by the Orioles. He cleared waivers shortly thereafter and elected free agency in lieu of an outright assignment to the minor-leagues, which he had the right to do after already being outrighted once before in his career. Kolozsvary then signed a minors pact with the Twins on June 20 and spent the rest of the year at Triple-A St. Paul.

For his big-league career, Kolozsvary has logged 61 total innings at catcher and has thrown out one of five potential base stealers while allowing two passed balls. In 29 games between Double-A Bowie, Norfolk, and St. Paul this past season, the 5-foot-8, 185-pound backstop accrued 234 innings behind the plate and threw out seven of 34 would-be base stealers without allowing a single passed ball.

Offensively, Kolozsvary is a lifetime .211/.320/.341 hitter with 57 doubles, three triples, 24 home runs, 113 RBIs, 144 runs scored, five stolen bases, 117 walks, and 347 strikeouts in 325 career minor-league games (1,211 plate appearances). That includes a .174/.282/.301 slash line with 10 doubles, one triple, seven homers, 20 runs driven in, 34 runs scored, one stolen base, 22 walks, and 98 strikeouts in 87 games (300 plate appearances) at the Triple-A level.