April 1, 2015
THE FLATS — Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame member and long-time minor league baseball coach Riccardo Ingram passed away Tuesday night after his second fight against brain cancer. He was 48.
Ingram is survived by his wife, Allison, and their two children — Kacey and Kristen. The viewing will be Tuesday, April 7, from 12-8 p.m. at Levett Funeral Home in Lawrenceville, Ga. Funeral services will be Wednesday, April 8, at 11 a.m. at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Norcross, Ga.
Ingram was a two-sport athlete at Georgia Tech and led the Yellow Jackets in both football and baseball as a senior. He became the first Georgia Tech athlete to be presented the McKevlin Award, given annually by the ACC to its top male athlete. He led the Jackets with 79 tackles en route to All-ACC honors in 1986 as a defensive back. He was named 1987 ACC Player of the Year in baseball after hitting .426 with 17 home runs and 99 RBI; he led the Jackets to a 51-14 mark and the 1987 ACC title in baseball. He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.
He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1987 Major League Baseball Draft by the Detroit Tigers. He had a brief two-season stint in the majors, playing 12 games with the Tigers in 1994 and four games with the Minnesota Twins in 1995.
“It’s very sad news,” Minnesota Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said in a statement. “He was a good member of this organization for about 17 years. He’s been all over the map with us in the Minor Leagues and was a player. He’s one of those guys where it would be very difficult for me to find somebody who had a bad thing to say about Riccardo Ingram.”
Very sad to hear Riccardo Ingram passed away. He was a tremendous athlete, teammate and person. He’ll be missed. Prayers to his family.
— Ted Roof (@CoachTedRoof) April 1, 2015
He spent nine years in the minors before returning from baseball as a player in 1996. Afterwards, the Twins hired him as a coach.
After retiring from baseball as a player in 1996, the Twins hired him as coach. The 2015 season would have been his 18th season coaching in the Twins farm system. He spent time with Fort Wayne (1998), Quad Cities (1999), Fort Meyers (2001-03, 2005), New Britain (2003, 2006-07), Gulf Coast Twins (2004, 2014-2015), and Rochester (2008-10, 2012).
In 2009, Ingram was diagnosed with cancer and underwent radiation therapy for six weeks and returned to coaching. However, the brain cancer returned in 2014.
The viewing will be Tuesday, April 7th, from noon to 8pm at Levett Funeral Home, Gwinnett Chapel, 914 Scenic Hwy, Lawrenceville GA 30045. (Phone: 770.338.5558 | Web site: LevettFuneralHome.com)
The funeral will be Wednesday, April 8th at 11 am, Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, 182 Hunter St, Norcross GA 30071. (Phone: 770.448.5475 | Web site: www.HopewellMissionaryBaptist.org)
