Completing his fifth pro season in 1993, Ed Riley finally seemed to hit his stride, The Hartford Courant wrote.
The former Red Sox sixth-round pick had gone 10-8, with a 2.45 ERA at AA New Britain and even picked up his first start at AAA Pawtucket.
"I put pressure on myself ... just because I was playing for the team I grew up with," the Worcester native told The Courant. "This year I decided to just go out and have fun. I think this season has really boosted my confidence."
Riley used that confidence boost to see more time at Pawtucket the next year. But he couldn't use it to make the bigs. He played in the Red Sox system through 1995. He then played six seasons in independent ball. He topped out at AAA.
Riley's career began in 1988, taken by the Red Sox in the sixth round of the draft out of St. Peter's High School in Worcester, Mass.
Riley started in the rookie Arizona League. He went 1-4, with a 4.06 ERA over nine outings, six starts.
He then moved to short-season Elmira and got one start at New Britain in 1989, then high-A Winter Haven in 1990. He went 4-9, with a 3.11 ERA in 31 outings, 24 starts at Winter Haven.
He moved to high-A Lynchburg for 1991 and went 8-10, with a 3.53 ERA. Then came his 1992 New Britain campaign where he hit AAA.
Going into that 1992 season, The Courant noted Riley's proximity in Worcester - and his large family that included 15 brothers and sisters and many others.
"I'll have like 100 people here every time I start," Riley told The Courant then. "It's going to be a fun year."
Riley split 1993 between New Britain and Pawtucket. He went 4-4 at Pawtucket with a 5.01 ERA over 14 outings.
He played 1994 entirely at New Britain, then 1995 back at AA, at Trenton, to end his Red Sox career.
For 1996, he moved to independent ball and Albany. He went 11-1 that year, with a 1.78 ERA in 14 starts. He returned there for 1997, then three seasons at Nashua. After four seasons away, he returned for one final campaign in 2005, in his hometown, for the inaugural season of the Worcester Tornadoes. In 2011, he served as the team's manager.
- Hartford Courant, April 18, 1992: Britsox could profit from Riley's presence
- Hartford Courant, Sept. 3, 1992: For Britsox's Blosser, success
Made the Majors:1,307-33.3%
Never Made Majors:2,618-66.7%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors:530
10+ Seasons in the Minors:328-X
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