Jim Ridley

James Beswick Ridley (July 9, 1945 – November 28, 2008) was a Canadian professional baseball outfielder, coach, and scout. He played two seasons in Minor League Baseball, then had a lengthy career as a scout. He coached the Canada national baseball team at both the Summer Olympic Games and Pan American Games, and was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed.

Biography Ridley played in Minor League Baseball during 1964 and part of 1965, for three teams within the Milwaukee Braves organization.

Ridley later played in the Intercounty Baseball League of Southern Ontario from 1972 to 1975. and was named league MVP in 1974 as player-manager of the Stratford Kraven Knits. Stratford won that season's league championship, and Ridley was named manager of the year. He underwent spinal fusion surgery after the 1975 season, and did not resume his playing career.

Ridley first worked as a scout during the 1973 season, in a part-time role for the Detroit Tigers. The team's participation in the 1988 Olympics is remembered for a win over Team USA in Seoul, while at the 1991 Pan Am Games the team had a lengthy brawl with Team Mexico during a game in Havana.

In addition to his baseball career, Ridley was also a schoolteacher in Stewarttown, Ontario. He was survived by a daughter and two sons. Ridley twice won the Canadian Baseball Network's scout of the year award: first in 2004, and posthumously in 2009, when the award was renamed in his honor. In 2014, Ridley was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was inducted to the Milton Sports Hall of Fame in Milton, Ontario.