This week in Catching Up with the Bucks, we are taking a look back at Ryan Gripp. Gripp played third base and was attend Creighton University while playing for the Bucks. The righty went to Indianola High School and is from the Des Moines area.

After being selected in the 95^th round of the 1996 amateur draft, Gripp decided not to sign and instead went to play at Creighton. In his junior year there, Gripp hit .395 and slugged .807, while also hitting 24 homers. This not only earned him Missouri Valley All-Conference, but the America Baseball Coaches Association named him as their All-American at third base.

Gripp played for the Waterloo Bucks in the summer of 1997, putting up one of the more impressive seasons ever by a Buck.     That year, Gripp hit for a .343 batting average, scored 50 runs, drove in 47 runs. Gripp also compiled a slugging percentage of .579, doing this with his 11 homers and 18 doubles. These numbers all rank in the top 10 best single season numbers in Bucks history. His batting average, homers, and slugging percentage from this season put him in the top 10 career lists in those categories. Ryan Gripp is also a member of the Bucks Hall of Fame.

With these outstanding numbers with the Bucks and at Creighton, Gripp was selected in the 1999 amateur draft in the 3^rd round by the Chicago Cubs. The former Bluejay started off for the Cubs in A- Eugene, where he made an instant impact. Gripp hit for average as well as power, hitting .308 while hitting 18 doubles and 12 homers to compile a .519 slugging percentage. This got Gripp bumped up to single A Lansing. He played 135 games there in 2000, hitting .333 with 20 homers and 92 RBI. He also compiled a .942 OPS. His .333 batting average led the Midwest League, a league which included Albert Pujols, who got the all-star nod in the league over him.

The next season (2001) Gripp reached the highest level he would ever reach, playing at AA West Tennessee. He was not able to put up quite the same numbers he did at his previous levels, only hitting .227 and slugging .396, both well below his career averages. Gripp spent almost the entire 2002 season in AA and hit .232 with a .703 OPS. After that year, Gripp was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers as a player to be named in a trade for Paul Bako.

After spending one season at AA Huntsville for the Brewers, hitting .285 and slugging .414. He spent some time playing in Independent leagues and eventually left baseball in 2007. Ryan Gripp will always be remembered as one of the great Bucks of all-time and we wish him the best in all that he does.