Ryan Church (born October 14, 1978 in Santa Barbara, California) is an American baseball player, his normal position is that of outfielder. Church currently plays for the Washington Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos. Church made his major league debut for the Expos in August 2004, struggling in the 30 games he played in the last two months of the season. He ended the season with a .187 batting average.
After struggling in the first month of the 2005 season, he began to play well, and was considered a candidate for the Rookie of the Year Award, until he injured himself running into the outfield wall at PNC Park on June 22, 2005. At the time of the incident, Church was batting .325 with a .544 slugging percentage. After the incident, Church made two trips to the disabled list and was unable to match his hitting performance from the first half of the season.
Because of his injuries last season, some on the Nationals question Church's durability and ability to play through pain.
Many of his diehard internet fans refer to him as "Ryan Church Yo!"
Church was recently demoted to the Nationals' minor league affiliate in New Orleans. It is unknown at this time whether his mail has been properly forwarded to him.
