Former Reds Coach Vern Ruhle dies

Cincinnati Enquirer

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Former Reds pitching coach Vern Ruhle died Saturday night in Houston from complications of stem cell transplant and treatment for multiple myeloma.

Ruhle became Reds pitching coach on June 21, 2005. He took a leave of absence during spring training last year to get treatment from an undisclosed type of the cancer.

Ruhle, 55, was a 13-year big-league veteran. He went 67-88 with a 3.73 ERA pitching for Detroit, Houston, Cleveland and California. His best year was 1980 when he went 12-4 with a 2.37 ERA for the Astros.

Ruhle joined the Reds organization in 2004 and served as the pitching coach in Billings that year. He was named minor league pitching coordinator in 2005. He took over as pitching coach after Don Gullett was fired.

Ruhle is survived by his wife Sue, daughter Rebecca and son Kenny.

A service will be held in Sarasota in a few weeks.