Robert Arthur Ramsay (December 3, 1973 – August 4, 2016) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of two seasons, 1999 and 2000, for the Seattle Mariners, then battled brain cancer for nearly fifteen years.^[1][2]

Born and raised in Vancouver, Washington, Ramsay graduated from its Mountain View High School in 1992. He then attended Washington State University in Pullman,^[3] where he played college baseball for the Cougars for four seasons, through 1996.^[4]

During his junior year in 1995, WSU won the Pac-10 northern division,^[5][6] and Ramsay was the starter in the first game of the championship series against southern division winner USC at Los Angeles.^[3][7]

Following his senior season at Washington State, Ramsay was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the seventh round of the 1996 draft.^[8][9] The Red Sox traded him to the Mariners for Butch Huskey on July 26, 1999.^[9][10] After the 2000 season with Seattle, Ramsay spent 2001 at Triple-A Tacoma, then was diagnosed with brain cancer (glioblastoma multiforme) in early 2002.^[11] After surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, he attempted a comeback in 2003 with the San Diego Padres organization,^{[12][13][14][15]} but it ended his baseball career.^[16]

Ramsay lived in Pullman in the off-season during his pro career,^[13] and spent some of his retirement coaching and teaching in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho,^[16] his wife Samantha's hometown.^[17][18]

The family moved back down to the Palouse at Moscow, where Samantha, a former Penn State and WSU volleyball player (setter),^[17][18] became an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Idaho in 2010.^[19] While she completed her doctorate in education at UI, Ramsay earned a master's.^[2]

Ramsay died at age 42 in Moscow in 2016 after suffering a seizure, a complication related to previously diagnosed brain cancer.^[16][20][21] He had survived over 14½ years since the initial diagnosis.^[2] His widow died in a storm after being struck by lightning on the Matterhorn in 2017.^[22]