Rafeeq Muhammad, formerly known as Buddy Pryor, is in his second season as a volunteer assistant for Pioneer baseball. A local product and a 1979 graduate of Hayward High School, Muhammad played two seasons at Oakland’s Laney College as the team’s starting catcher (1979-81). Muhammad earned All-Golden Gate Conference first team honors as a freshman and sophomore. He was the 1981 Golden Gate Conference Player of the Year and first team All-State as a sophomore while serving as the team's captain and lead-off hitter. At the 1981 California State Championship Tournament in Long Beach, Laney upset No. 1-ranked Orange Coast College, with Muhammad throwing out a runner at second base to end the game.
Following a standout Junior College career, Muhammad transferred to the reigning National Champion Arizona State Sun Devils for the 1982 season and became their starting catcher. ASU was ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of Muhammad’s junior year before losing in the regional tournament. Muhammad batted .298 with 13 home runs and 58 RBI as a standout for the Sun Devils.
Muhammad was drafted in the fourth round of the Major League Baseball Draft in 1982 by the Cincinnati Reds and spent eight seasons in the minor leagues. His seven seasons with the Reds included three Eastern League Championships (AA, Vermont Reds 1984-86) and one Southern League Championship (AA, Chattanooga Lookouts 1988). He played one season in the Oakland A’s organization at AA and AAA before having his contract purchased by the Montreal Expos. There Muhammad's team won the AAA Series Classic Championship (Indianapolis Indians 1989).
Muhammad played parts of four seasons at AAA, which also included a stint as a AAA player-coach in the Reds organization (Nashville Sounds 1988). In 529 minor league games, Muhammad had a career batting average of .231 with 38 HR, and 184 RBI. He had a .984 fielding percentage and 344 assists in 493 games as a catcher, and a .954 fielding percentage in 35 games playing 3B, 2b, 1b, and OF. Muhammad was twice invited to Major League spring training (1988 with Pete Rose's Cincinnatti Reds and 1989 with Tony LaRussa's Oakland A's). After declining a minor league contract offer from the Montreal Expos in 1989, he resumed pursuing a career in Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration.
In 1992, after serving as a volunteer assistant for Pioneer Baseball, Muhammad returned to the professional ranks, attending spring training with Jim Leland's 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates. After declining a position from the Pirates to become a roving minor league catching instructor, Muhammad returned to Cal State Hayward’s Facilities Management Department (1991-current) and currently serves as the Engineering Supervisor (HVAC & R).
Born and raised in Hayward, Muhammad and his wife of 32 years, Charisse, have three daughters, Alexis (CSU Long Beach 2006), Morgan (CSU San Bernardino 2010), and Erin (freshman at Holy Names University), as well as two granddaughters, Amaya and Kyndall-Alexis.
