Roland Frank Sheldon (born December 17, 1936) is an American former professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in 160 Major League games from 1961 to 1962 and 1964 to 1966. Born in Putnam, Connecticut, he attended the University of Connecticut. He was listed as 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg).

Early career with Yankees

Signed by the New York Yankees at age 23 after one season as a baseball and basketball player at UConn preceded by a semester at Texas A&M and four years of service in the United States Air Force, ^[1] in his first pro campaign, 1960, pitching in the Class D New York–Pennsylvania League, Sheldon won 15 games and lost one (for a winning percentage of .938) with 15 complete games. In Ball Four, teammate and author Jim Bouton claimed Sheldon lied about his age by telling the Yankees when they signed him that he was 19, when in fact he had served three years in the U. S. Air Force and played three years in college and was actually 26 years old.

The following year, he made the 1961 Yankees' varsity roster out of spring training, survived the May cutdown from 28 to 25 men, and took a turn in the Bombers' starting rotation in July and August. On July 5 and 9, he tossed consecutive complete-game shutouts against the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox, as the Yankees kept pace with the Detroit Tigers in a two-team pennant race—ultimately won by the Yankees in September. Sheldon would pitch in 35 games, including 21 starts, and win 11 of 16 decisions Sheldon, however, did not appear in the 1961 World Series, won by the Yankees in five games over the Cincinnati Reds.

The 1962 season saw Sheldon make 34 total appearances (with 16 starts) and posted a 7–8 record and a 5.49 earned run average. The Yankees won the American League pennant, but again Sheldon was not used in the World Series, a seven-game triumph over the San Francisco Giants. He then spent all of 1963 and the first two months of 1964 back in the minors with Triple-A Richmond.

Later MLB career

Recalled by the Yankees in June 1964, Sheldon contributed to their successful pennant defense during a summer-long struggle against the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles. He appeared in 19 games, with 12 starts, threw three complete game victories and added a save coming out of the bullpen. He then appeared in Games 1 and 7 of the 1964 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, hurling 2+2⁄3 innings pitched of hitless, scoreless relief. The Yankees, however, lost both games and the series to the Redbirds.

He began 1965 with three appearances as a relief pitcher out of the Yankee bullpen, but on May 3 he was traded to the cellar-dwelling Kansas City Athletics with Johnny Blanchard for Doc Edwards, a journeyman catcher. Sheldon managed a winning record, 10–8, with a 3.95 earned run average for a Kansas City team that lost 103 games. In 1966, he posted a solid 3.13 ERA in 14 games for the Athletics, even though he lost seven of 11 decisions, through mid-June. Two days before the June 15 trade deadline, he was acquired by the Red Sox, another second-division club, in a six-player trade and plugged into Boston's starting rotation, where he was ineffective. He ended up only 1–6 (4.97) in 23 games for the Red Sox, was traded during the offseason to Cincinnati, and never returned to the majors. He pitched four full seasons of Triple-A ball before retiring after the 1970 campaign.

For his career, Sheldon appeared in 160 Major League games and notched 371 strikeouts in 724+2⁄3 innings pitched. He allowed 741 hits and 207 bases on balls. He had 17 complete games, four shutouts and two saves. During his off-seasons, Sheldon completed his coursework for a degree in physical education in 1965 from the University of Connecticut. ^[1]

References

External links

• Baseball Reference