Shawn Wesley Abner (born June 17, 1966) is an American former professional baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1987 to 1992 for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

, California Angels, and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. In 392 career games, Abner had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .227 with 191

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

s, 11

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, and 71

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. He is widely considered a

draft bust A draft is a process used in some countries (especially in North America) and sports (especially in closed leagues) to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. When a team sele ...

. The

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

drafted Abner with the first overall selection in the

1984 MLB draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft. Other notable players * Jeff Blauser†, 1st round (secondary phase), 4th overall by the Atlanta Braves *Greg Maddux‡, 2nd round, 31st ...

Early life

Shawn Wesley Abner was born on June 17, 1966, in Hamilton, Ohio, to Ben Sr. and Carol. In middle school, Abner played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

, though in high school he switched positions to

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

because his mother stated she did not want Abner to get hurt. Abner attended high school at Mechanicsburg Area High School in

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Mechanicsburg is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The borough is eight miles (13 km) west of Harrisburg. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 8,981. ...

, where he played football and baseball as a center fielder. In 1981, in football, the Mechanicsburg Wildcats finished as runners up in the Capital Area Conference (CAC) to Red Land High School as Abner was named to the CAC all-star team, composed of the best players in the conference, as a defensive back. The Mets selected him first overall in the

. When Abner signed with the Mets, his $150,500 () signing bonus was the highest in the history of baseball.

Professional career

Abner never played a big league game for the Mets. After moving slowly through the minor league system, he was traded after the 1986 season to the

as part of an eight-player swap that sent Kevin Mitchell west in exchange for Kevin McReynolds. He made his debut on September 8, 1987 in a loss to the Braves. Abner entered in the top of the eighth inning as a pinch hitter for

Lance McCullers Lance Graye McCullers Sr. (born March 8, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Texas R ...

and flied out to center field in his first major league at bat. The light-hitting Abner played sparingly over the next five seasons for San Diego, used mostly as a reserve

. He was traded to the California Angels in 1991 and signed by the

in 1992. His season with the White Sox was probably his best, as he attained a .279

over 97 games. Abner injured his knee the following season playing basketball before a Triple-A game for the

Omaha Royals Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

, and never played in the majors again. While playing in MLB, Abner stood at and weighed . He batted and threw right-handed. In 392 career games, Abner had a

of .227 with 191

s, 11

s, and 71

. Abner is widely-considered a

Personal life

Abner married his high-school sweetheart Kris in October 1987 at A Little White Wedding Chapel in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. During the MLB off-season, Abner enjoyed playing blackjack in casinos in Las Vegas. His son Seth "Scump" Abner is a professional '' Call of Duty'' player. On August 28, 2019, Shawn was charged with

animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or su ...

for leaving his 14 year old

husky Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

alone at home, for over a month, resulting in the dog's death. Shawn failed to ask anyone to care for the dog while he was away. He pleaded guilty to

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

aggravated animal cruelty and was sentenced in January 2020 to 4.5–23 months in prison.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Abner, Shawn 1966 births Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Ohio American expatriate baseball players in Canada San Diego Padres players California Angels players Chicago White Sox players Major League Baseball replacement players Kingsport Mets players Little Falls Mets players Lynchburg Mets players Jackson Mets players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Vancouver Canadians players Omaha Royals players Norfolk Tides players Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ohio People from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Pennsylvania Prisoners and detainees of Pennsylvania American sportspeople convicted of crimes American people convicted of cruelty to animals