Delino Lamont DeShields (born January 15, 1969), also nicknamed "Bop", is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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and current baseball coach. He played for 13 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

, St. Louis Cardinals,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

between 1990 and 2002. He is currently the manager of the minor league Harrisburg Senators, the Double-A affiliate of the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

. His son Delino DeShields Jr. played in MLB for seven seasons, and his daughter Diamond DeShields plays for the Chicago Sky in the WNBA.

Early life

DeShields was born in Seaford, Delaware where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. He was an All-American in baseball and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

at Seaford High School. DeShields signed a letter of intent to play

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. However, after being selected as the 12th overall pick in the 1987 MLB draft, he chose a career in baseball.

Career

Montreal Expos

DeShields signed for $130,000 with the

. He made his Major League debut on Opening Day of the 1990 season. He recorded four hits in his debut, the most for a debutant in the National League since Mack Jones 29 seasons earlier. He became the regular second baseman for the Expos in 1990, finishing in second place for the NL Rookie of the Year award. He suffered from a

sophomore slump A sophomore slump (also known as a sophomore jinx or sophomore jitters) is when a sophomore fails to live up to the relatively high standards that occurred during freshman year. It is commonly used to refer to the apathy of students (second year ...

in 1991, but went on to post his two best years in 1992 and 1993, hitting .294 and averaging 45 stolen bases.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On November 19, 1993, DeShields was traded to the

for then-prospect Pedro Martínez. In retrospect, this is considered one of the worst trades in Dodgers history. DeShields hit .241 during his three years in Los Angeles, while Martinez went on to win three

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (baseball), National League (NL). The award was introduced in 1956 by Commissioner of Baseball ( ...

s and established himself among the greatest pitchers of all time.

St. Louis, Baltimore and Chicago

In November 1996, DeShields signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals. In December 1998, he signed with the

. On April 4, 2001, he was the last out in Hideo Nomo's no-hitter against the

. In July 2001, the Orioles released DeShields and he signed with the

Post-playing career

DeShields is the co-founder of the Urban Baseball League. He also travels with Oil Can Boyd to promote baseball in

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

communities.

Cincinnati Reds organization

DeShields managed the Dayton Dragons, a single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. On December 12, 2012, it was announced that DeShields would become the manager for the Reds Double-A minor league team, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos for the 2013 season. On December 1, 2014, DeShields became manager of the Louisville Bats, replacing Jim Riggleman. After spending the 2022 season as the Cincinnati Reds' first base and baserunning coach, DeShields was fired on October 6, 2022, following a season that saw Cincinnati lose 100 games.

Washington Nationals organization

In 2023, he became the manager of the Harrisburg Senators, the

Double-A affiliate.

Personal

DeShields is married to Michelle Elliott DeShields, an educator and television host for the PBS series Georgia Traveler airing on Georgia Public Broadcasting. He has five children; two from his first marriage, Delino Jr. and

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

, along with three from his current marriage, D'Angelo, Denim and Delaney. Two children from his earlier marriage followed in his footsteps and became professional athletes. Delino Jr. was an outfielder in

from 2015 to 2021, and

plays for the Chicago Sky of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA).

Highlights

* Named State Baseball Player of the Year in 1986. * Placed second in Rookie of the Year Award voting in 1990 * Led National League in triples (14, 1997) * Nine-time top 10 finisher among NL base stealers (1990–98) * His career 463 stolen bases ranks him 44th on the all-time list * Wore his socks just below the knee, to honor the players of the defunct Negro leagues * Inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 2006. * Inducted into the Eastern Shore Baseball Foundation Hall of Fame and Museum in 2010.

References

External links

Delino DeShields Baseball Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshields, Delino 1969 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball managers African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arkansas Travelers players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball coaches from Delaware Billings Mustangs managers Bowie Baysox players Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds coaches Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Gulf Coast Expos players Indianapolis Indians players Jacksonville Expos players Jamestown Expos players Los Angeles Dodgers players Louisville Bats managers Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball second basemen Montreal Expos players People from Seaford, Delaware Baseball players from Sussex County, Delaware Rockford Expos players St. Louis Cardinals players Baseball players from Atlanta Sportspeople from College Park, Georgia 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen