Joshua David Sharpless (born January 26, 1981) is a former

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 ...

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Biography

Sharpless grew up in the greater

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

area, attending Freedom Area Senior High School in

Freedom, Pennsylvania Freedom is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,496 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located northwest of Pittsburgh and is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan ar ...

. Drafted in the 24th round of the

2003 Major League Baseball Draft The 2003 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 3 and 4. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. ''Source:MLB.com 2003 Draft Tracker' First round selections Supplemental first r ...

out of

Allegheny College Allegheny College is a private liberal arts college in Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1815, Allegheny is the oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is a member of the G ...

, he progressed through the Pirates

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

system in three years. He reached the majors on August 1, , when trade-deadline moves left openings in the major league roster. He made his first appearance on August 2, 2006. Sharpless continued to live in the Pittsburgh area year-round while playing for the Pirates. After being released by the Pirates on March 31, , Sharpless signed a minor league contract with the

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

on April 10, 2008. After becoming a free agent following the 2008 season, Sharpless signed with the

York Revolution The York Revolution is an American professional minor-league baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania. It is a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Basebal ...

of the Atlantic League for the 2009 season. He continues to live in the Pittsburgh area and gives pitching lessons to area high schoolers.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpless, Josh 1981 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers People from Beaver, Pennsylvania Baseball players from Beaver County, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Pirates players Williamsport Crosscutters players Hickory Crawdads players Lynchburg Hillcats players Altoona Curve players Indianapolis Indians players Connecticut Defenders players York Revolution players Allegheny Gators baseball players