HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Mike Sharperson
OR:
Mike Sharperson on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Michael Tyrone Sharperson (October 4, 1961 – May 26, 1996) was an
infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...
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) ...
who played for the
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
(1987),
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 (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brookly ...
(1987–1993) and
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...
(1995). Sharperson batted and threw right-handed. He was born in
Orangeburg, South Carolina Orangeburg, also known as ''The Garden City'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2010 United States Census and declined to 1 ...
. In an eight-season career, Sharperson posted a .280
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 i ...
with 10
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 is ...
s and 123
RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...
in 557
games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...
.


Career

Sharperson was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round (11th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft. He made his debut with Toronto in 1987 and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in midseason. A member of the Dodgers'
1988 World Series The 1988 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1988 season. The 85th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the ...
championship team, Sharperson was part of the group of utility players known as "The Stunt Men", for their ability to play many different positions and roles. While mostly used at
third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
and second, Sharperson also played
shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...
, first base and
right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...
. In 1990, Sharperson hit .297 with career-highs in hits (106) and games (129). His most productive season came in 1992, when he hit .300 with 21 doubles and 48 runs (all career-highs), and made the National League All-Star team. Released by the Dodgers before the 1994 season, Sharperson signed with the Red Sox, then with the Cubs, but did not play for them. He appeared in seven games with the Atlanta Braves in 1995 and became a
free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
at the end of the season. He then signed a
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 N ...
contract with 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 penna ...
.


Death

In 1996, Sharperson was playing for the Triple-A Las Vegas Stars. He was driving to
McCarran International Airport Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport in Paradise, Nevada, and is the main government airport for public use in the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada, about south of Downtown Las Vegas. ...
to join the Padres in Montreal against the Expos after being recalled when he died in a one-car crash at the junction of I-15 and I-215 just south of the
Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas cit ...
. He was southbound on I-15 at about 2:45 a.m. when he apparently realized he missed his turn onto I-215. A witness said that Sharperson tried to make a right turn onto I-215, but lost control in the rain and went into a dirt median. Local law enforcement who arrived at the scene of the accident stated that Sharperson had been ejected through his car's sunroof during the accident. He was 34 years old.


See also

*
List of baseball players who died during their careers This is a list of baseball players who died during their careers. These deaths occurred during a game, due to illness, results of accidents, acts of violence, or suicide. Repeated studies have shown that Major League Baseball players have a greate ...


References


External links


Baseball AlmanacThe Baseball GaugeVenezuela Winter League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharperson, Mike 1961 births 1996 deaths African-American baseball players Albuquerque Dukes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from South Carolina Florence Blue Jays players Georgia Perimeter Jaguars baseball players Iowa Cubs players Kinston Blue Jays players Knoxville Blue Jays players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Los Angeles Dodgers players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball infielders National League All-Stars Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Orangeburg, South Carolina Richmond Braves players Road incident deaths in Nevada Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players 20th-century African-American sportspeople