John Edward "Nap" Shea (May 23, 1874 – July 8, 1968), nicknamed "Napoleon", was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

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 ...

. He played for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in 1902. He stood at 5' 5", weighed 155 lbs., and batted and threw right-handed."Nap Shea Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-18.

Career

Shea was born in Ware, Massachusetts. He started his professional baseball career in 1894 and played for the New England League's Brockton Shoemakers for four seasons. In 1896, he batted a career-high .344 and slugged .452."Nap Shea Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-18. Shea then played in the New York State League from 1899 to 1902. He hit .323 in 1901. Early in the following season, he was sidelined by

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

but then recovered and hit .300 for the Ilion Typewriters. Shea was acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies and played three games for them in September. In 10

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

s, he went 1 for 8 with a

walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined as an "inverted pendulum" gait in which the body vaults over ...

and a hit by pitch. The next season, he caught for the Eastern League's Newark Sailors and stayed on that team for a few years. He batted under .200 during most of his time at Newark, but the '' Sporting Life'' wrote that he was "one of the best backstops" in the league. Shea was sold to the Syracuse Stars in March 1908,"Syracuse Buys Nap Shea"
''The Montreal Gazette'', March 20, 1908, p. 5. and he played one season there before retiring from professional baseball. He died in 1968 in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Nap 1874 births 1968 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Philadelphia Phillies players Brockton Shoemakers players Springfield Ponies players Springfield Maroons players Rome Romans players Ilion Typewriters players Newark Sailors players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Baseball players from Hampshire County, Massachusetts People from Ware, Massachusetts