Roland Frank Sheldon (born December 17, 1936) 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 ...

player, a

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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who appeared in 160 Major League

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

from to and to . Born in

Putnam, Connecticut Putnam is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 10,214 at the 2020 census. History Putnam, originally known as Aspinock, then part of Killi ...

, he attended the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. He was listed as tall and .

Early career with Yankees

Signed by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

at age 23 after one season as a 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 ...

player at UConn preceded by a semester at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

and four years of service in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, in his first pro campaign, 1960, pitching in the Class D

New York–Pennsylvania League New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

, Sheldon won 15 games and lost one (for a

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

of .938) with 15

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s. In ''

Ball Four ''Ball Four: My Life and Hard Times Throwing the Knuckleball in the Big Leagues'' is a book by Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Bouton, edited by Leonard Shecter and first published in 1970. The book is a diary of Bouton's 1969 season, sp ...

'', teammate and author

Jim Bouton James Alan Bouton (; March 8, 1939 – July 10, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. Bouton played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros, and Atlanta Braves between 196 ...

claimed Sheldon lied about his age by telling the Yankees when they signed him that he was 19, when in fact he had served three years in the U. S. Air Force and played three years in college and was actually 26 years old. The following year, he made the 1961 Yankees' varsity roster out of

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

, survived the May cutdown from 28 to 25 men, and took a turn in the Bombers'

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

rotation in July and August. On July 5 and 9, he tossed consecutive complete-game

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, as the Yankees kept pace with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in a two-team pennant race—ultimately won by the Yankees in September. Sheldon would pitch in 35 games, including 21 starts, and win 11 of 16 decisions Sheldon, however, did not appear in the

1961 World Series The 1961 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1961 season. The 58th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees against the N ...

, won by the Yankees in five games over the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. The 1962 season saw Sheldon make 34 total appearances (with 16 starts) and posted a 7–8 record and a 5.49 earned run average. The Yankees won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

pennant, but again Sheldon was not used in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

, a seven-game triumph over 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 ...

. He then spent all of and the first two months of 1964 back in the minors with Triple-A

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Later MLB career

Recalled by the Yankees in June 1964, Sheldon contributed to their successful pennant defense during a summer-long struggle against the

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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

and

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 ...

. He appeared in 19 games, with 12 starts, threw three complete game victories and added a save coming out of the bullpen. He then appeared in Games 1 and 7 of the

1964 World Series The 1964 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1964 Major League Baseball season, 1964 season. The 61st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National Leagu ...

against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, hurling

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

of hitless, scoreless relief. The Yankees, however, lost both games and the series to the Redbirds. He began with three appearances as a

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 ...

out of the Yankee bullpen, but on May 3 he was traded to the cellar-dwelling

Kansas City Athletics The Kansas City Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1955 to 1967, having previously played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the Philadelphia Athletics. After moving in 1967, the team became the ...

with

Johnny Blanchard John Edwin Blanchard (February 26, 1933 – March 25, 2009) was an American professional baseball outfielder and catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics, and Milwaukee Braves. Career Bor ...

for

Doc Edwards Howard Rodney "Doc" Edwards (December 10, 1936 – August 20, 2018) was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Athletics, New York Yankees, ...

, a journeyman

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 ...

. Sheldon managed a winning record, 10–8, with a 3.95 earned run average for a Kansas City team that lost 103 games. In 1966, he posted a solid 3.13 ERA in 14 games for the Athletics, even though he lost seven of 11 decisions, through mid-June. Two days before the June 15 trade deadline, he was acquired by the Red Sox, another second-division club, in a six-player trade and plugged into Boston's starting rotation, where he was ineffective. He ended up only 1–6 (4.97) in 23 games for the Red Sox, was traded during the offseason to Cincinnati, and never returned to the majors. He pitched four full seasons of Triple-A ball before retiring after the 1970 campaign. For his career, Sheldon appeared in 160 Major League

and notched 371

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s in

. He allowed 741 hits and 207

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. He had 17 complete games, four shutouts and two saves. During his off-seasons, Sheldon completed his coursework for a degree in physical education in 1965 from the University of Connecticut.

References

External links

Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Roland Rollie 1936 births Living people Auburn Yankees players Baseball players from Windham County, Connecticut Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players UConn Huskies baseball players UConn Huskies men's basketball players Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Athletics players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Yankees players People from Putnam, Connecticut Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Salt Lake City Bees players Seattle Angels players Toledo Mud Hens players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Mounties players American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen