Ronald Maxy Sharpe (11 March 1905 – 24 October 1972 in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

) is regarded as South Australia's and Australia's finest ever baseball player. Sharpe began his representative baseball career when he played his first interstate game for South Australia as a

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, ...

in 1921 at the age of 16. He then went on to represent South Australia for more than 18 years, becoming vice-captain and selector in 1928 and again in 1930 before taking over the captaincy from 1932. Sharpe was one of the first players in the

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

, helping South Australia to victory in the inaugural

1934 Claxton Shield The 1934 Claxton Shield was the first annual Claxton Shield, an Australian national baseball tournament. It was held at the Adelaide Oval and Hindmarsh Oval in Adelaide from 5 to 12 August, and was won by the hosts South Australia. The other par ...

as well as

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

where he pitched 15 innings in the final against

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and the 1936 Claxton Shield. He retired in 1946, missing only 1926 and 1939 through illness and the war years. His most notable performance was striking out 19 batters while conceding only three hits and four walks against New South Wales in 1931. He played, pitched and coached the

Goodwood Baseball Club Goodwood is a Baseball club playing in the South Australian Baseball League. Known as the Indians, their home ground is Mortlock Park in Colonel Light Gardens. The Goodwood Baseball Club was founded in 1889 and is the oldest baseball club in ex ...

in the South Australian Baseball League competition from 1922 to 1946, during which time the club won 16 premierships and was runner up four times. He won a number of league and club best-player awards in his time. His deeds also caused the Helms Foundation to present to the Australian Baseball Council (now Federation) a perpetual trophy to be awarded to the most valuable player in the Claxton Shield series each year. It is called the Ron Sharpe Trophy and was presented in his honour. Sharpe was also an Australian representative on two occasions when an Australian representative team played a visiting American fleet in 1925 and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1928. Ron also represented South Australia in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

cricket competition. He was a baseball reporter for the 'Adelaide News' from 1923 to 1953. After his long and successful career as a player and coach, Sharpe became a dedicated administrator at club, league and Australian level. He was made a life member of the South Australian Baseball League in 1949. Sharpe was always a gentleman on and off the sporting field and was greatly admired. Sharpe was inducted in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1986 an inaugural inductee into the

Baseball Australia Hall of Fame The Baseball Australia Hall of Fame or Australian Baseball Federation Hall of Fame is a group of baseball :Baseball positions, players, manager (baseball), managers and coach (baseball), coaches who have been recognised by the Australian Baseball ...

in 2005 and the National Sports Museum in 2008. He is also part of the Australia 75th Diamond Anniversary All-Star team as a pitcher.Ronald Maxy Sharpe
SA Baseball Elder brother Cy (Cyril John Crutchfield Sharpe) entered the film industry. After Hollywood experience, he and Jack Bruce established Commonwealth Film Laboratories in Sydney c.1926, a firm which eventually became Colorfilm. There was an associated film studio located in the Sydney Showground. Most of Cy's life was spent in California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Ron 1905 births 1972 deaths Baseball players from Adelaide Sportsmen from South Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian sportsmen