Ronald Wayne Shepherd (born October 27, 1960) 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. The former

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

played part of three seasons in

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 ...

, from 1984 until 1986, 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

; his pro career lasted 15 years (1979–93), including four years in the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. The native of

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

, stood tall, weighed , and threw and batted

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 ...

Career

Shepherd was selected by Toronto in the second round of the

1979 Major League Baseball Draft The 1979 Major League Baseball draft was held on June 5–7, 1979, via conference call. First round selections The following are the first-round picks in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Compensation Picks Other ...

out of

Kilgore High School Kilgore High School is a public high school located in the city of Kilgore, Gregg County, Texas, United States and classified as a 4A school by the University Interscholastic League (UIL). It is a part of the Kilgore Independent School District ...

. During the closing month of the 1984 season, the Blue Jays recalled Shepherd from the Triple-A

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, and during his big league debut he appeared in 12

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 ...

, nine as a

pinch runner In baseball or softball, a pinch runner is a player substituted into a game for the purpose of base running. Description A pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been s ...

. He was hitless in four

plate appearances 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 ...

. Shepherd split 1985 between Toronto and Syracuse, and got into 38 games with the Blue Jays, but had only four hits in 35

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

. Then, in 1986, he was recalled from Syracuse in late May and spent the last four months of the season on the Toronto roster. He collected 14 hits in 69 at bats, for a .203

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 is ...

, with four doubles and his only two MLB

home runs 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 ...

. In 115 major league games, Shepherd had only 114 plate appearances, highlighting his extensive use as a

. He scored 23 runs, stole three bases (with one

caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder wh ...

), and had 18 total hits. Shepherd walked five times and had 37

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 ...

Sources

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Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Ron 1960 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Gregg County, Texas Bravos de León players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Indianapolis Indians players Kinston Eagles players Knoxville Blue Jays players Leones de Yucatán players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball outfielders Medicine Hat Blue Jays players Baseball players from Longview, Texas Petroleros de Minatitlán players Sultanes de Monterrey players Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Blue Jays players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen