From the time they are “knee-high to a grasshopper”, young boys start day-dreaming about hitting that dramatic walk-off homer to win the game, playoffs or, even better yet, the World Series. If it isn’t the a homerun, it’s a Doug Flutie “Hail Mary” type pass to win the game in the last seconds, or hitting nothing but net from half-court as time runs out. We love the thought of being the hero that everyone cheers for.
In my youth, I spent many hour in the dry corrals on our dairy, throwing a baseball in the air and hitting it on the way down. Depending on where I hit the ball, it would be a double, triple or home-run. If it landed in wet cow poop, it was a double or triple play. Most always, the “hit” would be a game winner. No matter where the ball was on its downward flight, I was hacking, hoping to jerk that puppy out of the yard (or corral). Never once in all those hours, did I ever “work a walk” to get on base. Walks are not the stuff of which dreams are made.
How many times have we seen Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home-run against Dennis Eckersley? Far too many to count. I can still vividly recall my family’s reaction when he hit it. By and large, my family is not normally very demonstrative, but we all jumped off the couch and danced in the living room that evening. My sons were only 8 and 6 at the time, but they remember it and it will always remain magical. Those are times that every baseball fan relishes.
In all my years as a baseball fan, I don’t know that I ever dreamed or imagined myself working the count to get a walk that extends the inning, keeps the teams hopes alive and sets the stage for someone else to be the hero. I don’t recall doing that a single solitary time. Not once! Kirk Gibson, however, does not get his opportunity for the walk off, unless Mike Davis first works his two out walk. Because of the impact of the Gibson homerun, Mike Davis has achieved some notoriety, and many do remember that he walked and stole second base before Gibson’s famous homerun. What isn’t as remembered is that there was another very important walk that made it possible for the Dodgers to get to the World Series in the first place.
Let me introduce you to John “T-Bone” Shelby. Not much is written about him. He was never an elite player. In fact, John Shelby’s career in the pros can be summed up as ordinary. He was, what could best be described as a “journeyman” ball player. Certainly competent, but never exceptional or elite.
John T. Shelby, whose nickname was “T‑Bone” for his slight frame, was born on February 23, 1958 in Lexington, Kentucky. John played his high school baseball in Lexington, Kentucky at Henry Clay High School, where he was a standout athlete in baseball and basketball. After high school he played one year at Columbia State Community College in Tennessee. In 1977 he was selected in the first round of the January version of the regular phase of the draft, as the 20th pick by the Baltimore Orioles. He went on to play in the majors from 1981 to 1991.
Shelby spent the better part of six seasons in the minors, Shelby made his debut for the Orioles in 1981, but did not become a starter until 1983. In parts of seven seasons, Shelby played 512 games for the Orioles, hitting .239/.273/.361/.634 with 31 home runs. On May 22, 1987, after a slow start to the season, Shelby, along with pitcher Brad Havens was traded to the Dodgers for relief pitcher Tom Niedenfuer. I suspect that many fans were happy for this trade merely to see Niedenfuer head to another team. After the trade, for the rest of the 1987 season, Shelby hit .277/.317/.464 with 21 home runs and 16 stolen bases in 518 plate appearances, including a 24 game hitting streak. Probably the best stretch of his baseball career. Shelby would play for the Dodgers from 1987 through June 1990, hitting .247/.297/.375/.672, adding 32 homeruns. Definitely nothing spectacular. The Dodgers released him on June 2, 1990, and he signed with the Detroit Tigers 10 days later. Two sub-par years followed with the Tigers and he was released by them in August 1991. He would then play one year for the Boston Red Sox, after which he retired. In his career he had a 3.2 WAR and 79 OPS+. On the positive side, He was a member of two World Series Championship teams. First as a member of the 1983 Orioles and again with the 1988 Dodgers.
His most memorable moment as a Dodger had to come in game 4 of the 1988 National League Championship Series against the Mets. Shelby didn’t have a great NLCS, striking out 12 times in 24 at bats and hitting just .167/.300/.167, but he did have one really good game against the most dominant pitcher in the game. The Mets, who were heavy favorites and, quite frankly, a better team, won 2 of the first 3 games and were leading the Dodgers 4-2, behind Dwight Gooden, heading to the top of the ninth. Shelby was the leadoff hitter for the Dodgers. He had 2 hits off of Gooden that night and had driven in the Dodgers only 2 runs. As the deafening sounds of Mets fans chanting “Beat LA” echoed through Shea Stadium, Gooden got a head of the count quickly, as Shelby fouled back the first pitch and then was overmatched by a beautiful curve that fell in for a strike. The excitement was building for the Mets, while nervousness was the emotion in the Dodger dugout. The 3rd pitch was high and inside. Shelby fouled off the 4th pitch with a weak grounder down the first baseline. On the 5th pitch Shelby laid off a slider that was barely outside. The 6th pitch was a curve that fooled Shelby, but he was able to foul it off on a checked swing. The 7th pitch was way outside. 3-2 count, and on the 8th pitch, Shelby started to offer but was able to hold off on a pitch that just missed outside. He walks. Gooden is obviously ticked off at himself. Up comes Mike Scioscia. He had hit 35 homeruns to that point in his 8 year career. Gooden grooves a first pitch fastball and Scioscia lines it over Darryl Strawberry’s head into the Mets bullpen in right field. Game tied!! What a moment in Dodger history! The wind had been taken out of the Mets’ sails. This game would go on to the 12th inning, when Kirk Gibson, who had been 0-5 to that point, without hitting a ball out of the infield, hit a homerun off of Roger McDowell to put the Dodgers ahead. In the bottom of the twelfth, the Mets would load the bases with 2 outs. Orel Hershiser came on in relief to face Kevin McReynolds. McReynolds hitting a dying duck pop fly to short center, which Shelby played perfectly to make a running catch for the final out. The Series was now tied, and the Dodgers would go on to win it behind a Hershiser shutout in the deciding game.
I know that baseball is a game of inches and there are countless plays in the course of any given game that can cause it to go either way. But I submit to you, had T-Bone Shelby not worked that walk in the 9th inning of game 4, we may never had experienced Gibson’s dramatic home run and Hershiser leaping into Rick Dempsey’s arms, with his fist in the air, might not be a picture hanging on my conference room wall. Thankfully that’s not something we have to contemplate.
What little I have been able to learn of him is that he is an extraordinary family man, who had an extraordinary at-bat that led to the Dodgers last World Series win. In the World Series, Shelby hit .222/.300/.278 in 5 games and was one of the few regulars to survive the series without getting injured.
After retirement as a professional baseball player in 1992, Shelby remained in affiliated baseball. He was a major league coach for 17 years with the Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Orioles, and Milwaukee Brewers as well as the AAA hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies. Last year, John was the outfield and base‑running coordinator for the Atlanta Braves. 43 years of his life in professional baseball. I have a special admiration for those men that stay in baseball their whole life. It shows how much they actually love the game.
John “T-Bone” Shelby is married to his high school sweetheart, Trina, who he met when they were 14. John and Trina have raised six children. Their son John T. III was a standout baseball player at the University of Kentucky and played in the Tampa Bay Rays system. Their son, Jeremy, was 13, and a high school freshman, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease lymphoma. After some rough years of treatment, he went on to play at Grambling State. Jeremy was then drafted by the Baltimore Orioles and is now pursuing a career in music as a Christian rap artist. A third son, Javon also played at the University of Kentucky, and was drafted by the Oakland As in the 5th round of the 2016 draft.
Throughout his career and life, Shelby was very active with Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He readily acknowledges that it has been his faith and the love and closeness of family that have been the foundation of his life. Shelby says that the closeness of his family was a choice he and his wife made a long time ago.
“Trina and I have always been close. We’ve put in our hearts that we’re going to be a close family. I could always call home and talk to everybody. When I was in California, sometimes I would be up until 3:30 a.m. just to say good morning. We’re close because we choose to be close.”
The longevity of his marriage and the close bond of his family is a testament to man, who, while ordinary in his baseball career is extraordinary as a husband, father and grandfather. Today John “T-Bone” Shelby, I want to raise my glass in honor to you, to baseball players like you, and to the walk!! May we always have memories like game 4 of the 1988 National League Championship Series.
I remember the moment and T-Bone well. He was not much of an offensive threat, but a pretty good fielder. I think I have a baseball card of him somewhere. I love talking about former Dodgers.
Great article! John Shelby was the first “famous person” I ever met. Met him in April 1989 after a game, and he showed me his ’88 World Series ring. To a 17 year old high school senior, it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen!
That is cool that you got to meet him and see his World Series ring. Wes Parker showed me his 65 ring when I met him in 1981. I do not remember if Snider was wearing his from 55 when I met him at a card show. Larry Sherry showed all of us kids at Arroyo Seco Park where he was working out the glove he used in the 59 series. I had a copy of the 63 ring given to me by a friend. My brother has it now because I just do not wear jewelry. It is a copy, but heavy as hell.
Yeah, it’s amazing how huge those rings are. I’ve gotten lucky enough to wear both LA Kings rings and all 5 of Kobe’s Lakers’ title rings. They keep outdoing themselves, so they get heavier and heavier!
OK Bobby, someone needs to ask.
How did you have the chance to wear the rings?
I jus gots ta know ??
With the Kings, I’ve met Bob Miller at some Kings events, so got to wear his rings and take pics. Bob is super nice person.
And with the Lakers, I’ve had season tickets since 2004 or so. So with being at so many games in the last half of last decade, opportunity always came up. One time it was AC Green and his 2000 ring. Another time it was asst coach Craig Hodges and his 2009 ring. Other times my season ticket rep has let me wear his rings as we hung out and took shots in the AMEX lounge area. Sometimes they’ll have the various trophies at events for us to take pics with.
When I went to Dodger Stadium in Feb 2018 to renew my 2018 season seats, they had the 2017 NLCS trophy sitting there for pic opportunities. I stayed away from that thing, and had half a mind to throw it in the trash. Brought back bad memories!
Wow, those are great memories to have Bobby something to tell your grandchildren
Interesting story on T-Bone Shelby, 2D2. I enjoy these stories and I do remember him as a very good utility player. I am with Bear on this one. I love the old way of playing baseball and walks, stealing bases do count and should be used more in my opinion. Thank you for writing this, and p.s. Lonestar is one of my favorite groups.
I thought Lonestar was just a bad beer. The things we learn here.
Bums, I am Amazed, Not A Day Goes By without some of your excellent wit and humor.
my wife tells me that as well except she leaves out the word excellent.
Thanks 2D2. I love the bios on past players, especially what’s become of them after retirement. I’m with DBMom and others who miss old school baseball. The game has changed so much and I’m enjoying older rebroadcasts of historic games. The changes are too many to mention here but some obvious difference is the size of the players and the fundamentals of hitting. I watched the replays of the 88 Dodgers and their lineup seemed to be full of skinny rabbits. (Orel was unbelievable and I forgot how dominant he could be). And the hitting fundos were so different. Watch Larry Bowa hit back in the day and tell me how that style would play today compared with the modern shortstop. Bowa vs Lindor…………..let me think. I’m not being critical of past players but the game they played and today’s game is apples and oranges.
Without getting too deeply into it, the teaching of hitting today is so different. One telltale sign sign of how hitting style has changed is look at the bats. Old bats for the public had the player’s names (not the model #). The Jackie Robinson and the Nellie Fox models were very thick handled bats. The style with these bats was to chock up and get the ball in play. Pinch and Judy guys. The (A-3 bat) Al Kaline’s were super skinny handled much like bats today. (I broke about a dozen of those in high school)
Metal bats changed all that. Have you ever seen a thick handled metal bat? I have’t because they don’t exist. Kids aren’t taught to hit that way anymore and haven’t for years. Todays bats are light with huge barrels and slender handles. Top top line Louisville Slugger is $500 bucks. Wood bats in my day were $3.95, no kidding. Today’s pros all grew up down on the knob of those metal bats which has produced a total shift in how kids hit. And how they’re taught.
Front foot hitters are a thing of the past unless they’re fooled. Classic front footers like Henry Aaron and Roberto Clemente don’t exist and that style is discouraged. Weight back, rotate and launch is the new order of the day. I saw Clemente in his last All-Star Game hit an oppo homer with his back foot, a foot off the ground. With Aaron’s long stride, his head travelled about 2 feet into the pitch. See if that looks like Bellinger.
I’ve had to train myself to the new ways. I’ve had to put out of my mind the stolen base, the sac bunt, the hit and run. Chicks dig the long ball.
I was reading an article on the 25 most overated HOF players, and Nellie Fox was on the list. He played in parts of 19 years in MLB and not once did he ever exceed 18 strikeouts. In his 1959 MVP season he struck out 13 times in 717 PA. For his career he struck out 216 times in 10,351 PA. He also had 35 HRs in those 19 years. It can be argues that he does not make a roster today.
Was Mazeroski on the list? You could make a huge list of fringe players in the 50’s and 60’s who would not make a team today. I remember Don Blasingame. 2nd baseman and SS. He used to torment the Dodgers. Played 12 years in the bigs with 5 teams. Another low K guy, never struck out more than 53 times in a season, and only did that once. Over a 12 year career, he hit 21 homers. Mazeroski had more pop than those guys, and also was a low K guy. Never struck out more than 73 times. Maz is in the hall, pretty much based on his fielding. I saw Fox play a couple of times. He was just a steady player. Both went in the hall via the Veterans committee. Nice segue there Blue Mom….two of my favorite Lonestar tunes. But I am really partial to I’m Already There…and yep, Bum, Lonestar is classically bad.
Yes I believe Maz was on that list as well.
I know he hit a big time home run and danced all the around the bases.
My favorite bat as a kid was a think handled Nellie Fox model. I was definitely more of a line drive hitter than a power hitter but I used it just because it felt more comfortable to me. I never broke it and I think it’s still in a closet somewhere around the house.
I had a Duke Snider model when I was 10. Lost it somewhere along the way. Then when I was in high school, I had a 32 ounce thin handled, I liked those best, Ernie Banks model. I liked it because it was light, and when you made contact the ball jumped off of that bat. Right now I have Manny Ramirez I bought when he was a Dodger. Use it in the cage when I can get to one. Unfortunately, I can’t hit that well anymore.
I paid 30.00 for my Ramirez. But I got the Snider in 1958 for 4.25 . I detest metal bats. I dislike the ping when the ball is hit, and they just do not feel right. Even when I was playing softball, I used wood bats. Another innovation of today’s bats is the axe handle model which is becoming more popular. MLB made a 76 game season, 16 team playoff proposal to the players today.
No kidding Bear about that PING. When I coached with metal bats for awhile I lost the knack for recognizing how balls were contacted with wood. It would take me a few innings to get that groove back when watching the pros. There’s certainly nothing like the sound of a barreled up baseball off a wooden bat. It certainly isn’t a PING. I also used one of those tapered handled bats with no knob. Kind of a forerunner to the axe handle.
When I was in the army and playing softball almost all year round, I found a soft ball bat that was very unique. It had a slim handle, and then went out to the barrel in a normal manner, but about 3 inches above the label, it narrowed down a little. When I hit a softball solid with that thing it really took off. It was light, so it had a real whipping motion. Yeah, I loved the crack of the bat when you hit one right on the button. Funny thing though, the furthest ball I ever hit, I never felt it. It just came off of the bat like a rocket, and went a very long way. Saw a picture of Ruth’s bat. Looked more like a bludgeon than a bat.
It was never about the sound for me and instead it was the beautiful feel of a perfectly hit ball.
Various baseball announcers have said the ball sounds different coming off some hitters bats.
On a slightly different topic, since I still collect cards. Maury Wills did not sign with Topps until 1967. So his first Topps card is as a Pirate. I remember as a kid waiting for a Maury Wills in series 7 of the 1959 set. That is when the Wally Moon card came out, and they had airbrushed an LA on his Cardinal cap.. I know this because it was a lot darker than the Dodger blue, and they did the same thing with Gino Cimoli’s cap. You could tell he was wearing a Dodger uni when the photo was taken. Too white for his uni to be that of the Cardinals, who’s home uni’s were more cream than white. Waited all the next year too, no Wills. First Wills card I ever got was out of a bag of Bell Brand potato chips. They did that for a couple of years, and those cards are pretty pricey now, and very hard to find. Wills first card was a 1963 Fleer. It celebrated his 62 MVP season. His first topps card as a Dodger did not come until he was traded back to LA from the Expos in 1970. Topps actually did not make a card of every player in the early 50’s . There is no Snider, or Newcombe or Furillo, and Erskine in the 1953 set. Yet all were in the 54 set. Just a little tidbit I thought might interest some. Back in those days, Topps did not do a traded set like they have in some years since. In this years set, Maeda is still a Dodger.
Have you seen the Topps cards this year? They’re doing some throwback cards with unique prints called Project 2020. Every day they seem to have new unique cards:
https://www.topps.com/cards-collectibles/online-brands/project-2020.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=060820%20Topps.com&utm_term=All%20Sports%20and%20Auction
I bought a tin of 75 cards. I got the special Hoskins cards and 3 Dodger cards. the project 2020 Kershaw, a regular Kershaw card and Tyler White, but I sent that card to AAA. I also got Posey and a couple of other stars, Aaron Judge was one. I have really never been a huge fan of the action photo cards. I always though that the posed cards looked better. My favorite has always been the 1957 and 1959 topps. The earlier years used a lot of paintings instead of photos. Some of my favorites are cards that never were that have been printed up over the last several years. For instance, the 59 Chuck Essegian, is him as a Cardinal, but all Dodger fans of Dodger history know he tied Dusty Rhodes record by hitting 2 PH homers in the 59 series. I have a 59 of him and one of Chuck Churn, another little known member of the 59 squad. I today ordered a 59 Maury Wills. A card that never was. The Bell Brand cards now sell for 1000’s of dollars.
So, now the WHO said this today (but who in the hell believes anything those baffons say?):
Coronavirus patients without symptoms aren’t driving the spread of the virus, World Health Organization officials said Monday, casting doubt on concerns by some researchers that the disease could be difficult to contain due to asymptomatic infections.
Some people, particularly young and otherwise healthy individuals, who are infected by the coronavirus never develop symptoms or only develop mild symptoms. Others might not develop symptoms until days after they were actually infected.
Preliminary evidence from the earliest outbreaks indicated that the virus could spread from person-to-person contact, even if the carrier didn’t have symptoms. But WHO officials now say that while asymptomatic spread can occur, it is not the main way it’s being transmitted.
“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said at a news briefing from the United Nations agency’s Geneva headquarters. “It’s very rare!”
Well, no big deal. We shut down the national economy, cost people their jobs, homes, and businesses because the asymptomatic carriers had to be quarantined.
Just a few weeks ago, CNN, MSNBC, VOC , Huff Post, LA Times, Washington Post and all the liberal rags were leading with these headlines:
How people are spreading Covid-19 without symptoms
Silent spreaders are playing a significant role in the pandemic.
These perpetrators should be arrested and jailed! What a crock! This is all a political and media-driven debacle! Shame on you!
This is not about politics – It’s about stopping the politicians and media from forming your thoughts.
I am mad as hell! This is not about me – we have weathered the storm just fine. This is for the tens or hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been devastated — by the politicians and media.
I don’t think I have shared information from a source I consider to be buffoons.
Buffoonery is what happens when buffoons Inform buffoons. So a grain of salt should always be prescribed
So if I shouldn’t get my information from the media and shouldn’t get it from politicians and now you’re telling me that a worldwide health organization doesn’t know what they’re talking about, where am I supposed to get the information that helps me form my opinions?
the guy on Facebook who barely graduated high school but has an opinion on everything
On January 15th they said there is no danger of human to human transmission, so YES THAT IS WHAT I AM SAYING!
Have you ever had an opinion, then had access to further information which caused you to change your first opinion?
Say goodnight Mark.
Buffoonery is what happens when buffoons Inform buffoons. So a grain of salt should always be prescribed
And yet there’s this
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/08/shutdowns-prevented-60-million-coronavirus-infections-us-study-finds/
… and that is absolutely 100% true because someone said it?
Boy, that really riles you guys up!
I have always found that people get angry when you throw the truth in their faces!
I learned to think for myself a long time ago. You should try it…
Mark, I’m trying to get some information out of you here but you aren’t answering my question. You say I should think for myself, but you aren’t telling me where to get my information from. No politicians, no health organizations, no media (which by definition includes radio, tv, books, movies, magazines).
How do you form opinions if you won’t allow yourself access to information?
And you seem to be anxious to rile us up when we’ve spent the last few days trying to avoid that on this site. Are you now saying that you are overruling AC and taking back the reins, and you can rile us up if you want to?
So I’m going to again apologize to those who would like to keep things here to baseball and remind everyone that this whole conversation started tonight with Mark’s comment at 10:05 PM. Up until then we were discussing baseball.
If AC thinks it is inappropriate, he will take it down. I am not overruling him.
I get my information from CNN, Fox News, Epoch Times, Wall St. Journal, New Scientist, Apple News, and many other various sources… all of which have agendas. It’s hard to decipher at times and other times it’s easy. I happen to believe that conventional wisdom is usually wrong and the I have had issues with the WHO and CDC for many years.
Some of the most flawed reports and white papers I have ever read were from the WHO about world water quality. I won’t get into it, but they have generally been short-sighted and for sale.
… and it is about baseball. Baseball is on hold because of this pandemic and if what the WHO sid yesterday is true (and I am not saying it is), then a big hurdle to return to the game has been cleared.
Subsequent to the test I had done for COVID-19 antibodies, I have talked to numerous people who did the same and over 80% of the ones taking the test had the antibodies. Add in the fact that nearly half of the people who have died were in nursing homes, and it has a different complexion. Factor in the financial benefits for listing COVID-19 as cause of death and even Ray Charles can see, the numbers might be skewed. It’s hard to follow the science… especially when the science is so flawed… and I won’t even get into the politics of it all.
I had a friend who’s wife died of a blood clot a few years ago call me yesterday. He was asking me if I would help him with some funding and marketing (US Water Systems has a 9-person in-house Marketing Department that is pretty damn good). He explained that three hundred thousand people die every year of blood clots and 75% are preventable, yet he can’t get funding. I agreed to help him as he wants this to be his legacy. Yet, the media is so busy reporting that 100,000 people have die by the pandemic that they have n time to report 300,000 died of blood clots. Check out his site – they are unpaid: https://www.bloodclot.org/