Mule Shirley

{{short description|American baseball player (1901-1955)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Mule Shirley

|position=First baseman

|image=Mule Shirley yearbook photo1.jpg

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date|1901|5|24}}

|birth_place=Snow Hill, North Carolina

|death_date={{death date and age|1955|8|3|1901|5|24}}

|death_place=Goldsboro, North Carolina

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=May 6

|debutyear=1924

|debutteam= Washington Senators

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=July 12

|finalyear=1925

|finalteam= Washington Senators

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.210

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=0

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=18

|teams=

• Washington Senators ({{baseball year|1924}}–{{baseball year|1925}})

|highlights=

• World Series champions: 1924

}}

Ernest Raeford "Mule" Shirley (May 24, 1901 – August 4, 1955) was a Major League Baseball player who played first base during parts of the {{Baseball year|1924}} and {{Baseball year|1925}} seasons. He batted and threw left-handed. For the 1924 Washington Senators, he logged 100 regular season at bats. He appeared in three games of the 1924 World Series which the Senators won, registering one hit in two at bats, batting in one and scoring once. Shirley attended The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1921 to 1923 where he was a member of Theta Chi fraternity. He was the son of Octavius Shirley (March 4, 1884 – May 1, 1967) and Anna Shingleton (Shirley) (July 18, 1882 – September 30, 1944).