Nap Shea
{{short description|American baseball player (1874-1968)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Nap Shea
|position=Catcher
|image=
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1874|5|23}}
|birth_place=Ware, Massachusetts
|death_date={{death date and age|1968|7|8|1874|5|23}}
|death_place=Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=September 11
|debutyear=1902
|debutteam=Philadelphia Phillies
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 15
|finalyear=1902
|finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Games played
|stat1value=3
|stat2label=At bats
|stat2value=8
|stat3label=Hits
|stat3value=1
|teams=
- Philadelphia Phillies ({{Baseball year|1902}})
}}
John Edward "Nap" Shea (May 23, 1874 – July 8, 1968), nicknamed "Napoleon", was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1902. He stood at 5' 5", weighed 155 lbs., and batted and threw right-handed.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sheana01.shtml "Nap Shea Statistics and History"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
Career
Shea was born in Ware, Massachusetts. He started his professional baseball career in 1894 and played for the New England League's Brockton Shoemakers for four seasons. In 1896, he batted a career-high .344 and slugged .452.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=shea--001joh "Nap Shea Minor League Statistics & History"]. baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-12-18. Shea then played in the New York State League from 1899 to 1902. He hit .323 in 1901. Early in the following season, he was sidelined by appendicitis[http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Amsterdam%20NY%20Daily%20Democrat%20and%20Recorder/Amsterdam%20NY%20Daily%20Democrat%20and%20Recorder%201902%20Apr-Oct%20Grayscale/Amsterdam%20NY%20Daily%20Democrat%20and%20Recorder%201902%20Apr-Oct%20Grayscale%20-%200256.pdf "State League Gossip"]. Amsterdam Evening Recorder, May 17, 1902, p. 5. but then recovered and hit .300 for the Ilion Typewriters.
Shea was acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies and played three games for them in September. In 10 plate appearances, he went 1 for 8 with a walk and a hit by pitch. The next season, he caught for the Eastern League's Newark Sailors and stayed on that team for a few years. He batted under .200 during most of his time at Newark, but the Sporting Life wrote that he was "one of the best backstops" in the league.[http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1907/VOL_49_NO_10/SL4910001.pdf "Nap Shea a 'Copper King'"]. Sporting Life, May 18, 1907.
Shea was sold to the Syracuse Stars in March 1908,[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GRYqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4IQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2527,1613119&dq=nap-shea&hl=en "Syracuse Buys Nap Shea"]. The Montreal Gazette, March 20, 1908, p. 5. and he played one season there before retiring from professional baseball. He died in 1968 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Baseballstats|br=s/sheana01}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Nap}}
Category:Major League Baseball catchers
Category:Philadelphia Phillies players
Category:Brockton Shoemakers players
Category:Springfield Ponies players
Category:Springfield Maroons players
Category:Ilion Typewriters players
Category:Newark Sailors players
Category:Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players
Category:Baseball players from Hampshire County, Massachusetts