Neill Sheridan

{{Short description|American baseball player (1921–2015)}}

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

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Neill Sheridan

| image=Neill Sheridan.png

| width=200px

| caption=

| team =

| number =

| position=Pinch runner/Pinch hitter

| positionplain=

| birth_date={{Birth date|1921|11|20}}

| birth_place=Sacramento, California

| death_date={{Death date and age|2015|10|15|1921|11|20}}

| death_place = Antioch, California

| bats=Right

| throws =Right

|debutleague = MLB

| debutdate=September 19

| debutyear=1948

| debutteam=Boston Red Sox

|finalleague = MLB

| finaldate=September 26

| finalyear=1948

| finalteam=Boston Red Sox

| statyear =

|statleague = MLB

| stat1label =At bats

| stat1value =1

| stat2label =Runs scored

| stat2value =0

| stat3label =Hits

| stat3value =0

| teams =

• Boston Red Sox (1948)}}Neill Rawlins Sheridan (November 20, 1921 – October 15, 2015), nicknamed "Wild Horse," was an American professional baseball player whose 12-season career (1943–1954) largely took place in the minor leagues. An outfielder by trade, he saw his only Major League service for the {{baseball year|1948}} Boston Red Sox, appearing for a cup of coffee (only two games played) — one as a pinch hitter and one as a pinch runner. Born in Sacramento, California, Sheridan threw and batted right-handed; he stood {{convert|6|ft|1|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|195|lb}}.

On September 19, 1948, with Boston embroiled in a four-team pennant scramble, Sheridan appeared as a pinch runner for Bobby Doerr (a future Hall of Famer), in the sixth inning of an 8–6 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Briggs Stadium.[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1948/B09192DET1948.htm 1948-9-19 box score from Retrosheet] One week later, he logged his only MLB at bat when he pinch hit in the ninth inning for pitcher Dave Ferriss at Yankee Stadium during a 6–2 Red Sox defeat. Facing New York Yankees' left-hander Tommy Byrne, Sheridan was called out on strikes.[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1948/B09260NYA1948.htm 1948-9-26 box score from Retrosheet] His Major League Baseball trial came to an end after those two games.

As a minor leaguer, however, Sheridan appeared in 1,446 games[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sherid001nei Minor league page] from Baseball Reference and was a mainstay of the post-World War II Pacific Coast League. He wore the uniform of five PCL teams, including both clubs in his native San Francisco Bay Area, the San Francisco Seals and the Oakland Oaks.

Sheridan died of pneumonia on October 15, 2015, in Antioch, California, aged 93.[http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Neill-Sheridan-dies-said-to-have-hit-613-foot-6573371.php Obituary]