Ralph Edward Sharman (April 11, 1895 – May 24, 1918), nicknamed "Bally", was a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player who played as an

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 cat ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the 1917

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

Career

Born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Sharman was a right-handed batter who began his professional baseball career in 1915, at the age of 20, for the Portsmouth Cobblers of the Class-D

Ohio State League The Ohio State League was a minor league baseball league that operated in numerous seasons between 1887 and 1947, predominantly as a Class D level league. League franchises were based in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Histo ...

. He had five

home run 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 i ...

s in 103

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, and had a .397

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 ...

in 393

at bat 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 during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. In 1916, he moved up and began the season with the class-B Galveston Pirates of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

(TL). After playing in 120 games for the Pirates, he promoted to the class-A

Memphis Chickasaws Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memph ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

. He did not hit well for the Chickasaws in 1916, just a .132 batting average in 15 games, and he returned to the TL in 1917. He began the season with the

Fort Worth Panthers A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, then later re-joined the Pirates. In total, he collected 203 hits, three home runs, and had a .341 batting average during the TL season. He signed with the

toward the end of the

season in 1917. He made his debut with the team on September 10, playing in both games of a doubleheader against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. He played 13 games for the

, batting .297 and collecting 11 hits, 2 doubles, a triple, 2 RBIs, a stolen base, and three walks.

Military and death

It was reported on November 3, 1917 that Sharman had enlisted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. With the United States engaged in World War I, he began his

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

training on November 5, the following Monday. He drowned while swimming in the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka. The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it un ...

Zimniuch, p. 157 during training at Camp Sheridan, Alabama on May 24, 1918. He is interred at

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham L ...

in Cincinnati. Sharman was one of eight

players known either to have been killed or died from illness while serving in the armed forces during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The others were

Alex Burr Alexander Thomson Burr (November 1, 1893 – October 12, 1918) was a Major League Baseball player who was killed in World War I. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Burr was known as "Tom" to his friends. Press accounts throughout his life, as well as oth ...

‚ Harry Chapman,

Larry Chappell La Verne Ashford "Larry" Chappell (February 19, 1890 – November 8, 1918) was a professional baseball player who played from 1913 to 1917 for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians and Boston Braves. Early life Born in McClusky, Illinois, Ch ...

‚

Harry Glenn Harry Melville "Husky" Glenn (June 9, 1890 – October 12, 1918) was a professional baseball player from 1910 to 1918. He played a portion of the 1915 season in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. He also played e ...

, Eddie Grant‚

Newt Halliday Newton Schurz Halliday (June 18, 1896 – April 6, 1918) was an American baseball player. He appeared in a portion of one game in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 19, 1916. Halliday had three putout ...

and

Bun Troy Robert Gustave "Bun" Troy (August 27, 1888 – October 7, 1918) was a German-born professional baseball pitcher who was killed in action while fighting against German forces in World War I. Troy was a sergeant with the "Blue Ridge" Division of t ...

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharman, Ralph 1895 births 1918 deaths Philadelphia Athletics players Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Cleveland United States Army personnel of World War I Deaths by drowning in the United States Accidental deaths in Alabama Portsmouth Cobblers players Galveston Pirates players Memphis Chickasaws players Fort Worth Panthers players Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery American military personnel killed in World War I

Career

Military and death

See also

References

Bibliography

External links