Vaughn Michael Eshelman (May 22, 1969 – July 24, 2018) was an American

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), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played from

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

through

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. Listed at , 205 lb., he batted and threw

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. Eshelman was born at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and lived in western Pennsylvania and Dayton, Ohio until his family moved to Houston in 1980. He pitched for

Westfield High School Westfield High School may refer to: * The Westfield School, Perry, Georgia * Westfield High School (Westfield, Indiana) * Westfield High School (Massachusetts), Westfield, Massachusetts * Westfield Technical Academy, Westfield, Massachusetts * West ...

in Houston,

Blinn College Blinn College is a public junior college in Brenham, Texas, with additional campuses in Bryan, Schulenburg, and Sealy. Brenham is Blinn's main campus, with dormitories and apartments. History Blinn was established as Mission Institute in 1 ...

, and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

before being drafted by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in the fourth round of the 1991 amateur draft. Eshelman signed with the Orioles on June 5, 1991. The Red Sox organization acquired him in the Rule 5 draft on December 5, 1994. In his debut with Boston's major league club on May 2, 1995, he hurled six shutout innings in an 8-0 victory over 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 ...

. In a three-season career, Eshelman posted a 15–9 record with a 6.07

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

and 118

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and in 83 appearances, including 30 starts, 11

games finished In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a game finished (denoted by GF) if he is the last pitcher to pitch for his team in a game. A starting pitcher is not credited with a GF for pitching a complete game. Mariano Rivera is th ...

, four

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s, and 212

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

of work. He was sidelined during Spring Training in 1996 after a bizarre non-sports injury, burning his hands on a candle in his hotel room. His wife, Julie, was trying to warm a bottle for their baby son, Evan, when a washcloth caught fire. Eshelman suffered second-degree burns putting it out. The Red Sox waived Eshelman after the 1997 season, and he was picked up by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

organization on October 15. A month later, on November 18, the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

selected him in the 1997 expansion draft. He never pitched for Tampa Bay, but he later enjoyed minor league stints in the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

organization in 2000, and the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

organization in 2001. After baseball, Eshelman worked for Stanley, Black and Decker Tools and Fasteners as an area sales manager. In 2018, Eshelman's health started to decline, and he was in need of a liver transplant while he was hospitalized in Houston in February. After having a liver transplant on March 6, his father, Larry, stated that he had "a long, tough road ahead." Eshelman died on July 24, 2018, at the age of 49.

Personal life

Eshelman was married to his high school sweetheart, Julie Menard, for over 25 years. They had two sons who played college baseball, Evan (

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

) and Ryan (Blinn College). His parents, Larry and Janet Eshelman of Cypress, Texas, and brothers Dain of Ocoee, Florida and Brian of Cypress, Texas, survived him. Another brother, Kyle, predeceased him.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eshelman, Vaughn 1969 births 2018 deaths Boston Red Sox players Houston Cougars baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Philadelphia Pawtucket Red Sox players Liver transplant recipients Bluefield Orioles players Bowie Baysox players Dayton Dragons players Frederick Keys players Gulf Coast Reds players Kane County Cougars players Louisville RiverBats players Norfolk Tides players Trenton Thunder players