Delino Lamont DeShields (born January 15, 1969), also nicknamed "Bop", is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

second baseman and current first base coach for 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 ...

. He played for 13 seasons in

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 (A ...

(MLB) for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

between 1990 and 2002. He managed the

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the winged mammal and basebal ...

in the

organization from 2012–2017. His son

Delino DeShields Jr. Delino Diaab DeShields (born August 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball center fielder who is a free agent. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers from 2015 through 2019, the Cleveland Indians in 2020, and th ...

plays for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

and his daughter

Diamond DeShields Diamond Danae-Aziza DeShields (born March 5, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the third overall pick in the 201 ...

plays for the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2 ...

Early life

DeShields was born in

Seaford, Delaware Seaford is a city located along the Nanticoke River in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the city is 6,928, an increase of 3.4% from the 2000 census. It is part of the Salisbu ...

where he was raised by his mother and grandmother. He was an All-American in baseball and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

at Seaford High School. DeShields signed a letter of intent to play

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Pennsy ...

. However, after being selected as the 12th overall pick in the

1987 MLB draft The Major League Baseball Draft is the process by which Major League Baseball (MLB) teams select athletes to play for their organization. High school seniors, college juniors and seniors, and anyone who had never played under a professional co ...

, he chose a career in baseball; he signed for $130,000 with the

Career

DeShields made his Major League debut on Opening Day of the 1990 season for the Expos. He recorded four hits in his debut, the most for a debutant in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

since Mack Jones 29 seasons earlier. He became the regular second baseman for the Expos in 1990, finishing in second place for the

NL Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

award. He suffered from a

sophomore slump A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx or sophomore jitters refers to an instance in which a second, or sophomore, effort fails to live up to the relatively high standards of the first effort. It is commonly used to refer to the apathy of students ...

in 1991, but went on to post his two best years in 1992 and 1993, hitting .294 and averaging 45

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe o ...

s. On November 19, 1993, DeShields was traded to the

for then-prospect

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

. In retrospect, this is considered one of the worst trades in Dodgers history. DeShields hit .241 during his three years in Los Angeles, while Martinez went on to win three

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

s and established himself among the greatest pitchers of all time. In 1996, DeShields signed as a free agent with the

, and later played with the

and

. In 2001, he was the last out in

Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a l ...

's no-hitter against the

After playing career

DeShields is the co-founder of the Urban Baseball League. He also travels with

Oil Can Boyd Dennis Ray "Oil Can" Boyd (born October 6, 1959) is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Boyd played for the Boston Red Sox (1982–1989), Montreal Expos (1990–1991), and Texas Rangers (1991). In a 10-season career, Boyd collect ...

to promote baseball in

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

communities. DeShields was the manager for the

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. I ...

, a single-A affiliate of the

organization for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. On December 12, 2012, it was announced that DeShields would become the manager for the Cincinnati Reds AA minor league team, the

Pensacola Blue Wahoos The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are based in Pensacola, Florida, and play their home games at Admiral Fetterman Field. In 2012, the team rel ...

for the 2013 season. On December 1, 2014 DeShields became manager of the

, replacing

Jim Riggleman James David Riggleman (born November 9, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) manager and bench coach who coached with several teams between 1989 and 2019. He is currently the manager for the Billings Mustangs of the independent ...

Personal

DeShields is married to Michelle Elliott DeShields, an educator and television host for the PBS series Georgia Traveler airing on

Georgia Public Broadcasting Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is a state network of PBS member television stations and NPR member radio stations serving the U.S. state of Georgia. It is operated by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, an agency of the ...

. He has five children; four from his first marriage, Delino Jr.,

Diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

, D'Angelo and Denim; and one from his current marriage, Delaney. His children from his earlier marriage both followed in his footsteps and became professional athletes. Delino Jr. is an outfielder who plays for the

(MLB) and

is a

player for the

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Nati ...

(WNBA).

Highlights

* Named State Baseball Player of the Year in 1986. * Placed second in Rookie of the Year Award voting in 1990 * Led

in triples (14, 1997) * Nine-time top 10 finisher among NL base stealers (1990–98) * His career 463 stolen bases ranks him 44th on the all-time list * Wore his socks just below the knee, to honor the players of the defunct

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

* Inducted into the

Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame is a membership-based organization founded in 1976. The organization runs a museum with exhibits at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware and promotes physical fitness in t ...

in 2006. * Inducted into the Eastern Shore Baseball Foundation Hall of Fame and Museum in 2010.

References

External links

Delino DeShields Baseball Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshields, Delino 1969 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball managers African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arkansas Travelers players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball coaches from Delaware Baseball players from Delaware Billings Mustangs managers Bowie Baysox players Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds coaches Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Gulf Coast Expos players Indianapolis Indians players Jacksonville Expos players Jamestown Expos players Los Angeles Dodgers players Louisville Bats managers Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball second basemen Montreal Expos players People from Seaford, Delaware Rockford Expos players St. Louis Cardinals players Baseball players from Atlanta Sportspeople from College Park, Georgia 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople