Pat Sheridan

 

Pat Sheridan was an outfielder for four teams, but mostly for the Royals and Tigers, from 1981 to 1991.

Patrick Arthur Sheridan was born December 4, 1957, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His father, Art, had been a minor league pitcher in the 1950s. In 1976 Pat graduated from Wayne Memorial High School in Wayne, between Ann Arbor and Detroit, where he starred in baseball, basketball and football. He was drafted that June in the 36^th round by the Cincinnati Reds, but opted to go to college. He had scholarship offers in all three sports, but mostly in football, where he was a speedy wide receiver; he thought baseball was his best chance for success, though, and opted for Eastern Michigan University. He played outfield for three years at EMU, making the All Mid-America Conference first team his junior year, then signed with the Kansas City Royals in June 1979 after being drafted in the third round.

The Royals sent Pat to Fort Myers in the Class A Florida State League, where he hit .281/.354/.323 with 14 stolen bases in 235 at-bats. After the season he filled out a questionnaire, giving his hobbies as hunting and coins and his greatest thrill as “hitting two consecutive homers in a college league game.” He returned to Fort Myers for 1980, but after hitting .405/.466/.456 in 20 games he was promoted to the Jacksonville Suns of the Class AA Southern League. For the Suns he hit .305/.358/.431 in 367 at-bats, showing more extra-base power with 17 doubles, seven triples and five homers, and stealing 14 bases.

During spring training 1981 Pat was called up to play in an exhibition game with Kansas City, in which he got four hits. He opened the regular season playing center field and batting eighth for AAA Omaha, and on April 19 he got a feature article in the Omaha World-Herald:

Omaha Rookie Pat Sheridan Gives Royals Speedy Threat

By Howard Brantz

World-Herald Associate Sports Editor

When baseball people start talking about speed in the field or on the base paths, the name of Kansas City’s Willie Wilson usually surfaces quickly.

When Omaha Royals players talk quickness, Pat Sheridan, the rookie from Michigan, has center stage.

“He’s by far the fastest in the organization, except for Wilson,” said Omaha veteran Bobby Detherage, no slouch on the bases either.

Sheridan, a 6-3, 175-pounder, has been clocked in 6.45 seconds for 60 yards—in baseball gear.

As a high schooler at Wayne, Mich., he ran the 100 in 9.9 seconds—in tennis shoes—and was the fastest boy in school. So he can fly.

The 23-year-old center fielder wants to develop his base-stealing ability.

“I want to steal,” said Sheridan…

Before long Pat was moved into the leadoff spot. In early May, at which point he was hitting .342, he missed some time with the flu, then on May 18 he “fell on the steps at home taking laundry to the basement and injured his elbow.” At first it was thought to be just a bruise and that he would only miss a few games, but eventually it was found to be a cracked bone and he was out until June 24. 

From Howard Brantz of the World-Herald on August 12:

Hitless Nights Don’t Bug Royal Rookie

Pat Sheridan is glad he isn’t a pitcher.

“If you have a bad game when you’re pitching, you have to wait four or five days to get rid of the feeling,” Sheridan, the rookie speedster of the Omaha Royals, said.

His roomie at home is Bill Laskey, the elongated pitcher. Looking at the twosome, you get the idea quickly that neither is a gourmet cook. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Sheridan said:

“I fry bacon and eggs and can cook hamburgers,” he said. “And that’s about all.”

Laskey, 6-5 and 190, isn’t much better around the kitchen, Sheridan said.

“My mother sent me some easy recipes, but so far we haven’t had much time to try them,” Sheridan said.

“We aren’t really as hungry as we look. We’re not starving, I’ll tell you that.”

Most of the time they eat out for their main meal, Sheridan said.

He did say that he was looking forward to a visit from his parents and a real home-cooked meal.

Unlike his roomie, Sheridan said he can rid himself of the distress caused by an “0-fer”—a hitless night.

“I try to forget the bad night when I leave the park,” the Michigan native said. He rejected scholarship offers to become a wide receiver at several major schools, including Michigan.

“You can’t let a bad night bother you. If you do, it’s really wearing on the mind and hurts you even more. I just think of the next night when I can come back and redeem myself.

“Pitchers. Wouldn’t that be awful to have to wait so long for your next start?”…

“Pat has shown a lot of improvement,” Omaha Manager Joe Sparks said. “He was a bit too cautious early, but he is becoming more aggressive. He has a lot of potential. Nobody can tell how much.”

A native of Wayne, Mich., he has a .309 average, with 10 doubles, a team-high eight triples and five homers this season…

Sheridan hasn’t fully utilized his speed as a base stealer. But he really flies when he hits the ball, frequently stretching hits an extra base with head-long dives…

Pat ended up hitting .298/.365/.444 with 12 stolen bases in 315 at-bats; Omaha finished with the best record in the league and while winning their first-round playoff series (they lost in the championship) Pat’s contract was purchased by Kansas City, effective at the end of the playoffs. On September 16 he made his major league debut, replacing Clint Hurdle in right field in the ninth inning of a victory at California. On the 21^st, at home against Minnesota, Pat pinch-ran for Willie Wilson, which has to have been a rare event, in the bottom of the sixth with the Royals down 7-2. He stayed in the game in left field, and got his first at-bat in the eighth, striking out against Albert Williams. He made his last appearance of the season on the 27^th at home against Seattle, replacing Cesar Geronimo in right in the ninth inning of a 15-3 Royals win. After the season the Royals played 17 games on a tour of Japan, and Pat was part of the squad.

In 1982 Pat was invited to major league spring training as a non-roster player and almost made the team—he was the last player cut and was sent back to Omaha. But he had injured his hamstring in an exhibition game and he reinjured it in Omaha’s opening game, then he reinjured it two more times trying to come back. It was mid-July before he was back for good, and he finished with just 135 at-bats in 41 games, hitting .252/.327/.326 with no home runs and no stolen bases.

Pat was on the Royals’ protected roster over the 1982-83 off-season, but the team picked up outfielders Joe Simpson and Leon Roberts and Pat was sent back to Omaha in April again. 

From the April 6 Omaha World-Herald:

“I knew when they got Simpson and Roberts that my future was with Omaha,” Sheridan said. “They never had any plans for me this spring. They didn’t give me a chance to make the team because if they did I would have made it.

“Last year I probably had the club made but they sent me to Omaha because they wanted me to play everyday. They didn’t want me to sit up there and just be a utility outfielder.”

…Sheridan hasn’t given up, and the Royals haven’t given up on him. Dick Balderson, the Royals’ director of scouting and player development, said Sheridan is still considered one of the organization’s top outfield prospects.

On May 14 Pat was called up to Kansas City after hitting .307/.388/.653 with four doubles, five triples and four homers in 20 games. On the 15^th he made his first appearance in a major league starting lineup, playing right and batting 7^th in a home game against the Tigers, as reported in the May 30 Sporting News:

Sheridan Living Ultimate Dream

KANSAS CITY—Pat Sheridan was in a dream world in mid-May, and he didn’t want anyone to pinch him.

He figured he would be playing all season at Omaha (American Association), but the Kansas City Royals called him up May 14 when right fielder Jerry Martin’s problems with his right wrist persisted.

On May 15, Sheridan was in the lineup, and in the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers he got his first major-league hit—a solo home run that sent the game into extra innings. “That’s the ultimate dream—a homer on your first hit,” he said.

Two nights later, in Boston, Sheridan made a spectacular diving catch in right-center and another outstanding catch after a long run to the foul line, helping preserve a 2-1 victory. The press swarmed him. Who was this thin, fleet, spectacled youngster?...

“I’m usually a guy who scores a lot of runs, not knocks in a lot,” he said. “And I can run pretty good, so I’ve gotten to some balls in the outfield that others couldn’t

“I’m not off to a great start with the stick (2-for-10), but I think I can help. I’ve never ben pegged as a Judy.”

…Manager Dick Howser said when Sheridan was recalled, “He’ll be a regular player with us against most righthanded pitching. We didn’t bring him up to have him sit around.”

Pat missed some time in June with a shoulder injury, and continued to hit around .200 until getting hot in July and August. Meanwhile, he was moved from right to left as Amos Otis moved from center to right and Willie Wilson from left to center; he also spent some time in center during an injury to Wilson. The Sporting News said on September 12:

Pat Sheridan has earned his spurs, easing gradually from platooning against righthanded pitching to full-time status because of injuries, and batting close to .300. He has turned plays in center field that border on the spectacular.

Pat played in 109 games for Kansas City, hitting .270/.312/.381 with 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts.

After the season Wilson was sent to prison for attempting to purchase cocaine, and in January 1984 he was suspended by major league baseball, so with his future up in the air Pat went into spring training as the presumed center fielder. He kept the job until Wilson’s return in mid-May, at which point he became the right fielder against right-handed pitchers. From the July 30 Sporting News:

Sheridan Has Done a Lot for Royals

KANSAS CITY—Locating a Kansas City Royals player among the American League leaders this year has been nearly impossible. Sure, Dan Quisenberry is the saves’ master. But offensive leaders?

The most noticeable absentees are center fielder Willie Wilson and third baseman George Brett. Each missed the first six weeks of the season, so each has fewer than 300 at-bats this year. And another who regularly has been among the A.L. leaders, designated hitter Hal McRae, is far off his normal pace.

So the situation left open the door for someone else to take the lead. That has been outfielder Pat Sheridan, a new name on the offensive charts. Sheridan began the second half of the season fourth in the league with a .323 batting average.

The reason? Sheridan acknowledges that it has helped hitting second in the order, between Wilson and Brett. Coming up between two former batting champions would figure to be something of a hitter’s paradise.

“I think any time when you’re sandwiched between two of the better hitters in the league, you’re going to get better pitches to hit,” Sheridan said. “I know if a pitcher gets behind on me (in the count) he’s going to come in with something because he’d rather face me than George. I think that helps. You get a better selection of pitches hitting between them. I don’t think they’re ever going to pitch around me to get to George. Nobody is going to do that.

“Then, if Willie gets on in front of me, I know they’re going to throw fastballs. If the pitcher throws a curveball, there’s almost no chance to throw Willie out. So I get a lot of high fastballs when he’s on first base.”

Pat’s hitting fell off later in the season, and he ended up hitting .281/.338/.399 in 481 at-bats, with 24 doubles, four triples, eight home runs and 19 stolen bases. The Royals won their division but got swept by the Tigers in the playoffs, as Pat went 0-for-6 in the three games.

1985 found Pat platooning in right again. He missed several games in May with a stiff neck, and went on the disabled list for the second half of June after pulling a hamstring. Meanwhile he was not hitting well, and he lost his spot in the right field platoon to Dane Iorg in July, though he got it back the last week of the season. He hit just .228/.307/.335 in 206 at-bats, with 11 stolen bases. The Royals won the Western Division again and this time they beat Toronto in seven games; Pat had just three hits in 20 at-bats, but two of them were home runs. Then the Royals beat the Cardinals in seven games in the World Series, while Pat was 4-for-18 with two doubles.

During the off-season Pat took the Royals to salary arbitration and lost, then late in spring training 1986 he was released. A week later the Tigers signed him to a minor-league contract; they sent him to AAA Nashville, where he had ten hits in 35 at-bats before being called up to Detroit on April 23 when Kirk Gibson was placed on the disabled list. Gibson returned in early June, but Pat stayed with the Tigers for the rest of the season, starting in one of the outfield spots in the majority of the games against right-handers, and hit .237/.300/.360 in 236 at-bats in 98 games. After the season the team sent Pat to free-lance hitting instructor Harry Walker.

Pat filed for arbitration again, but he and the Tigers came to a settlement before the hearing. From the Sporting News, March 30, 1987:

[Manager Sparky] Anderson called left fielder Pat Sheridan the most improved player in camp. Sheridan is switching from right field to left and will platoon with Larry Herndon. “Pat is making the most of the chance,” said Anderson, “because he has a new lease on life. Pat knows what it’s like not to be wanted by a club (Sheridan was released by Kansas City after the 1985 season) and he is going to make sure it doesn’t happen again. He’s got the best arm in the outfield, plus he’s the second best runner on the team. I think he’s a tremendous talent.”

With Kirk Gibson starting the season on the disabled list, Pat actually was playing right field, and when Gibson returned Anderson moved him to left and kept Pat, and various platoon partners, in right. From the June 1 Sporting News:

Spraying Beats Pulling

DETROIT—The transition would be complete, if it was a transition at all. But Pat Sheridan said it isn’t, that he’s only going back to the style of hitting he once knew.

Whether it’s something new, something old or something in between, the style was working for the Detroit Tigers outfielder. In mid-May, Sheridan had hiked his batting average to .331, fourth best in the American League.

Most of the hits were singles, but once in awhile he reminded pitchers of the power lurking behind those line drives up the middle, such as when he slammed a 431-foot home run to dead center field in Arlington Stadium on May 18.

It was Sheridan’s first home run of the season, after 115 at-bats, and along with it came a test. Would he revert to bad habits, such as pulling the ball for extra power?

“Maybe last year I would have. Or two years ago. But not anymore,” said Sheridan. “That’s not me. I have the strength to hit home runs, but that’s not what I’m up there trying to do.”

The left-handed hitting Sheridan never considered himself a home run hitter. But he did have a tendency in the last two years to pull the ball instead of spray it. Last winter, the Tigers sent him to hitting instructor Harry Walker to correct the habit.

“It’s funny,” Sheridan said. “This isn’t a new style for me, just an old one rediscovered. It’s what I was in the minors and early in the majors. I hit the ball up the middle, and also to left. I didn’t try to pull the ball back then.”

Sheridan hit .270 for Kansas City in 1983 and followed that up with a .283 average the next season as he became the Royals’ starting right fielder.

“After that year, I had a lot of people wanting me to change my style,” he said. “I did, but the people who make you change never get the blame. Only the player does.

“Now I’m just getting back to what I was, putting the ball in play. I can hit home runs, but I don’t try to. That’s not my role. Getting on base and scoring runs is.”…

Pat was hitting .300 as late as June 21 and .290 as late as August 25, but then slumped and didn’t get many starts the last few weeks of the season. He wound up hitting .259/.327/.361 in 421 at-bats in 141 games, with 18 stolen bases. The Tigers won the East Division but lost in five games to the Twins in the playoffs; Pat, who got his job back for the series, was the star of the Tigers’ lone win in game 3, hitting a two-run homer off Twins relief ace Jeff Reardon in the bottom of the 8^th for a 7-6 victory.

Pat filed for salary arbitration again for 1988, and again agreed to a settlement before the hearing. He had an excellent April, back in left field against righthanders, then missed some time with an injury. From the May 23 Sporting News:

Leftfielder Pat Sheridan hit the second grand slam of his career May 6 against Seattle, in a game he wasn’t scheduled to play. Bothered by a pulled groin muscle, Sheridan wasn’t in the starting lineup, but when the Mariners made four pitching changes in the eighth inning, Tigers Manager Sparky Anderson inserted an equal number of pinch-hitters. Sheridan was the fourth pinch-hitter of the inning and belted the grand slam on the first pitch from Mike Jackson. “That’s one way to keep from running hard,” he said.

On June 8 Pat went 4-for-5 with two homers and six RBI; at that point in the season he was hitting .298/380/.553. On July 6 it was announced that he had been named the AL Player of the Week for the previous week, during which he was 11-for-22 with three doubles, two triples, two homers, 10 RBI and a 1.091 slugging percentage. He faded some after that, but still ended up with career highs in home runs, on-base and slugging, going .254/.339/.403 with 11 homers in 347 at-bats in 127 games.

For 1989 Pat once again filed for salary arbitration and once again settled before the hearing. On February 22 Joe Falls, in his Detroit News column, asked “Why is there always talk about trading Pat Sheridan?” Four days later Falls, in a column on his early impressions of the Tigers, said:

Pat Sheridan: A personal favorite because he is so quiet and so friendly. He will give them a .250 average with some power and won’t be a problem if he sits.

Pat lost his outfield spot to Fred Lynn and opened the season as the DH against righthanders. He bounced around between DH and the three outfield spots as needed until on June 16 he was traded to San Francisco for outfielder Tracy Jones. From the next day’s Detroit News:

Sheridan traded to Giants for Jones

By Tom Gage

Pat Sheridan didn’t want to go. But he always knew there was a chance…

This was the first trade, however, for Sheridan, who was picked up by the Tigers after he was released by Kansas City in April, 1986.

“It was a dream come true to play here, not only for me, but for my family,” said the former Eastern Michigan star. Sheridan and his wife are building a house in Farmington Hills, and they’re also expecting their first child next month.

“This is going to be tough on my wife,” he said. “Maybe it’ll turn out to be the best thing for my career, but I can’t say that now. I’m shocked, disappointed, sad, just about everything.”

Sheridan was in the midst of batting practice, “when Sparky called me into his office and told me I’d been traded. It’s the last thing I expected.”

And the last thing he wanted.

The Giants put Pat into a right field platoon with Candy Maldonado. Meanwhile, he was getting into horse racing, as shown in this item from Al Coffman’s racing column in the June 26 Detroit News: “’Yankee,’ claimed recently for $12,500 by ex-Tigers outfielder Pat Sheridan, won with a sparkling 1:55 2/5 mile, only 1 3/5 seconds off the track record.” He missed a couple games in July when his daughter was born. In August manager Roger Craig, unhappy with the right field platoon’s production, started mixing in some other starters, but Pat still got the bulk of the time against righties. His season totals, combining both teams, were .221/.295/.335 in 281 at-bats in 120 games, with eight stolen bases in nine attempts.

Meanwhile, the Giants were winning their division. They beat the Cubs in five games in the playoffs, as Pat went 2-for-13 with a triple, then moved on to the World Series against Oakland. Craig played a hunch and started Maldonado in the first two games even though the Athletics started righthanders, so Pat only got two at-bats as Oakland swept the series. Game three was delayed for ten days following the Loma Prieta earthquake, and Pat got a little media attention when the AP surveyed the players on both teams and he was the only one who said he thought the series should be called off.

After the series Pat filed for free agency, while the Giants signed Kevin Bass to play right field. In February 1990 Pat signed with Kansas City. From the February 16 Detroit News:

Sheridan signs with Royals

By Tom Gage

Not all free agents find a pot of gold. Pat Sheridan, for instance, found a ticket back to the minors.

The former Tiger signed a Double-A contract Thursday with the Memphis affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. However, he will be invited to spring training with the Royals with a chance to make the team if and when there is a spring training.

“There were a couple of other teams interested,” Sheridan said, “but with no guarantees at all. Cleveland and Seattle showed some interest. Seattle showed a lot of early interest, in fact, but it cooled down.

“I’m not going to the minors. If I don’t make the major-league team, I’ll probably come home, but maybe I should keep an open mind on that.”

At the end of spring training the Royals released Pat after he refused to go to Memphis. On April 26 he signed a minor league contract with the Cubs and reported to Iowa of the AAA American Association. He hit .329/.420/.543 in 23 games; an article in the April 6, 1991, Jersey Journal described what happened next:

…Sheridan had a verbal understand [sic] with the Cubs that if he was playing well in Iowa, and the team was ready to call him up [sic], he would be free to leave.

Early in June, Sheridan was hitting .329, but the Cubs had no plans to bring him up. Sheridan, citing the verbal agreement, told them he was leaving. But the Cubs told him he couldn’t go anywhere. After a week of acrimonious negotiations, Sheridan left the team on June 18. The Cubs immediately put him on the suspended list, making it impossible for him to talk to other teams. Chicago kept him on the list until the season ended.

In January 1991 Pat signed a minor league contract with the Yankees and was invited to major league spring training to compete for a backup outfielder job. He seemed to have won a spot until, a few days before the season opener, the Yankees picked up Scott Lusader on waivers. From the same April 6 Jersey Journal article:

To make room for Lusader, Yanks [sic] asked Sheridan to accept an assignment to Triple A Columbus. The 33-year-old Sheridan, who was an unsigned non-roster player, hit .263 in 38 at bats this spring. He said he would talk to his wife and agent before deciding whether to accept the demotion. If he chooses not to go to Columbus, Sheridan will become a free agent.

“It’s tough for Sheridan. I feel bad for him,” said manager Stump Merrill. “I told him the chances of getting back are better when you’re playing than when you’re sitting.”

But Sheridan is probably still reluctant to take a step down after suffering through a bad experience last year…

When he arrived in the Yankee camp this spring, Sheridan thought he was with an organization that would give him a fair chance to win a job. But yesterday, Sheridan was again dealing with the hurt of being let go.

“I’m really surprised,” he said. “It’s the last day (of spring training) and everybody told you you made the team. Everybody but the right people.

“It’s disheartening when do [sic] the job they want you to do and you still come up short. It’s not a very happy feeling. It’s hard when you feel you made the team and at the last hour you didn’t make the team.”

Pat did accept the Columbus assignment. He was hitting .271/.363/.457 in 70 at-bats when on May 13 he was brought up to New York when Lusader was put on the DL. He stayed with the Yankees for the rest of the season, getting some starts in right field for a while but then being used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter over the final several weeks. 

He hit .204/.286/.336 in 113 at-bats in 62 games; after the season the Yankees exercised the buyout clause in his contract, paying him $20,000 and releasing him.

Since 1992 Pat has had an insurance business, PAS Insurance Services, in Canton, Michigan. In January 1995 he was on the list of players receiving damages as part of the collusion settlement between the players’ union and the owners; he got $13,600.62. In October 1998 he was inducted into the Eastern Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/S/Psherp001.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sheripa01.shtml