Rollie Sheldon died on August 31 at the age of 89.
It marked the end of a well-lived life for a two-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees.
The initial report of Sheldon’s passing came from Newsweek, which noted that his death occurred in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
Sheldon isn’t the most well-known player from an incredible era of Yankees baseball, but he had an impressive list of career accomplishments.
Rollie Sheldon’s Path to Yankees
Sheldon grew up in Connecticut and was not a big guy. After high school, he served in the U.S. Air Force.
According to Newsweek, Sheldon played baseball while serving in Germany and threw a no-hitter while pitching for the Air Force.
He got the chance to play college baseball and basketball after returning from the service, both at Texas A&M and UConn.
The Yankees eventually found him and signed him in 1960, and he took the minor leagues by storm pitching at Auburn outside of Syracuse, N.Y.
With Auburn, Sheldon was 15-1 with a 2.88 ERA, and he made the Yankees out of Spring Training in 1961.
Rollie Sheldon With Yankees
Sheldon pitched 35 games in his rookie season with the Yankees, going 11-5 with a 3.60 ERA.
The following season, he appeared in 34 more games and had a 5.49 ERA.
The Yankees won the World Series in both those years, although Sheldon didn’t pitch in the Fall Classic in either 1961 or 1962.
He was back with the Yankees in the 1964 World Series after a 3.61 ERA in the regular season. The Yanks didn’t win that time, but Sheldon had a 0.00 ERA in 2.2 innings that time around to get his chance to pitch on the biggest stage in the sport.
Sheldon then split the 1965 season between the Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics, with a combined 3.87 ERA in 35 appearances.
After beginning the 1966 season with a 3.13 ERA in 14 games with Kansas City, Sheldon ended it with a 4.97 ERA in 23 games with the Boston Red Sox.
Sheldon never pitched in MLB again after that.
He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in the 1966 offseason by Boston but didn’t make it back to the majors with Cincy.
For those wondering: Rollie was short for Roland. His full name was Roland Frank Sheldon.
According to Sheldon’s obituary, he worked for Allstate Insurance Corporation after his playing career was over before retiring from that company in 1992.
Sheldon enjoyed fishing and playing golf, according to his obituary.
The last line of Sheldon’s obituary is this:
“Roland has a special place in his heart and is so grateful to Manager Ralph Houk for believing in him and making his dream come true in 1961 of becoming a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees.”
Yankees’ 2-Time World Series Champion Dies At 89