{{Short description|American baseball player (1900–1953)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Merv Shea |image=Merv Shea 1943.jpg |caption=Shea, circa 1943 |position=Catcher |birth_date={{birth date|1900|9|5}} |birth_place=San Francisco, California, U.S. |death_date={{Death date and age|1953|1|27|1900|9|5}} |death_place=Sacramento, California, U.S. |bats=Right |throws=Right |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=April 23 |debutyear=1927 |debutteam=Detroit Tigers |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=August 19 |finalyear=1944 |finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.220 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=5 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=115 |teams= * Detroit Tigers ({{mlby|1927}}–{{mlby|1929}}) * Boston Red Sox ({{mlby|1933}}) * St. Louis Browns ({{mlby|1933}}) * Chicago White Sox ({{mlby|1934}}–{{mlby|1937}}) * Brooklyn Dodgers ({{mlby|1938}}) * Detroit Tigers ({{mlby|1939}}) * Philadelphia Phillies ({{mlby|1944}}) }}
'''Mervyn John Shea''' (September 5, 1900 – January 27, 1953) was an American professional baseball catcher and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies between 1927 and 1944.<ref name="statistics">[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sheame01.shtml "Merv Shea Statistics and History"]. "baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 16, 2017.</ref> Born in San Francisco to Irish immigrants, at age five he survived the deadly 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, although the Shea family home was demolished in the temblor.<ref name="Weber">{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Merv-Shea/ |title=Marv Shea |last= Nowlin|first=Bill |date= |website=sabr.org |publisher=The Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project |access-date=September 29, 2022 |quote=}}</ref>
==Playing career== In his 11 big-league seasons, Shea played in 439 games and had 1,197 at bats, 105 runs scored, 263 hits, 39 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, 115 runs batted in, eight stolen bases and 189 walks. He compiled a .220 batting average, .327 on-base percentage, .277 slugging percentage, 331 total bases and 13 sacrifice hits.
In 1933, Shea tied the American League record for fielding percentage by a catcher (.996), with only 2 errors in 449 total chances. That season, which he split between the Red Sox and Browns, he reached career bests in games played (110) and hits (81). From 1934 to 1938 he was a second-string catcher, playing behind regulars such as Luke Sewell and Babe Phelps.
==Later life== She was a player-coach or coach for the Tigers (1939–42, serving on their 1940 American League championship edition), Philadelphia Phillies (1944–45, including his seven-game stint as a player at age 43 in 1944) and Chicago Cubs (1948–49). He managed the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League (1943), and also spent several years scouting for the Cubs' organization. Shea played himself in the Jimmy Stewart movie ''The Stratton Story'' (1949).
He joined the coaching staff of the Sacramento Solons of the PCL in 1951, but was forced to retire due to a chronic liver abscess<ref name="Weber"/> in his second season there.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news | title =Former Ball Player Dies | newspaper =The New York Times | date =January 29, 1953 | url =http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Obits_S/Shea.Merv.Obit.html | accessdate =August 20, 2012}}</ref> He died from the disease at the age of 52 in Sacramento.<ref name=NYT/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Baseballstats|mlb=122090 |espn=27414 |br=s/sheame01|brm=shea--001mer}} *[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Merv-Shea/ Nowlin, Bill, ''Merv Shea.'' ] Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Mervyn John}} Category:1900 births Category:1953 deaths Category:Baseball players from San Francisco Category:Boston Red Sox players Category:Brooklyn Dodgers players Category:Chicago Cubs coaches Category:Chicago Cubs scouts Category:Chicago White Sox players Category:Deaths from liver disease Category:Detroit Tigers coaches Category:Detroit Tigers players Category:Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Category:Major League Baseball catchers Category:Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Category:Philadelphia Phillies coaches Category:Philadelphia Phillies players Category:Portland Beavers managers Category:Portland Beavers players Category:Sacramento Solons players Category:St. Louis Browns players Category:20th-century American sportsmen