{{short description|American baseball player (1929-1982)}} {{for|the Australian footballer|Ray Shearer (footballer)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Ray Shearer |position=Outfielder |image=Ray Shearer.jpg |caption = Ray Shearer |bats=Right |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1929|9|19}} |birth_place=Jacobus, Pennsylvania, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1982|2|21|1929|9|19}} |death_place=York, Pennsylvania, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=September 18 |debutyear=1957 |debutteam=Milwaukee Braves |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 29 |finalyear=1957 |finalteam=Milwaukee Braves |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Games played |stat1value=2 |stat2label=At bats |stat2value=2 |stat3label=Hits |stat3value=1 |teams= * Milwaukee Braves ({{Baseball year|1957}}) }} '''Ray Solomon Shearer''' (September 19, 1929 – February 21, 1982) was an American professional baseball player. He played in two Major League Baseball games for the Milwaukee Braves in 1957, one as a left fielder and the other as a pinch hitter.
== Early career == Born in Jacobus, Pennsylvania,<ref name=york>''York County (PA) Court House, County Records''</ref> Shearer was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers before the 1950 season and had a big year in his first season in pro ball, hitting .317 for the Sheboygan Indians and leading the class D Wisconsin State League with 30 home runs and 137 RBIs.<ref name=brguide/> He spent the next eight seasons (1950–57) in the minors, hitting over .300 three different times with double-digit figures in home runs seven of those years. The Dodgers traded Shearer to the Milwaukee Braves for Jim Frey on July 4, 1956.
== 1957: MLB cup of coffee == Shearer played for the Wichita Braves of the American Association in 1957, hitting .316 with 29 home runs in 138 games.<ref name=brguide/> He was given a late-season promotion to the majors, and made his MLB debut on September 18, with the Milwaukee Braves. He started the game in left field for the Braves who were hosting the New York Giants.<ref name=debut>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MLN/MLN195709180.shtml NYG 8, MLN 2, September 18, 1957]</ref> In his first plate appearance, Shearer struck out against Johnny Antonelli. He walked in his second plate appearance before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning.<ref name=debut/>
=== Moment in the spotlight === On September 29, on the final day of the 1957 season in front of 45,000 fans at County Stadium, Shearer helped the Milwaukee Braves to a come-from-behind victory. The Braves, who had already clinched the pennant, were trailing the Cincinnati Redlegs 3–2 in bottom of the ninth inning when Joe Adcock led off the inning with a base hit off new Redlegs' pitcher Bill Kennedy.<ref name=box>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MLN/MLN195709290.shtml September 29, 1957 box score]</ref> The Braves brought in Mel Roach to pinch run for Adcock, and Del Crandall to pinch-hit for pitcher Don McMahon.<ref name=box/> After Crandall flied out to center field, Shearer was brought in to pinch-hit for catcher Carl Sawatski.<ref name=box/> Shearer came through with a single to right field advancing Roach to third base with the tying run, and becoming the potential winning run on first base.<ref name=brguide/>
Andy Pafko struck out against Kennedy for the second out of the inning, bringing up Red Schoendienst,<ref name=box/> who kept the inning alive with another single, his league-leading 200th hit of the year, advancing Shearer to second base while Roach scored the tying run. Light-hitting shortstop Félix Mantilla then came to bat and drove a single to left field, scoring Shearer and giving the Braves a 4–3 victory for their 95th win.<ref name=brguide/> Shearer's base hit was the only one for the 28-year-old outfielder, giving him a lifetime .500 batting average in the major leagues.<ref name=brguide>''Baseball Players from The 1950s'', ''Baseball Reference Guide '', June 3, 1974</ref> It was also Kennedy's final major league appearance.<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kennebi02.shtml Bill Kennedy page at Baseball-Reference]</ref>
== Return to the minors == After his late season call-up to County Stadium in Milwaukee in 1957, his only shot at the big leagues, Shearer spent the rest of his career in the minors, playing five more seasons, all in class A ball or better.<ref name=brguide/> He played with teams like the Nashville Vols, Atlanta Crackers, Louisville Colonels and Richmond Virginians and finished out his 13-season minor league run in 1962 with the York White Roses and the Augusta Yankees.<ref name=brguide/> Shearer was 32 years old when he left baseball and had put together a minor league stat sheet with a .288 average and 204 home runs while appearing in 1,614 games.<ref name=brguide/>
Shearer died in York, Pennsylvania at the age of 52.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-Big Leaguer Ray Shearer Dies at 52|work=The York Dispatch|date= February 22, 1982|page= 28}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{baseballstats | br=s/shearra01 | brm=sheare001ray }} *{{sabrbio|ray-shearer}}
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