Around the Foghorn:Famous People Who Played Pro Baseball
Jan 31, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Actor Kevin Costner at a news conference about the movie
Ron Shelton
(I know that the picture is of Kevin Costner, but our database is hard-pressed to find cleared pictures of Ron Shelton, so I had to go with a picture of the star of his biggest hit Bull Durham)
This one really is the most important name on this list for baseball lovers. Ron Shelton was a middle infielder who was drafted in the 39th round of the 1966 draft by the Baltimore Orioles. His best season came in 1969 when he played in 140 games and hit .277 with 6 home runs and 54 RBI’s (all career highs).
He then spent the following year playing mostly with Double-A Dallas-Ft. Worth of the Texas League, but also got some Triple-A time with Rochester. He had middling success, and played one more year in Rochester, before calling it a career after 66 games in 1971.
Shelton would go on to use his experiences on the field to bring the world great sports movies. He was the writer/director of classics like Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump, Cobb and Tin Cup. He also wrote Blue Chips and The Best of Times (starring Robin Williams and another man mentioned on this list, Kurt Russell)
So obviously Shelton was able to take his competitive juices and re-direct them onto the big screen, and we are thankful that he did.