Billy Shea
by William Bowen
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Billy Sheas career was defined by tenacity. The Cleveland Bobcats legend combined a short, powerful left-handed swing with a hard-nosed style of play to become a fan favorite, drawing fans to the ballpark even in difficult years for the team.
Shea was raised in Kansas by his aunt and uncle after his parents succumbed to cholera before his first birthday. His aunt and uncle owned a farm. Young Billy helped on the farm and played baseball in his spare time. Sheas uncle played recreational baseball on Sundays. The first time that he brought a baseball home to a four-year-old Billy, the toddler was transfixed and carried the ball around with him for the rest of the day.
When Billy grew older, this obsession continued. He developed a compact left-handed swing and learned to crowd the plate so he could reach strikes on the outside corner. Billy would often challenge older boys to try and strike him out, which few succeeded in doing. His local reputation as an excellent hitter grew, until an independent league team in Kansas City offered him a contract.
Shea excelled for Kansas City, but his league received little attention from major league scouts. In 1900, the nearby St. Louis Explorers sent a scout, but on the day the scout arrived Billy was battling a case of influenza. Aware that this was his chance to impress a major league team, Shea played anyway, but he looked sluggish. He had a rare 0-for-4 day with two strikeouts. The scout was gone before the game ended.
Luckily for Billy, he was popular in the clubhouse and was regarded as a leader. After he once again led the independent league in most major offensive categories. In 1901, his teammates, convinced his skills were major league caliber, began a campaign in mid-1902 of mailing major league teams to come see Shea play, each one signed by all members of the team save for Shea himself. The Cleveland Bobcats were one of the few teams to respond, sending a scout to watch the 24-year-old Shea play in early September.
The scout was blown away by what he saw and later called the journey to Kansas City the most valuable train ride he ever took. Shea was a phenomenal young hitter and passable in the outfield, to boot. By September 23rd, Shea was signed with the Bobcats, the day he played his final game with his Kansas City teammates, who hoisted him off the field in celebration of their leaders accomplishment.
Shea joined the Bobcats only days later and they slotted him into right field immediately. In a brief cup of coffee before the end of the year, Shea was not spectacular, but he played at a respectable level for someone thrown into the majors so suddenly.
Hitting had always been Billys forte, but in the spring of 1903, Shea received extra coaching in the outfield, which refined his instincts and improved his jumps on the ball, which made up for a lack of foot speed. Shea was the Bobcats unchallenged starting right fielder from that day.
In his first full season, Shea proved that he was major-league caliber. He had a strong season and came to anchor the Cleveland lineup. In 1904, he became a star. Shea led the league in batting average (.334), on-base percentage (.404), and home runs (13). He repeated as home run champ the following year. Thanks to his plate-crowding stance, he also led the league in plunkings.
In 1906, Shea once again turned in a stellar year. The Bobcats finished an agonizing one game behind the division-leading Chicago Traders. Unfortunately for Billy and Cleveland fans, it was the closest he would ever come to the postseason.
Despite the teams lackluster performance, Billy and his fans were a staple at Lakefront Stadium every year. He was one of the most consistent and durable players in the league, playing in nearly every Bobcats game from 1904 to 1916. His fearless style of play and hitting prowess made him Clevelands biggest draw. Year in and year out, Shea rocketed balls off the wall and over the fence and got on base when pitchers avoided the strike zone. He twice led the league in walks and seven times led the league in times hit by a pitch.
Billy was a leader in the clubhouse as well. He helped foster a sense of community even on moribund Cleveland teams. Over the next decade, he made his legacy as one of the most well-loved Cleveland Bobcats players ever.
Shea anchored the Bobcats lineup all the way from his age-25 season through age 38, but by 1917, he had begun to slow down. His hitting remained solid, but Billy had lost several steps in the outfield. The Bobcats manager wanted to keep Billy in the lineup, but Shea requested to be relegated to pinch-hitting duties, not wanting to hurt the team on defense. When the teams shortstop went down late in the season, the manager made the bizarre decision to ask the left-handed Shea to try the position in the interim. In what was a lost season for Cleveland, the manager said that it was the only way he could convince Billy to take the field. The experiment did not go well, but the fans loved seeing Shea back out there.
The 40-year-old Shea made an attempt to keep playing in 1918 as a pinch-hitter, but he was simply out of gas. He played his last game on May 25, hitting a walk-off 2-run single, sending the crowd into a frenzy. After a curtain call, Billy decided that would be it, and asked for his release the next day. He would return to the game he loved as a hitting coach the next year.
The Bobcats never made it to the postseason with Billy Shea. In fact, they did not make the postseason from 1895 though 1955. But in 1956, the Bobcats finally broke the streak, and in the first game of the championship series, facing the same Chicago Traders who thwarted the 1906 team, the Bobcats invited the 79-year-old Shea to throw out the first pitch. He did, and he received a raucous and sustained ovation. Shea was seen at Lakefront Stadium for every game of the Bobcats run.
For his career, Shea slashed .294/.386/.388. He racked up 2,489 base hits, including 370 doubles, 55 triples, and 105 home runs. He drove in 981 runs, drew 1,077 walks and was hit by an astonishing 234 pitches. Shea won a batting title (1904) and led the league in home runs (1904-05), runs scored (1913), doubles (1911, 1913), walks (1909-10), times hit by a pitch (1904, 1907, 1909-13), and on-base percentage (1904, 1916). For his career, he hit .294 and had an on-base percentage of .386. He was named Player of the Week eight times, Rookie of the Month twice, and Batter of the Month five times.
In 1958, Billy Shea was inducted into the Hall of Fame.