Rick Short

Who is Rick Short?

Richard Ryan Short is a former Major League Baseball infielder who is currently a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He retired in 2009 after playing for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League for four seasons. He bats and throws right-handed. He is an alumnus of Western Illinois University and Larkin High School in Elgin, IL.

Short was drafted in 1994 by the Baltimore Orioles in the 33rd round. He played eleven seasons in the minors and one in Japan before playing his first game in the major leagues. While having an impressive offensive season for the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs, Short was called up to the big leagues by the Washington Nationals after twelve years in the minors and made his Major League Baseball debut on June 10, 2005, collecting a pinch hit RBI in his first major league at-bat. Rick's big league hit, after so many minor league at bats and seasons, became a national story.

He was sent back to New Orleans the next day. Short grabbed attention later in 2005, when he was hitting .400 for New Orleans with only 24 games left, resulting in the opportunity for him to become the first player to hit .400 in the Pacific Coast League since 1933. However, Short did not break the record, finishing the season with a .383 average, he was promoted to the Nationals again in September. On September 7, Short hit his first major league home run against Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins at RFK Stadium. Short's season ended on September 23, when he suffered a shoulder injury. He ended the season with only 15 at-bats in 11 MLB games—and six hits giving him a .400 average.