Francis Joseph "Spec" Shea was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1947 to 1955.
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14 Facts About Spec Shea
2.
Spec Shea played for the New York Yankees from 1947 to 1951 and the Washington Senators from 1952 to 1955.
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3.
Spec Shea was known as "The Naugatuck Nugget" as a result of being from Naugatuck, Connecticut, and was named as such by Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen, and was nicknamed "Spec" because of his freckles.
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4.
Spec Shea spent the 1940 season playing in Amsterdam, winning 11 and losing four while pitching 137 innings.
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5.
Spec Shea was a member of the United States Armed Forces, serving in World War II.
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6.
Spec Shea joined in 1943 and served for three years, where he served solely as a soldier and did not play baseball.
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7.
Spec Shea was promoted to the Yankees' major league roster at the start of the 1947 New York Yankees season, and made his debut on April 19,1947.
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8.
Spec Shea made his debut against the Boston Red Sox, which was so looked forward to at Naugatuck High School, his alma mater, that the school suspended operations for the day because most of the student body went to New York to root for Spec.
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9.
Spec Shea allowed one earned run, and was declared the winning pitcher of the All-Star Game.
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10.
Spec Shea was in the running for the Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award, which went to Jackie Robinson.
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11.
Spec Shea finished third in voting behind Robinson and Larry Jansen, but would have won the award had the American and National Leagues had separate Rookie of the Year winners.
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12.
On May 3,1952, Spec Shea was traded by the Yankees with Jackie Jensen, Jerry Snyder, and Archie Wilson to the Washington Senators for Irv Noren and Tom Upton.
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13.
Spec Shea was used in his final two seasons primarily as a relief pitcher, and pitched his final major league game on August 27,1955.
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14.
Spec Shea died in New Haven, Connecticut, on July 19,2002, at the age of 81 after having heart valve replacement surgery.
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