COACHING CAREER
Named the Rays sixth hitting coach on Oct 21, 2009...follows Steve Henderson (1998, 2006-09), Leon Roberts (1999-2000), Wade Boggs(2001), Milt May (2002) and Lee Elia (2003-05). In 2012, the Rays led the majors in walks for the 2nd time in his three seasons with the club...Rays also led in 2010...the Rays are 9th in the majors in runs scored during his tenure. Prior to joining the Rays spent the previous five seasons as hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians...named to that post on June 4, 2005 at the age of 34, replacing Hall of Famer Eddie Murray...in his first full season in the position in 2006, the Indians finished 2nd in the majors in runs scored with 860...they had been 12th over the four previous seasons with an average of 771 runs scored. Over his tenure, Cleveland ranked 5th in the majors in runs scored, 7th in avg., 2nd in doubles, 3rd in OBP, 6th in slugging and 10th in HR...in each of his first four seasons the Indians ranked 8th or higher in the majors in runs scored. Before his arrival in June 2005, the Indians hit .243 and scored 3.96 runs per game in their first 53 games, both worst in the AL in that span...after his hiring they hit .285 (1st in majors) and scored 5.33 runs per game (3rd in majors). Was with the Indians organization for seven seasons...was their minor league hitting coordinator from 2003-05. Spent the previous six seasons in the Yankees system...began his coaching career with the Rookie-level GCL Yankees in 1997 and earned promotions to Class-A Tampa in 1998 and Double-A Norwich in 1999...managed three years for the GCL Yankees (2000-01) and Short-A Staten Island (2002), leading his clubs to three first-place finishes and league championships in 2001 and 2002. In November 2011 he served as hitting coach for the MLB All-Star squad that played 5 games against the Chinese Taipei national team in Taiwan...the MLB All-Stars swept the series.
PLAYING CAREER
Played two years (1992-93) as a catcher in the Yankees system...underwent elbow surgery after the 1993 season, ending his career ... At Class-A Greensboro played under former Rays coach and current field coordinator Bill Evers.
PERSONAL
His father, Ron, was a lefty who pitched two seasons (1966-67) at Bluefield (Orioles) in the Appalachian League...Ron played with another Ron Shelton at Bluefield in 1967...the other Ron Shelton is the award-winning film director and screenwriter of more than 20 movies, most notably Bull Durham (1988), White Men Can't Jump (1992) and Tin Cup (1996). Graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in criminal justice...caught four seasons for the Salukis, 1989-92...as a junior, he led the Missouri Valley Conference by throwing out 43 percent of opposing base stealers...named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference Academic Team as a junior in 1991. Resides in St. Pete Beach with his wife, Alison, and three children: Jackson, Isabella and Gianna.
