(Submitted photo)
Batavia native and Batavia High School graduate Barry Sheldon was inducted into the WNY Baseball Hall of Fame last evening at the 22nd Annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies Dinner at the Lake Erie Italian Club in Lackawanna.
There were 10 other individual inducted along with one team from the mid 70’s.
Below-link to interview with Barry Sheldon
Sheldon was a stand out pitcher throughout his career and was drafted by three different Major League Baseball teams after graduating from Batavia High School in 1967. Sheldon was drafted out of high school by the NY Mets, but his father was adamant that Barry get a college education.
During his time in college at New Mexico Highlands University, Sheldon was re-drafted by the Detroit Tigers and then again by the Minnesota Twins. Sheldon was awarded College Athlete of the Year in 1971 and he eventually signed with the Baltimore Orioles organization upon completing college. After signing with the Orioles, he was sent to the Triple AAA affiliate Rochester Red Wings and then later assigned to their minor leagues until a career ending rotator cuff injury changed his plans in 1972.
Graduating from News Mexico with a teaching certificate, Sheldon thought he might be a coach after his baseball career at age 23.
Until one day, while at home in Batavia, an FBI agent was visiting his house and asked him if he wanted to be a Special Agent.
Sheldon’s brother, Robert, was Undersheriff of Genesee County in the mid 70’s and his mother Betty, a Matron Deputy Sheriff, who in her 40’s transported female inmates to and from jails and to court. Sheldon says law enforcement from the area was constantly visiting his house.
“They asked me what I wanted to do with myself,” says Sheldon.
“I told them I had no idea, then they asked, “Have you ever thought about being an FBI agent?” They asked if I wanted to and I said, sure why not.”
After being recruited by the FBI as a Special Agent, Sheldon even ended up playing baseball for the FBI after being transferred from the Buffalo Field Office to FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC in 1972.
Sheldon says his arm healed after his rotator cuff injury and he was able to pitch for the FBI Bureaucrats during his three years of training.
“There were many standout Division I college athletes hired by the bureau as Special Agents and we formed a team that ended up playing many of the local colleges in the DC, Maryland and Virginia area as well as other law enforcement agencies, matter a fact we were that good that we ended up playing against many major league farm club affiliates up and down the eastern seaboard and we held our own,” says Sheldon.
Sheldon was voted MVP for 3 years in a row from 1973-76 and he helped his FBI team win the Industrial League title three times with a 20-0 win/loss record and with an ERA under 1.
While working under J. Edgar Hoover at the FBI, Sheldon met his wife Kathy, who also worked at FBI Headquarters in Washington.
The Sheldon’s have three children and 9 grandchildren and have been married for 43 1/2 years.
He says his son is currently in the law enforcement field and he has two grandkids, Dyllan, 17, Evan, 14, who are pretty good baseball players at North Point High School in Maryland and are working towards playing in college, and a third grandson, Ethan, 14, who was a member of the Hughesville Little League All Stars playing 3rd base, shortstop and catcher.
These days, Sheldon is still working with the FBI and working security for Homeland Security as he closes in on age 70.
“They ask why are you still working?, says Sheldon.
“Because I live in DC, you don’t retire in DC, you know you find some outlying areas where the affordability is a little less, but I enjoy what I do, and it gets me up in the morning and keeps me going and it keeps me out of my wife’s hair.”
When asked what advice can you give to young athletes coming out of high school today who want to play sports possibly as a career, he says, “If you have a dream go do it, you are the only one that is going to stop yourself. I would say never stop dreaming, you just need a little bit of luck and you have to have skill obviously, but if you can dream it, go for it.”
Sheldon was also inducted into the Batavia High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010 and inducted into NYS Section 5 Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013 and in that same year inducted into his Alma Matre New Mexico Highlands University Baseball Hall of Fame.
He has also been nominated for induction into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame