Costen Shockley
John Costen Shockley is an American retired professional baseball player who appeared in 51 Major League games for the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Angels. A first baseman who batted and threw left-handed, Shockley was listed as tall and.
Signed by the Phillies in 1960 after a stellar schoolboy career at Georgetown High School, Shockley was a prodigious minor league hitter. He batted.360 in the Class C Pioneer League in 1961 and.335 in the Double-A Sally League in 1963. He also hit for power, belting 36 home runs in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1964.
In the middle of that season, Shockley was called up to the MLB Phillies, who were leading the National League in the standings but struggling to fill a hole at first base, where veteran Roy Sievers had just been traded and youngster John Herrnstein was hitting.258 with only 19 extra-base hits. Shockley started seven games between July 17 and 26, but batted only.207 with one extra-base hit, a home run hit in his second big-league game on July 18. He was sent back to Triple-A to finish the minor-league season, and Philadelphia acquired Frank Thomas from the New York Mets on August 7 to play first base for the stretch drive. Shockley was recalled later in 1964 and appeared in three games for the Phillies in September after rosters expanded to 40 players. He was later traded to the Angels in an off-season deal for veteran pitcher Bo Belinsky.
Shockley played 40 games for the Angels between April 13 and June 7, 1965, starting 30 games at first base, but could not get untracked offensively, collecting only 20 hits in 107 at bats, batting only.187. When the Angels assigned him to Triple-A Seattle, Shockley refused to report and retired from the game at age 23. He returned to his hometown, where he raised his family, worked in construction and coached youth baseball. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1998.
His 28 career big-league hits included two doubles and three home runs. He collected 19 runs batted in.
