Southpaw sensation Ryan Sherriff displayed signs of brilliance and poise in his debut last Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays that many Cardinals fans yearned to see this season from the club’s lackluster bullpen. The recent call-up from Triple-A Memphis worked three solid shutout innings, allowing one free pass, two hits, and registering four strikeouts just two days after the big club purchased his contract. The resilience and tenacity Sherriff exhibited after being summoned to relieve Michael Wacha’s shortened 3.1 innings start runs deep in his lineage of strong-willed individuals and amateur athletes.
According to a piece written by Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sherriff’s late grandparents were survivors of separate Holocaust concentration camps during World War II. His grandfather was held captive in the Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany, while his grandmother had to endure the peril in one of the most notorious camps during this dark period, Auschwitz. Both were fortunate to survive and escape in January 1945 and soon met after when his grandmother, a nurse, one day cared for his grandfather. The two eventually married in Europe and immigrated to the United States, where his grandfather went on to own and operate a successful meat-packing company in Colorado.
The California native didn’t uncover this particular page of his family’s history until he was seven-years-old when he noticed numbers tattooed on his grandmother’s left wrist. As he became older, Sherriff began to realize and understand the trials and tribulations both his Jewish grandparents had to encounter after being taken away from their home country of Poland. This discovery by the future 28th round draft-pick led him to honor his heroic role models by pitching for Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Brooklyn. Although Sherriff threw only 12 total pitches in two games, he was credited with two holds and helped Israel clinch a spot in their first and soon-to-be historic WBC Tournament.
Electing not to take part in the World Baseball Classic, Sherriff set out to achieve his dream to make the Cardinals roster in spring training. The decision came easy for Sherriff thanks to the main drive and inspiration for him to play baseball.
Larry Sherriff was a semi-pro baseball player for his town’s post office team, in which his style of play caught the eye of his future wife and daughter of Holocaust survivors, Renee. The elder Sherriff then passed on his love for the sport to his future big-league son with Ryan hitting a ball off a tee and retrieving the ball all by himself at a fairly young age. The drill soon installed an everlasting passion for the game and a common bond between father and son; however, the passion nearly faded away at one point.
After coming off a 3-3 record with a 3.93 ERA in the minors during the 2011 season, Sherriff received terrible news during the off-season. Larry was diagnosed with Stage 4 multiple myeloma. Ryan stayed by his father’s side during that off-season, similar to the days when the father stuck by his son’s side during those tee-ball drills. Larry had succumbed to the disease and passed away in January 2012. This gave the younger Sherriff a sense of uncertainty on whether or not to continue his dream of pitching in the Majors without his father cheering him on from the bleachers. With the quick reassurance on his mother’s part by asking him what his dad would want him to do, Sherriff decided to press on.
This season’s and the previous season’s stats for the seven-year minor-leaguer are validating his decision to pitch in baseball. Last year, the 2011 draft pick went 7-1 with a 2.84 ERA to go along with three saves in 49 games with the Redbirds, earning him a Triple-A All-Star nod. Sherriff was especially pesky to left-handed hitters last year, with lefties hitting .172 (16-93) and notching two extra-base hits, both doubles. For his 2017 campaign with Memphis, he has appeared in a team-high 48 games going 5-1 with a 3.19 ERA and converting six saves out of seven chances for the Redbirds. Sherriff’s 37 of his 48 appearances have been scoreless and he hasn’t surrendered a home run in the minors since June 9, earning him another All-Star appearance this season.
The Cardinals are getting a reliable, experienced and consistent reliever in the bullpen out of Sherriff. You can bet once he gets the final batter out during his frames, Sheriff will ascend to the skies and salute to those who have inspired him to trek on and pursue his dream of becoming a mainstay in Major League Baseball.
