Jim Sherman

James Herbert Sherman

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 192 lb.

• School University of Delaware
• High School William Penn High School

• Born January 26, 1960 in Wilmington, DE USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Jim Sherman reached AAA briefly and was on the Houston Astros 40-man roster for a year then returned to college as a coach.

Amateur Career

Sherman hit .367 with 52 RBI as a freshman at the University of Delaware, .328 with 56 RBI and 13 homers as a sophomore and .316 with 10 home runs and 51 RBI his junior year (1981). In the 1981 amateur draft, the Chicago Cubs took him in the 20th round. He returned to college and had his best season at Delaware (.378, a school-record 15 HR, 68 RBI and 209 TB). He was All-East Coast Conference all four seasons in college. He finished as Delaware's career leader in homers (46, a mark that stood for 18 years) and total bases (489). He also played for the Chatham A's in 1980-1981, winning Cape Cod League All-Star honors both times.

Professional Career

The Houston Astros took Sherman in the 14th round of the 1982 amateur draft. He spent that summer with the GCL Astros (.279/.373/.397 in 19 G) and Asheville Tourists (.354/.406/.636, 11 HR, 49 R in 46 G). Had he qualified, he would have led the South Atlantic League in batting average. In 1983, he again did well for Asheville (.314/.391/.579 in 44 G), moving up to the Columbus Astros but struggling in his first try at AA (.211/.285/.294). He made 48 errors at third base that year between the two teams, fielding .874. He led Southern League third basemen with 30 errors despite only playing 95 games in that circuit.

In 1984, the Wilmington native again had a split season, this time appearing for the Daytona Beach Astros (.254/.344/.448 in 37 G) and Columbus (.248/.302/.435). He hit 16 home runs for the year. The next year, he had a strong performance for Columbus, as his batting line read .279/.311/.511. He had 34 doubles, 20 home runs and 90 RBI while alternating between the outfield and third base. He tied Kelvin Torve for the SL lead in two-baggers while ranking 7th in RBI and 6th in slugging (between Mark Davidson and Ricky Jones).

Sherman was with the AAA Tucson Toros in 1986 but only got into 12 games, going 7 for 31 with 5 doubles, a triple and 4 walks. He ended his playing career with the independent Boise Hawks in 1987, going 8 for 43 with 5 doubles, a homer, 6 walks and 17 strikeouts.

Overall, he had hit .267/.334/.463 with 64 home runs, 231 runs and 230 RBI in 463 minor league games.

Coaching Career

Sherman was head coach at Wilmington College in 1987. He became athletic director of Wilmington in 1989. He fired 2nd year head coach Curt Hinson in March and named himself coach. He was head coach through 1994, going 218-128. He took his teams to the 1992 NAIA College World Series and 1994 NAIA College World Series. In 2001, he would be an inaugural inductee into the Wilmington College Athletics Hall of Fame. During this time, he also spent three years coaching at the US Olympic Baseball Trials, working with J.D. Drew, Mark Kotsay and Jacque Jones.

Sherman returned to his alma mater and served as the hitting coach from 1995-2000, working with Cliff Brumbaugh and Kevin Mench (who broke Sherman's school record for homers). He became head coach in 2001 when Bob Hannah retired after 36 years. In his first ten years, he was 300-246. He was named Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 2007. On January 22, 2022 Sherman announced 2022 would be his last year before retiring.

In 2009, he was inducted into the University of Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame.

Year-by-Year Coaching Record

Year	School	Overall Record	Conference Record	Notes
1987	Wilmington College			NAIA District Tournaments / NAIA Area Tournaments
1989	Wilmington College			NAIA District Tournaments / NAIA Area Tournaments
1990	Wilmington College			NAIA District Tournaments / NAIA Area Tournaments
1991	Wilmington College			NAIA District Tournaments
1992	Wilmington College			NAIA District Tournaments / NAIA Area Tournaments / NAIA CWS
1993	Wilmington College			NAIA District Tournaments / NAIA Regional Tournaments
1994	Wilmington College			NAIA District Tournaments / NAIA Regional Tournaments / NAIA CWS
2001	University of Delaware	45-15	22-6	America East / CWS Regionals
2002	University of Delaware	35-22	12-7	Colonial
2003	University of Delaware	21-32	7-13
2004	University of Delaware	33-24	12-11	Colonial
2005	University of Delaware	27-31	13-11	Colonial
2006	University of Delaware	30-24	12-18
2007	University of Delaware	32-23	18-11	Colonial
2008	University of Delaware	22-31	11-17
2009	University of Delaware	28-20	11-10	Colonial
2010	University of Delaware	27-24	9-15
2011	University of Delaware	27-26	16-14
2012	University of Delaware	31-27	17-13	Colonial
2013	University of Delaware	33-22	15-12	Colonial
2014	University of Delaware	26-27	10-10	Colonial
2015	University of Delaware	26-24	11-13	Colonial
2016	University of Delaware	32-22	10-14
2017	University of Delaware	34-23	15-9	Colonial / CWS Regionals
2018	University of Delaware	31-27	12-11	Colonial
2019	University of Delaware	21-33	9-15
2020	University of Delaware	8-7	0-0
2021	University of Delaware	12-22	8-16
2022	University of Delaware

Sources

• 1983-1986 Baseball Guides
• University of Delaware bio