Notes On Opening Day in 2006, on April 3, Shelton belted a pair of solo home runs against the Royals in Kansas City, as Detroit prevailed, 3-1. Through the first four games of the 2006 season, Shelton had five home runs and was hitting over .500. In the fifth game of the season, in Arlington against the Rangers, he went 3-for-4 with two triples and two RBI... Through the first 13 games of 2006, Shelton had hit nine homers, the fourth highest total through 13 games in major league history. Only Mike Schmidt, Larry Walker, and Luis Gonzalez had hit more through 13 games of one season... Shelton was named Player of the Week in the American League for the first week of the 2006 season.
Transactions June 5, 2001: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 33rd round of the 2001 amateur draft.
December 15, 2003: Drafted by the Detroit Tigers from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2003 rule V draft.
Under the rules of the Rule V Draft, Shelton was required to be kept on the Tigers major league roster for the entire 2004 season. If he had not, the Pirates would have the chance to re-claim him. Shelton spent the season essentially stapled to the Tiger bench. He had an awesome season in the Arizona Fall League and was agin with Detroit in 2005, hitting 18 homers in 388 at-bats. In 2006, at the age of 25, he slugged his way out of the gate, belting nine homers in Detroit's first 13 games of the season.
The Pirates always felt that Shelton would hit, but they had him behind the plate in the minor leagues and could never envision him as a major league backstop.
