Sharon was born in
San Mateo, California, and is Jewish. He graduated from
Sequoia High School, in
Redwood City, California. Sharon was a first round pick in the
1968 Major League Baseball draft, taken at No. 9 by the
Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1970, he was 3rd in the
Carolina League in
RBIs, tied for third in
home runs (22), 4th in runs (78), 6th in
slugging percentage (.457), and tied for 7th in
triples (5). He was traded from the Pirates to the Tigers for
Norm McRae and
Jim Foor at the
Winter Meetings on November 27, 1972. He broke into the major leagues at age 23 with the
Detroit Tigers, on May 13, 1973. He was voted the team's Rookie of the Year. In 1974, he earned a peak salary of $19,000 with the Tigers. He along with
Ed Brinkman and
Bob Strampe were dealt from the Tigers to the
San Diego Padres for
Nate Colbert in a three-team deal on November 18, 1974, that involved Brinkman also being sent to the
St. Louis Cardinals for
Sonny Siebert,
Alan Foster and
Rich Folkers.
Danny Breeden went from the Padres to the Cardinals to subsequently complete the transactions. Sharon played his last major league game with the
Padres on September 28, 1975, three weeks before he was traded to the Cardinals for
Willie Davis on October 20. ==References==