Shelley was born in 1910 in Rogers, Texas. His father was a farmer there.
Shelley began his professional baseball career in 1932, playing for the Decatur Commodores of the Three-I League and the Moline Plowboys of the Mississippi Valley League. He also played for the Shreveport Sports of the Dixie League (1933), and the Beaumont Exporters of the Texas League (1933–1935).
In 1935, he was called up by the Detroit Tigers. He appeared in his first major league game on June 25, 1935. He appeared in a total of seven games for the 1935 Tigers, one of them as the starting center fielder. He had only 10 plate appearances in which he had two singles, two walks, scored a run, and collected an RBI. He appeared in his final major league game on September 29, 1935, finishing with a career batting average of .250 and an on-base percentage of .400. A sports writer in the Detroit Free Press described Shelley in June 1935 as "a slender, gray-eyed lad with wavy brown hair, slightly bowed legs and a calm, pleasant personality."

Return to Hugh Shelley Autograph Profile