Shawn Camp

Shawn Anthony Camp (born November 18, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies.

Early career

Camp began his baseball career as a catcher at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Virginia. He graduated from high school in 1994 and continued as a backstop in college while attending George Mason University, the school from which he would be drafted. Struggling to hit collegiate pitching, Camp converted to a pitcher at George Mason with the help of then Patriots assistant baseball coach Dayton Moore.

Professional career

San Diego Padres

Camp was drafted in the sixteenth round of the 1997 amateur entry draft by the San Diego Padres; the five hundredth overall selection of that year's draft. The newly converted reliever steadily climbed the ranks of the Padres' minor league system, collecting 25 saves in his first two years of professional baseball.

Shawn Camp (musician)

Darrell DeShawn "Shawn" Camp (born August 29, 1966) is an American musician who performs country and Americana music. Originally signed to Reprise Records in 1993 as a recording artist, Camp charted two minor singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts that year. Since then, he has found success as a songwriter, having co-written hit singles for many country music artists, including Garth Brooks, Josh Turner, Brooks & Dunn, and Blake Shelton, although he continues to record his own material as well.

Biography

Camp was raised in Perryville, Arkansas by a musical family. In 1987, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee and worked in the backing bands of such acts as The Grand Priarie Boys, Osborne Brothers, Alan Jackson, Suzy Bogguss and Trisha Yearwood. In 1991, he was signed to Reprise Records, with two minor Top 40 singles charting in 1993. The first of these, "Fallin' Never Felt So Good", was previously recorded by Dude Mowrey.

Camp recorded a second album for Reprise, but never released it due to creative differences. He then began writing for other artists. Camp's first Number One as a songwriter came in early 1998, when Garth Brooks reached the top of the Billboard country charts with "Two Piña Coladas", a song co-written by Camp. Later that same year, Brooks & Dunn also reached Number One with "How Long Gone", another Camp co-write.