Ron Shelton's movie career started much like his career in professional baseball with a thud. As a second baseman in the Baltimore Orioles farm system, the Montecito, California native found himself in the company of some of the nation's greatest young baseball talent. Still, after five years scratching away in baseball's minor leagues, Shelton couldn't make it to the bigs and decided to cross over to a career in screenwriting. As a writer, Shelton suffered some fits and starts but eventually found his words being spoken by major actors when his script for Under Fire made it to the big screen in 1983.