Playing career

Short was drafted in 1994 by the Baltimore Orioles in the 33rd round. He played eleven seasons in the minors and one in NPB before playing his first game in MLB. While having an impressive offensive season for the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs, Short was called up to MLB by the Washington Nationals after twelve years in the minors and made his MLB debut on June 10, 2005, collecting a pinch hit RBI in his first MLB at-bat.

He was sent back to New Orleans the next day. Short grabbed attention later in 2005, when he was hitting .400 for New Orleans with only 24 games left, resulting in the opportunity for him to become the first player to hit .400 in the Pacific Coast League since 1933. However, Short did not break the record, finishing the season with a .383 average, he was promoted to the Nationals again in September. On September 7, Short hit his first major league home run against Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins at RFK Stadium. Four days later, he hit his 2nd home run off of John Smoltz. Short's season ended on September 23, when he suffered a shoulder injury. He ended the season with six hits in 15 at-bats across 11 MLB games, giving him a .400 average.

After the 2005 season, Short's contract was sold to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. It marked the second stint for Short in Japan—in 2003, he played for the Chiba Lotte Marines and hit .303 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI. He has hit over .300 in each season (2006, 2007, 2008) since his arrival, ranked not lower than third in three years, including one highest hit rate(.332) in 2008. Rick has shown versatility with the Golden Eagles playing first, second, and third base along with the outfield during the 2008 season.

Short has played in 1290 minor league games over 12 years and has a .317 career minor league average.