He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Royals, appearing in 11 games in 1981 and 1982.

Ireland was originally selected in the 25th round of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft by the Montreal Expos.

He spent four more seasons with the Royals organization before making it to the majors in 1981, when he played four games at first base without coming to bat.

He then played two seasons for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan, and for the Fort Myers Sun Sox in the Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989.

He spent the next three seasons as a scout for the Colorado Rockies, mostly in the Pacific Rim, signing Chin-hui Tsao among other players.