Harry Heilmann
From BR Bullpen
Harry Edwin Heilmann (Slug)
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.
- Debut May 16, 1914
- Final Game May 31, 1932
- Born August 3, 1894 in San Francisco, CA USA
- Died July 9, 1951 in Southfield, MI USA
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1952
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[edit] Bio
"People nowadays just don't realize how great a hitter Harry was. Next to Rogers Hornsby, he was the best righthanded hitter of them all." - Ty Cobb
[edit] Professional playing career
Born in San Francisco, CA, Heilmann played at Portland and San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League, before joining the Detroit Tigers full time by 1916. When Ty Cobb became player-manager in 1921, Harry Heilmann's batting average increased 85 points under Cobb's instruction, from .309 the previous season, to .394. Heilmann's average topped all AL hitters that season, including Cobb's .389, winning the first of four batting titles. Nicknamed "Slug", he was an outstanding hitter, batting over .400 in 1923 and carrying a lifetime batting average of .342, which is currently ranked 12th all-time. He strung together twelve consecutive seasons of hitting at least .300, and was in the top ten in batting average ten times. Heilmann held the Major League record of 134 hits on the road in 1925 until Ichiro Suzuki passed it in 2004 with 145.
In July of 1916, Harry Heilmann became famous throughout Detroit for having saved a drowning woman in the Detroit River.
Heilmann was sold to the Cincinnati Reds of the National League toward the end of his career, and he became the first player to hit a home run in every major league park used during his career. Arthritis in his wrists, however, would force him to miss the entire 1931 season, and by 1932 he would retire, spending that season on the Reds coaching staff. From 1934 to 1950, he worked as a play-by-play announcer during Tigers radio (and later television) broadcasts. During World War II, he traveled overseas as part of a baseball group entertaining troops.
Harry Heilmann died of lung cancer at age 56 in Southfield, MI. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1952. In 1999, he ranked Number 54 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
Some or all content from this article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Harry Heilmann".
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 4-time AL Batting Average Leader (1921, 1923, 1925 & 1927)
- AL Hits Leader (1921)
- AL Doubles Leader (1924)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1922)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 8 (1921 & 1923-1929)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 4 (1921, 1923, 1924 & 1927)
- 200 Hits Seasons: 4 (1921, 1923, 1925 & 1927)
- Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1952 (elected posthumously with Paul Waner)
[edit] Related Sites
Baseball Almanac Graphic on HOFers who Served in the U.S. Armed Services
