#244 Shane Heams
Here is a card that was sent to me by Paul, of Paul's Random Stuff. It is always cool when a package arrives from Paul. While Paul wants an autograph from every single Mets player, he is also like me in the fact that he will take an autograph from anyone he can get. A good example of that is this card of Shane Heams.
Shane never made it to the Major Leagues, but he did get a few looks at the AAA level. That's not too bad considering that he was the 1138th pick in the 1994 draft by the Mariners. In his first season of pro ball, he was an outfielder that hit .197 in 61 at-bats. He was then converted to a pitcher and he pitched two seasons with the AZL Mariners before getting released and picked up by the Tigers in 1998. By 2000, Shane had made it up to AAA and also represented the USA in the Olympics, helping to bring home the gold.
Unfortunately, Shane didn't do too well at AAA as he spent parts of the next three seasons there. The best ERA that he had in his four AAA stints was 5.53 in 14.2 innings. It looks like he retired after the 2002 season. He then reemerged in 2004 with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League. He pitched for them for two seasons before finally hanging them up for good.
Shane is pitching for the West Michigan Whitecaps in this card (at least that is what the card says). The 'Caps are still playing in the Midwest League and are still affiliated with the Tigers.
Shane Heams was a great pitcher at the Atlantic League level. He could have hung on for several more years, but he retired once he realized that no one was interested in giving him another shot in affiliated ball.
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show how hard it is to get into the majors at all, much less to stick around long enough to become a regular.