Shane Timothy Heams (born September 29, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and Olympic gold medalist. His minor league baseball career spanned from 1996 to 2005.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Shane Timothy Heams | ||||||||||||||
| Born | September 29, 1975 (age 49) Toledo, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Baseball career
editHeams played baseball at Bedford High School in Temperance, Michigan, where he was named to the first team of the All-Great Lakes League team in 1993 and 1994 as an outfielder.[1][2] After graduation, he was drafted in the 41st round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft by the Seattle Mariners.[3]
He played 22 games in the outfield for the minor league AZL Mariners in 1995, finishing the year with a .197 batting average. In 1996, the Mariners converted Heams to a pitcher,[4] where he appeared in 30 games in relief in the Arizona League in 1996 and 1997.[3] On March 31, 1998, Heams announced his retirement,[5] but came out of retirement shortly thereafter and signed with the Detroit Tigers in April.[6] He spent the remainder of the year with the Jamestown Jammers, ending the season with a 3.86 ERA in 24 games.[3] He pitched for the West Michigan Whitecaps in 1999, where he was named to the Midwest League's East Division all-star team.[1][7]
In November 1999, he was added to the Tigers' 40-man roster,[8] with Heams signing a one-year contract with Detroit in February 2000.[9] He pitched for both the Double-A Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League and the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens of the International League in 2000, recording a 2.59 ERA with Double-A Jacksonville in 39 games, but allowed 12 earned runs in 9.2 innings with Toledo.[3]
On August 23, Heams was named to the United States national baseball team to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympics.[10] At the games, he pitched against Japan, The Netherlands, and Cuba.[11] Heams earned a gold medal when the United States defeated Cuba in the finals.[12]
Heams split the 2001 season between Double-A Erie and Toledo, appearing in 50 games across the two levels.[3] He resigned with Detroit on a one-year deal the following February,[13] but he was designated for assignment and claimed by the Boston Red Sox on April 2.[14] He pitched for three of the Red Sox' minor league clubs, including the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox,[3] but was traded to the Colorado Rockies in July.[15] He appeared in nine games with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox before the season ended.[3] In November, Heams signed with the Cincinnati Reds,[16] but asked for his release after declining to take part in extended spring training.[17]
After sitting out the 2003 season, Heams signed with the independent Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in April 2004.[18] He appeared in 95 games in 2004 and 2005 for Somerset, including 12 games as a starter, before ending his playing career.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b "All-GLL teams". The News-Messenger. May 29, 1993. p. 10. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "All Great Lakes League". The News-Messenger. June 15, 1994. p. 12. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Shane Heams at Baseball-Reference (Minors)". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ "Heams goes from hitter to pitcher; Tigers impressed with his stuff". Petoskey News-Review. March 9, 2000. p. 15. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Huth, Jeff (April 3, 1998). "Former area players in the major leagues". The News-Gazette. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ "Tigers prospects". Detroit Free Press. May 21, 2000. p. 43. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "1999 West and East All-Stars". Lansing State Journal. June 20, 1999. p. 146. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Transactions - November 19, 1999". Times Recorder. November 19, 1999. p. 146. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Transactions - February 3, 2000". Daily Herald. February 3, 2000. p. 146. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "USA: Mud Hens pitcher, Borders". Detroit Free Press. August 24, 2000. p. 8. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sports-Reference (Olympics)". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ "U.S. team upsets Cuba's record". Lansing State Journal. September 20, 2000. p. 23. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tigers Agree to Terms with Heams, Miller, Rivera". Battle Creek Enquirer. February 13, 2002. p. 17. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tigers Notes". The Times Herald. April 3, 2002. p. 23. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hohler, Bob (July 21, 2002). "Patience is a virtue for INF Youkilis". The Boston Globe. p. 52. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Transactions - November 20, 2002". The World. November 20, 2002. p. 12. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Mosher, Geoff (August 17, 2004). "Patriots' Heams improving daily". Courier News. p. 15. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "2 more pitchers sign with Patriots". Courier News. April 8, 2004. p. 19. Retrieved February 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
edit- Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Shane Heams". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.