Henry William "Heinie" Scheer (July 31, 1900 – March 21, 1976) was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

from 1922 to 1923.

Biography

Born in The Bronx, New York City, he was Jewish. He played baseball for the Tremont Triangles, Highbridge Athletics, Bronx Giants, Brooklyn Bushwicks, and Bay Parkways. He began his professional baseball career in 1921 playing for the

Hartford Senators The Hartford Senators were a minor league baseball team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They operated in the Connecticut League from 1902–1912, the Eastern Association from 1913–1914, the Eastern League (baseball, 1916-32), Eastern League from ...

in the Eastern League. In his first year of professional baseball, Scheer impressed observers by playing error free baseball for the first 23 games of the season. He accepted 124 chances without making an error in April and May 1921. In September 1921, Scheer was sold by the Senators to the Philadelphia Athletics for $5,000. Scheer developed a reputation as an exceptional defensive player, but he was weak as a batter. In March 1922, he was given a shot with the Philadelphia Athletics. ''The Hartford Courant'' wrote at the teim: "If 'Heinie' Scheer can come through with the old wallop against big league pitching he will be one of the sensations of baseballdom." Scheer appeared in 51 games and compiled a .170 batting average for the 1922 Athletics team that finished in seventh place in the American League with a record of 65–89. Scheer returned to the Athletics in . He appeared in 69 games and raising his batting average by 63 points from .170 in 1922 to .238 in 1923. In June 1923, one reporter noted Scheer's improvement as a batter: "The player was a frail lad and shy on hitting, but the youngster is getting some power behind his blows now." In two seasons of Major League Baseball, Scheer appeared in 120 games, including 91 as a second baseman. He had a career batting average of .212, with 6 home runs and 33 runs batted in. On December 14, 1923, Scheer was traded by the Athletics with another player and $40,000 in cash to the Milwaukee franchise in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

for Hall of Fame outfielder Al Simmons. The next year, Simmons became a starter for the Athletics and went on to become one of the most feared hitters in baseball for the next 20 years. Scheer did not play another game in the major leagues. Scheer split the 1924 season between Milwaukee and Shreveport in the Texas League. In December 1924, Scheer was sold by Milwaukee to the Reading Keystones of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. In 1925, Scheer was teammates with

Moe Berg Morris Berg (March 2, 1902 – May 29, 1972) was an American catcher and coach in Major League Baseball, who later served as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Although he played 15 seasons in the major leagues, ...

in Reading. Berg played shortstop at the time, giving the Reading team an all Jewish double play combination with Berg at shortstop and Scheer at second base. The pair set an International League record that year for double plays. In 2003, one writer noted that Berg and Scheer "may be the only documented Jewish double play combination in the history of professional baseball." In the six years from 1924 to 1929, Scheer played for at least 10 minor league teams, including stints in Wilkes-Barre (1925), Reading (1925), Baltimore (1926), Terre Haute (1927), New Haven (1928), Hartford (1929), Allentown (1929), and

St. Thomas, Ontario St. Thomas is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It gained its city charter on March 4, 1881. The city is also the seat for Elgin County, although it is independent of the county. At the time of the 2021 Census, the population of the city wa ...

(1929). Scheer retired from baseball after the 1929 season. He was married to Ada (Caldwell) Scheer, and they lived in New Haven, Connecticut. Over the years, Scheer had jobs as a haberdashery salesman and as a liquor salesman for wholesalers Eastern Liquor and Eder Brothers. He remained with Eder Brothers until his retirement at age 65. Scheer was one of the founders of New Haven Little League Baseball and served as the league's commissioner for a time. He also served as an umpire for Ivy League baseball games. In March 1976, Scheer died of a heart attack at age 75 in New Haven. "Heinie" was a popular nickname for German baseball players in the early part of the 20th century. Scheer was one of 22 major league Heinies in the first half of the century. Others included:

Heinie Beckendorf Henry Ward "Heinie" Beckendorf (June 15, 1884Baseball-reference.com lists Beckendorf's date of birth as June 15, 1884. A Draft Registration Card completed by "Henry Beckendorf" in September 1918 listed his date of birth as June 15, 1881. A 1900 U ...

, 1909–10;

Heinie Berger Charles Carl "Heinie" Berger (January 7, 1882 – February 10, 1954) was an American professional baseball pitcher. Berger played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four seasons for the Cleveland Naps from 1907 to 1910. Biography Berger, a nat ...

, 1907–10;

Heinie Elder Henry Knox "Heinie" Elder Sr. (August 23, 1890 – November 13, 1958) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was born in Seattle, Washington, and died in Long Beach, California. Playing career After attending the University of Minnesota, an ...

, 1913;

Heinie Groh Henry Knight "Heinie" Groh (September 18, 1889 – August 22, 1968) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1912 to 1927, spending nearly his entire career with the Cinc ...

, 1912–27;

Heinie Heitmuller William Frederick "Heinie" Heitmuller (May 25, 1883 – October 8, 1912) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball. He was born in San Francisco, California, and died at age 29 in Los Angeles. He was buried at Olivet Memorial Park in ...

, 1909–10;

Heinie Heltzel William Wade "Heinie" Heltzel (December 21, 1913 – May 1, 1998) was an American baseball player. He played professional baseball as a shortstop and third baseman from 1935 to 1947, including stints with the Boston Braves in 1943 and the Phila ...

, 1943–44;

Heinie Jantzen Walter Charles "Heinie" Jantzen (April 9, 1890 – April 1, 1948) was an American baseball player. Jantzen was born in Chicago in 1890. He began playing professional baseball in 1910 with the Vincennes Alices in the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennes ...

, 1912;

Heinie Kappel Henry "Heinie" Kappel (September 1863 – August 27, 1905) was an American infielder. He played professional baseball for 11 years from 1884 to 1895, including three seasons in Major League Baseball with the Cincinnati Red Stockings (1887–1888) ...

, 1887–89;

Heinie Manush Henry Emmett Manush (July 20, 1901 – May 12, 1971), nicknamed "Heinie", was an American baseball outfielder. He played professional baseball for 20 years from 1920 to 1939, including 17 years in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1 ...

, 1923–39 – the only Hall of Fame "Heinie";

Heinie Meine Henry William "Heine" Meine (May 1, 1896 – March 18, 1968), sometimes "Heinie" Meine, was a professional baseball player. Meine was a right-handed pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns in 1922 and for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1929 to 1 ...

, 1922–34; Heinie Mueller, 1920–35; Heinie Mueller, 1938–41;

Heinie Odom Herman Boyd "Heinie" Odom (October 13, 1900 – August 31, 1970) was an American baseball player. Odom was born in 1900 in Rusk, Texas. He attended the University of Texas. He began playing professional baseball in 1925 for the New York Yankees ...

, 1925; Heinie Peitz, 1892–1913;

Heinie Reitz Henry Peter Reitz (June 29, 1867 – November 10, 1914), nicknamed "Heinie", was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators, and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was born in Chicago. Car ...

, 1893–99;

Heinie Sand John Henry "Heinie" Sand (July 3, 1897 – November 3, 1958) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from to with the Philadelphia Phillies. He debuted on April 17, 1923 and played his final game on September 30, 1928. In ...

, 1923–28;

Heinie Schuble Henry George "Heinie" Schuble (November 1, 1906 – October 2, 1990) was an American baseball infielder. He played professional baseball for 11 years from 1926 to 1936, including seven seasons in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals ...

, 1927–36;

Heinie Smith George Henry "Heinie" Smith (October 24, 1871 – June 25, 1939) was an American second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Louisville Colonels (1897–1898), Pittsburgh Pirates (1899), New York Giants (1901� ...

, 1897–1903; Heinie Stafford, 1916;

Heinie Wagner Charles Frederick "Heinie" Wagner (September 23, 1880 – March 20, 1943) was an American baseball player and manager. He played shortstop for the New York Giants (1902) and the Boston Red Sox (1906–1918). He was also the manager of the Red So ...

, 1902–18; and Heinie Zimmerman, 1907–19. There have been no players nicknamed Heinie in the major leagues since World War II.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheer, Heinie 1900 births 1976 deaths Jewish American baseball players Jewish Major League Baseball players Major League Baseball second basemen Philadelphia Athletics players Baseball players from New York City 20th-century American Jews