Hugh Joseph Hearne (April 18, 1873 – September 22, 1932) was an American

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He played for the

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

from 1901 to 1903. Hearne stood at and weighed 182 lbs."Hughie Hearne Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-18.

Career

Hughie Hearne started playing baseball as early as 1896 and was with the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eight ...

Albany Senators The Albany Senators was a name used by multiple minor league baseball teams representing Albany, New York, that existed between 1885 and 1959. The mid-20th century club played at Hawkins Stadium (Albany), Hawkins Stadium. The various editions of t ...

from 1899 to 1901."Hughie Hearne Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-18. In 1901, he started off hot at the plate and batted .380 to lead the entire league by 30 points. He was then acquired by the Brooklyn Superbas. Hearne made his major league debut on August 29 and spent the next two years with Brooklyn as a part-time catcher. In 1902, he played in a career-high 66 MLB games and batted .281. In 1903, while batting .281 again, he was traded to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

of the Eastern League. He played his last major league game on July 2. Hearne spent 1903 to 1909 with Baltimore. In 1905, he hit .302, the only season other than 1901 in which he would top the .300 mark. In 1907, he was reported to be wearing

shin guard A shin guard or shin pad, is a piece of equipment worn on the front of an athlete's shin to protect it from injury. These are commonly used in sports including association football, baseball, ice hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, cricket and moun ...

s similar to those that had been worn by

Roger Bresnahan Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee", was an American player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Bresnahan competed in MLB for the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago ...

before. This piece of equipment was rarely used in baseball at the time. After batting .250 in 1909, Hearne was sold to the

Newark Indians The Newark Sailors, later known as the Newark Indians, were a minor league baseball team in the early twentieth century. The team played its games at Wiedenmayer's Park in Newark, New Jersey. Newark played in the Eastern League between 1908 and 1 ...

for US$500. He played in a career-high 94 minor league games in 1910 before retiring from professional baseball.

Personal

Hughie Hearne was born in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

. Hearne died in 1932, at the age of 59, in Troy, New York. He was buried in St. Mary Cemetery. After his death, the ''

Schenectady Gazette ''The Daily Gazette'' is an independent, family-owned daily newspaper published in Schenectady, New York. ''The Daily Gazette'' also owns and operates ''The Amsterdam Recorder'', ''The Gloversville Leader-Herald'' and ''Your Niskayuna''. Histo ...

'' ran an obituary which stated that Hearne was a "well known baseball star of former days" and "one of the game's best catchers,""Old Time Ball Player is Dead"
''Schenectady Gazette'', September 23, 1932, p. 1. despite the fact that the most major league games he ever played in a season was 66 in

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hearne, Hughie 1873 births 1932 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Brooklyn Superbas players Albany Senators players Troy Washerwomen players Troy Trojans (minor league) players Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Newark Indians players Baseball players from Troy, New York