Jehosie "Jay" Heard (January 17, 1920 – November 18, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. A native of Athens, Georgia, he was a left-handed pitcher who stood tall and weighed . He pitched two games in Major League Baseball for the Baltimore Orioles, becoming the franchise's first African American player in Baltimore. Heard began his pro career in the Negro leagues after serving in the United States Army during World War II. During his career in the Negro leagues, he pitched for the

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pres ...

Memphis Red Sox The Memphis Red Sox were an American Negro league baseball team that was active from 1920 to 1959. Originally named the Barber College Baseball Club, the team was initially owned and operated by Arthur P. Martin, a local Memphis barber. In the la ...

Houston Eagles The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. They were owned by Abe and Effa Manley. History Formation The Newark Eagles were formed in 1936 when the Newark Dod ...

and

New Orleans Eagles The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. They were owned by Abe and Effa Manley. History Formation The Newark Eagles were formed in 1936 when the Newark Dodg ...

. In 1952, at age 32, he joined the organized

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

, winning 20 games for the

Victoria Tyees The Victoria Tyees were a minor league baseball team based in Victoria, British Columbia. They originally played in the Class B (baseball), Class B level Northwest International League in 1919. From 1952 to 1954, a team of the same name played in th ...

of the Class A Western International League.Minor league statistics
from Baseball Reference Promoted the following season to the top level of the minors, the Open Classification

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

, Heard won 16 games for the Portland Beavers. The Orioles, newly transplanted to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

as the former St. Louis Browns, purchased Heard's contract that winter. Heard was a member of the first Baltimore team to play in the American League since . He made two appearances for the 1954 Orioles as a relief pitcher, both times against the Chicago White Sox. In his April 24 debut, he faced four batters and retired all of them. But in his second game, more than a month later on May 28, Heard allowed six

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and five runs, all

earned Earning can refer to: * Labour (economics) *Earnings of a company *Merit Merit may refer to: Religion * Merit (Christianity) * Merit (Buddhism) * Punya (Hinduism) * Imputed righteousness in Reformed Christianity Companies and brands * Merit ...

, in two

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

. A

grand slam home run In baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with bases loaded, all three bases occupied by baserunners ("bases loaded"), thereby scoring four run (baseball), runs—the most possible in one play. According to ''The Dickson Baseball Dictionary'', t ...

by Chicago's light-hitting Cass Michaels was the most damaging blow.1954-5-28 box score from Retrosheet
/ref> He then returned to the minors, where he pitched at the upper levels through 1957.

References

External links

an
Seamheads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heard, Jay 1920 births 1999 deaths African-American baseball players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Athens, Georgia Birmingham Black Barons players Havana Sugar Kings players Leones del Caracas players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Red Sox players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New Orleans Eagles players Portland Beavers players Seattle Rainiers players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Victoria Tyees players United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century African-American sportspeople American expatriate baseball players in Cuba American expatriate baseball players in Colombia Charleston Senators players

See also

References

External links