Joseph Carl Hietpas (born May 1, 1979) is a United States former

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), ...

player. Hietpas attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, Illinois. In 2004, Hietpas was called up to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

once the roster expanded in September. He suffered an injury during batting practice one day, which forced him to be able to only play in one game, October 3, 2004, against the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. He came into the game as a ninth inning substitute for

Todd Zeile Todd Edward Zeile (; born September 9, 1965) is an American former professional baseball third baseman, catcher, and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played sixteen seasons, from 1989 to 2004, for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago ...

. Because the Mets won the game, 8–1, the bottom half of the final inning was never played, and Hietpas did not receive an at-bat. In that game, he was a

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 ...

, but after the 2006 season, converted to

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. In 2007, he appeared in 27 games and had a 2.47

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

for the High-A

St. Lucie Mets The St. Lucie Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and play their home games at Clover Park. The Mets have been members ...

. Hietpas played his final season of baseball for the Double-A

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mira ...

in 2008. He later became a real estate lawyer based in St. Louis, Missouri.

References

External links

1979 births Living people Baseball players from Wisconsin Major League Baseball catchers Northwestern Wildcats baseball players St. Lucie Mets players Norfolk Tides players New York Mets players Binghamton Mets players Sportspeople from Appleton, Wisconsin Missouri lawyers Brooklyn Cyclones players Capital City Bombers players Kingsport Mets players Peoria Saguaros players Washington University School of Law alumni {{US-baseball-catcher-1970s-stub