Val Raymond Heim (November 4, 1920 – November 21, 2019) was a
left fielder who played in
Major League Baseball during the season. Listed at , , he batted
left-handed and threw
right-handed.
Born in
Plymouth, Wisconsin, Heim was one of many baseball players whose careers were interrupted by
World War II. Heim was signed by the
Chicago White Sox in 1940 and immediately was assigned to their
minor league
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 ...
system. He posted a combined .328
batting average for two teams in 1941, gaining a promotion to the White Sox late in 1942.
In 1942, Heim hit .200 (9-for-45) with six
runs and seven
runs batted in for Chicago in thirteen games, including one
stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
and a .294
on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
. He joined the
U.S. Navy at the end of the season.
[
Following his military discharge, Heim played in 1946 and 1948 in the White Sox minor league system, but he never appeared in a major league game again. In a five-year minor league career, he batted .285 and hit 35 home runs in 570 games. Following the death of Tom Jordan, he was recognized as the oldest living major league ballplayer. Heim died November 21, 2019, in his hometown of Superior, Nebraska.]
References
External links
:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heim, Val
Major League Baseball left fielders
Chicago White Sox players
Jonesboro White Sox players
Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players
Shreveport Sports players
Waterloo Hawks (baseball) players
Waterloo White Hawks players
West Palm Beach Indians players
Baseball players from Wisconsin
People from Plymouth, Wisconsin
United States Navy personnel of World War II
Military personnel from Wisconsin
1920 births
2019 deaths