Michael Steven Hessman (born March 5, 1978) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. He is currently a hitting coach for the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

. He played in the MLB for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, and

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 ...

, and in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) for the

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...

. Hessman holds the all-time record for

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 ...

home runs, when he hit his 259th on June 30, 2014, breaking

Ollie Carnegie Oliver Angelo Carnegie (June 29, 1899 r 1898– October 4, 1976) was an Italian American professional baseball player whose playing career spanned 15 seasons. Over that time, Carnegie played in the minor leagues with the Class-B Flint Vehicles ...

's record set in 1945. In 2015, he broke

Buzz Arlett Russell Loris Arlett (January 3, 1899 – May 16, 1964), also known as Buzz Arlett, was an American baseball player, sometimes called "the Babe Ruth of the minor leagues." Like Ruth, Arlett was a large man, and , who began his career as a pitch ...

's record for the most career minor league home runs, hitting his 433rd on August 3, 2015.

Professional career

Hessman was originally drafted out of Mater Dei High School in the 15th round (452nd overall) by the

in the 1996 MLB draft. He spent eight years in the Braves organization before making his Major League debut on August 22, 2003. His first major league

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...

was a

pinch-hit In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

on August 26, 2003, off

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 ...

Mike Stanton. Hessman signed a minor league contract with the

on January 7, 2005. He played for the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate, the

, for the whole season, and helped them win the

championship for the first time in 38 years. Hessman batted .214 with 28 home runs and 74 RBI. He spent the entire 2006 season with the Mud Hens, contributing to the Mud Hens' second consecutive Governors' Cup. Though he hit 24 home runs that season, he hit just .165. Hessman played 117 games for the Mud Hens in 2007, and hit .254 with 31 home runs and 101 RBI. On June 1, he hit his 68th career home run with the Mud Hens, breaking Erve Beck's 107-year old franchise record. Hessman also appeared in 17 games with the Tigers in 2007, hitting .235 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI. On August 28, 2007, Hessman was named the International League Most Valuable Player, and joined

Phil Hiatt Phillip Farrell Hiatt (; born May 1, 1969) is a retired Major League Baseball utility player. Hiatt played college baseball at Louisiana Tech University. Hiatt played for three different major league ball clubs during his career: the Kansas City ...

(1996),

Tim Teufel Timothy Shawn Teufel (born July 7, 1958) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and current coach. He played Major League Baseball from to , most notably as a member of the New York Mets with whom he won a world championship ...

(1983), and

Joe Lis Joseph Anthony Lis (August 15, 1946 – October 17, 2010), was an American professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Minnesota Twins (–), Cleveland Indians (–), and Sea ...

(1976) as the only Mud Hens to win the award. Hessman began the 2008 season with Toledo. On July 16, 2008, he was named to the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Despite missing an entire month of the minor league season, Hessman hit 34 home runs for the Mud Hens in 2008. He also appeared in 12 games for the Tigers, and hit .296 with five home runs and seven RBI. On September 4, 2009, Hessman played all nine positions while with the Mud Hens. He started at catcher and ended as the pitcher, blowing the save and taking the loss. In total, he hit .217 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI in 2009, and became a free agent at the end of the season. On December 8, 2009, Hessman signed a minor league deal with the

. The Mets assigned Hessman to the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, where he hit .274 with 18 home runs and 58 RBI in 64 games. He also appeared in 32 games for the Mets in 2010, mostly as a pinch-hitter, and batted .127 with one home run and six RBI. Mike Hessman fielding on October 3, 2010

Mike Hessman fielding on October 3, 2010

On November 10, 2010, Hessman was outrighted by the Mets, but refused the assignment and became a free agent. Hessman signed with the

for the 2011 season. He appeared in 48 games for Orix, batting .192 with 6 home runs and 14 RBI. In 2012, Hessman played with the

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, Triple-A affiliate of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, and hit .231 with 35 home runs and 78 RBI in 123 games. In late November 2012, the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

signed Hessman to a minor league deal. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

, and played the entire 2013 season with the team, batting .240 with 25 home runs and 56 RBI. Hessman rejoined the Tigers organization in late 2013, and on June 30, 2014, while playing with Toledo, hit his 259th International League home run, setting the career record for that league. Hessman hit .248 in 116 games with Toledo that season, along with 28 home runs and 64 RBI. In the offseason, he played in 14 games for the

Tigres de Aragua The Tigres de Aragua ( en, Aragua Tigers) is a baseball team that plays in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League and represents the state of Aragua. Founded in 1965, the Tigres plays its home games at the Estadio José Pérez Colmenares i ...

of the

Venezuelan Winter League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

, as well as 6 games for the

Tomateros de Culiacán The Tomateros de Culiacán ( en, Culiacán Tomato Growers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Culiacán, Sinaloa. The ''Tomateros'' have won thirteen league titles and two Caribbean World Series in and . The ...

of the

Mexican Pacific Winter League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

. On August 3, 2015, while playing for the Mud Hens, Hessman hit his 433rd career home run – a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

– off

Dustin McGowan Dustin Michael McGowan (born March 24, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, and Miami Marlins. Professional career Toronto Blue Jays ...

of the

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the ...

, setting a new minor league baseball record for the most home runs in a career, surpassing the 78-year-old record set by

of the Oakland Oaks in 1937. Hessman is one of only six players in history to hit over 400 home runs in the minor leagues. On November 28, 2015, Hessman announced his retirement.

Post-playing career

On December 3, 2015, Hessman was named the hitting coach for the Short-Season A

Connecticut Tigers The Norwich Sea Unicorns are a baseball team located in Norwich, Connecticut. From 2010 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They play th ...

for the 2016 season. He was named the hitting coach for the Class A

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpark. ...

for the 2017 season, and coached the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was established ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

after the regular season. In 2018, Hessman was the hitting coach for the

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

. Hessman served as a hitting coach for the

beginning with the 2019 season. On June 12, 2021, Hessman was promoted to assistant hitting coach for the

References

External links

Mud Hens pageMinor league baseball page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessman, Mike 1978 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan Atlanta Braves players Baseball coaches from California Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Baseball players from California Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Danville 97s players Danville Braves players Detroit Tigers coaches Detroit Tigers players Greenville Braves players Gulf Coast Braves players Gulf Coast Mets players Louisville Bats players Macon Braves players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball third basemen Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Minor league baseball coaches Myrtle Beach Pelicans players New York Mets players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in baseball Orix Buffaloes players Richmond Braves players Toledo Mud Hens players International League MVP award winners American expatriate baseball players in Australia