Jay Heard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jay Heard |
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| Pitcher | |||
| Born: January 17, 1920 Athens, Georgia |
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| Died: November 18, 1999 (aged 79) Birmingham, Alabama |
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| Professional debut | |||
| NgL: 1945, for the Birmingham Black Barons | |||
| NPB: 1952, for the Hiroshima Carp | |||
| MLB: April 24, 1954, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| May 28, 1954, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 0–0 | ||
| Earned run average | 13.50 | ||
| Innings pitched | 3+1⁄3 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Jehosie "Jay" Heard (born January 17, 1920 – died November 18, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. He was born in Athens, Georgia. Jay Heard was a left-handed pitcher, which means he threw the ball with his left hand. He was about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 155 pounds.
Heard played in two games for the Baltimore Orioles in Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1954. He made history by becoming the very first African American player for the Orioles team in Baltimore.
Jay Heard's Early Career
Jay Heard started his baseball career in the Negro leagues. This was after he served in the United States Army during World War II. In the Negro leagues, he played for several teams. These included the Birmingham Black Barons, the Memphis Red Sox, and the Houston Eagles and New Orleans Eagles.
In 1952, when he was 32 years old, Jay Heard joined the minor leagues. These are professional baseball leagues below Major League Baseball. He had a great year, winning 20 games for the Victoria Tyees team. They were in a league called the Class A Western International League.
The next year, he moved up to a higher level of the minor leagues. This was the Open Classification Pacific Coast League. Heard continued to play well, winning 16 games for the Portland Beavers. Because of his strong performance, the Baltimore Orioles bought his contract. The Orioles were a new team in Baltimore, having just moved from St. Louis.
Playing for the Baltimore Orioles
Jay Heard was part of the first Baltimore Orioles team to play in the American League since 1902. He played in two games for the 1954 Orioles. In both games, he was a relief pitcher. A relief pitcher is a player who comes into the game after the starting pitcher. Both of his games were against the Chicago White Sox.
His first game was on April 24. He faced four batters and got all of them out. This was a great start!
However, his second game was more than a month later, on May 28. In this game, Heard gave up six hits and five runs. All of these runs were "earned," meaning they were not due to errors by his teammates. The biggest hit against him was a grand slam home run. This is when a batter hits a home run with all three bases loaded, scoring four runs at once. It was hit by Cass Michaels of the White Sox.
After these two games, Jay Heard returned to the minor leagues. He continued to pitch at high levels there until 1957.
See also
