American baseball player (1873-1932)
Baseball player
Hugh Joseph Hearne (April 18, 1873 – September 22, 1932) was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Brooklyn Superbas from 1901 to 1903. Hearne stood at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) and weighed 182 lbs.[1]
Career
Hughie Hearne started playing baseball as early as 1896[2] and was with the New York State League's Albany Senators from 1899 to 1901.[3] In 1901, he started off hot at the plate and batted .380 to lead the entire league by 30 points.[4] He was then acquired by the Brooklyn Superbas.
Hearne made his major league debut on August 29 and spent the next two years with Brooklyn as a part-time catcher. In 1902, he played in a career-high 66 MLB games and batted .281.[1] In 1903, while batting .281 again, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles of the Eastern League. He played his last major league game on July 2.[1]
Hearne spent 1903 to 1909 with Baltimore. In 1905, he hit .302, the only season other than 1901 in which he would top the .300 mark.[3] In 1907, he was reported to be wearing shin guards similar to those that had been worn by Roger Bresnahan before.[5] This piece of equipment was rarely used in baseball at the time.
After batting .250 in 1909, Hearne was sold to the Newark Indians for US$500.[6] He played in a career-high 94 minor league games in 1910 before retiring from professional baseball.[3]
Personal
Hughie Hearne was born in Troy, New York.[1]
Hearne died in 1932, at the age of 59, in Troy, New York. He was buried in St. Mary Cemetery.[1] After his death, the Schenectady Gazette ran an obituary which stated that Hearne was a "well known baseball star of former days" and "one of the game's best catchers,"[7] despite the fact that the most major league games he ever played in a season was 66 in 1902.[1]
