Shane Heams

Heams played baseball at Bedford High School in Temperance, Michigan, where he was named to the first team of the All-Great Lakes League team in 1993 and 1994 as an outfielder.[1][2] After graduation, he was drafted in the 41st round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft by the Seattle Mariners.[3]

He played 22 games in the outfield for the minor league AZL Mariners in 1995, finishing the year with a .197 batting average. In 1996, the Mariners converted Heams to a pitcher,[4] where he appeared in 30 games in relief in the Arizona League in 1996 and 1997.[3] On March 31, 1998, Heams announced his retirement,[5] but came out of retirement shortly thereafter and signed with the Detroit Tigers in April.[6] He spent the remainder of the year with the Jamestown Jammers, ending the season with a 3.86 ERA in 24 games.[3] He pitched for the West Michigan Whitecaps in 1999, where he was named to the Midwest League's East Division all-star team.[1][7]

In November 1999, he was added to the Tigers' 40-man roster,[8] with Heams signing a one-year contract with Detroit in February 2000.[9] He pitched for both the Double-A Jacksonville Suns of the Southern League and the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens of the International League in 2000, recording a 2.59 ERA with Double-A Jacksonville in 39 games, but allowed 12 earned runs in 9.2 innings with Toledo.[3]

On August 23, Heams was named to the United States national baseball team to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympics.[10] At the games, he pitched against Japan, The Netherlands, and Cuba.[11] Heams earned a gold medal when the United States defeated Cuba in the finals.[12]

Heams split the 2001 season between Double-A Erie and Toledo, appearing in 50 games across the two levels.[3] He resigned with Detroit on a one-year deal the following February,[13] but he was designated for assignment and claimed by the Boston Red Sox on April 2.[14] He pitched for three of the Red Sox' minor league clubs, including the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox,[3] but was traded to the Colorado Rockies in July.[15] He appeared in nine games with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox before the season ended.[3] In November, Heams signed with the Cincinnati Reds,[16] but asked for his release after declining to take part in extended spring training.[17]

After sitting out the 2003 season, Heams signed with the independent Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in April 2004.[18] He appeared in 95 games in 2004 and 2005 for Somerset, including 12 games as a starter, before ending his playing career.[3]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Shane Heams". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.