Skip to main content

Card #220 - Jim Hearn - Pitcher: New York Giants

 Today's story has a twist that you do not hear about very often.


Jim Hearn's career started off like many of his era. He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent just before the 1942 season. He spent 1942 in Columbus, Georgia, with the Red Birds of the Southern Atlantic League. He then spent 1943-46 in the Army. He came back late in the season to the Cardinals farm system, and in 1947 he made the major league team. He had two decent seasons as a starter for the Cardinals, but in 1949 he bounced between AAA and the Majors. In 1950, he only appeared in 6 games and compiled a 10.00 ERA before the Cardinals put him on waivers.

He was signed by the New York Giants, and something really clicked in for him. Between 1950-1952, Hearn compiled an outstanding 42-19 record and was a key part to the Giants winning the 1951 pennant. Hearn was elected to the All-Star Game in 1952. Then it all turned south.

He stayed with the Giants for four more seasons, but never had winning season again. In October of 1956, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Stu Miller. 

With the Phillies, he was a bullpen guy. He won 10 games and only lost 4 in two seasons. However, in 1959 he only pitched in 6 games, and was cut from the team, mostly ending his career.

I say mostly because on May 10, Hearn gave up 2 runs in relief to the Pittsburgh Pirates, giving them the lead. The game was then suspended to be completed on a later date. 12 days later, Hearn was cut from the team. The game resumed in July, the Pirates won, and Hearn was credited with the loss.

Overall, Hearn appeared in 396 games, winning 109 and losing 89. He had a career ERA of 3.81 with 63 complete games, ten shutouts and eight saves.

The back of Hearn's card is a bit different than the others as it doesn't have the player telling a story. It's just a brief encapsulation of his last few years as a Giant.


After his career, Hearn moved to Atlanta an opened up a golf school (now closed and replaced with a public safety building). He passed away in 1998 at the age of 77 in Boca Grande, Florida.  He is buried in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Card #170 - Carl Erskine: Pitcher - Brooklyn Dodgers

I have an admitted soft spot for Carl Erskine. He has been a family friend for decades, and is my sister's Godfather. Also, as far as I know, he's the only Major League Baseball player born in the same city as I was.  Before we get into the career recap, I need to talk about this card. Talk about doing a guy dirty. Most of the cards up to this point have looked mostly like photos, maybe with a little "1950's Photoshop" enhancement. Carl's card looks like it was hand drawn at 4:45 on a Friday before a holiday weekend. Also, has anyone been noticing how many cards have had the same or very similar backgrounds? From something I read a while ago, I believe it was said that Shibe Park in Philadelphia was used as a fairly generic background for many cards in this set. While serving in the Navy in 1945, Erskine signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, there was a rule that teams couldn't sign active military. When he left the Navy in 1946, several teams pursued...
Post a Comment
Read more

Card #21 - Don Hoak - Infield: Brooklyn Dodgers

Just looking at Hoak's major league stats, you might think he came to baseball later than others of the era. Hoak broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 at the "ripe old" age of 26. However, he had been toiling away in the Dodgers minor league system since 1947 (after a 2-year stint with the Navy as well). Sidetrack: most of the cards we've seen so far have looked like actual photographs of the players over a background painting. Something about Houk's card has an "uncanny valley" feel to it. As though the uniform was painted on over the top of a different picture. I'll spoil the fact that my next subject is one that's obviously a painting, and not a very good one. In his two seasons with the Dodgers, he split time with Jackie Robinson at third base. That's a tough act to break into, but Houk performed decently well. In fact, he was the third baseman when the Dodgers won Game 7 over the New York Yankees - the only postseason game in Jacki...
Post a Comment
Read more

Card #26 - Virgil Trucks - Pitcher: Chicago White Sox

 This one was a really fun card to research. Virgil had some truly incredible moments in his career. His card has one of my favorite baseball jokes on the back, which might not actually be his. Plus, this card is able to tell a story about how kids used to store baseball cards. Let's get into his career first of all. He's seen some things Virgil Trucks (nickname "Fire" which is perfect) came to baseball a little later than most players. He signed in 1938 as an amateur free agent with the Detroit Tigers at the age of 21. It took him three seasons (and probably World War II) for him to make the major leagues. He only pitched 1 game in 1941, but in 1942 he solidified his role as a starting pitcher by going 14-8 with a 2.78 ERA. He had a similar season in 1943 16-10 with a 2.84 ERA. At this point the US Navy called, and Trucks missed the next two seasons. He was discharged from the Navy just 2 weeks before the 1945 World Series began, and Major League Baseball allowed him...
Post a Comment
Read more