Jack Heidemann

Who is Jack Heidemann?

Jack Seale Heidemann is a former right-handed Major League Baseball shortstop who played from 1969 to 1977 with the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers. He attended Brenham High School. He is also the uncle of Brett Bordes, a former minor league pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He is also related to Bordes' father, Charles Bordes - who played minor league baseball - and grandfather, Bill Cutler, who is the former president of the Pacific Coast League.

Originally drafted 11th overall by the Indians in 1967, he made his debut on May 2, 1969 at the age of 19. The sixth youngest player that year in the Majors, he appeared in three games, collected three at-bats and hit .000 in that time.

In 1970, as the ninth youngest player in the league, Heidemann-at 6 ft 0 in and 178 pounds-took the starting job at shortstop away from Larry Brown. As the team's starter, he hit only .211 with six home runs, although he did collect a hit in his first at-bat of the season. He was the only starting player not to hit 10 home runs for the 1970 Indians. He kept his job through the 1971 season, for the most part. In 81 games that year, he hit only .208 with no home runs and nine RBI. This former first round draft pick obviously wasn't living up to what was expected of him. He was injured for some time during the 1971 season, suffering from a concussion and knee injury. He suffered the concussion on May 17, when Tommy McCraw hit a 140 foot pop fly that should have been an out. Instead, Heidemann, Vada Pinson and John Lowenstein collided in the outfield, and McCraw actually got an inside the park home run.