Call him the real-life Crash Davis.
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In the bottom of the seventh inning with the bases loaded and one out, the 37-year-old Hessman turned on a 2-0 pitch and sent the ball well over the wall in left field to give his Toledo Mud Hens an 8-6 lead over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Monday night.
The home run broke a 432-homer tie Hessman had shared with Buzz Arlett, a star from the 1920s and “30s who played primarily for the Phillies” farm teams.
Hessman has played in a total of 109 major league games for the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets over the past 12 years, according to The Associated Press, but hasn’t gotten a call-up since 2010. “I’ve had a lot of support from the organization and my teammates, and being able to do it at home, I was glad I was able to do it for the fans”.
Hessman was selected by Atlanta in the 15th round of the 1996 draft.
The Stew applauds Hessman for his accomplishment.
And, more than anything, he recalls Hessman’s passion for the game.
[Check out Big League Stew on Tumblr for even more baseball awesomeness.]. While Toledo failed to three-peat in 2007, Hessman would hit his 68th home run as a Mud Hen, passing Erve Beck as the franchise’s all-time home run leader. But in 20 years, he has just 223 big-league at-bats over five different seasons, hitting just. He has hit 20 house runs or extra in a minor league season 13 occasions.
“Not many in this day and age get to play this long”, he said.
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“I didn’t set out to break the record this year, but I said if I could stay healthy, there would be an opportunity to get to that number”, Hessman said to mlb.com. Regardless, in route to becoming a minor league legend, Mike “King” Hessman has officially claimed his throne at the top of the all time affiliated minor league home run list.
