Heffner entered professional baseball in 1929. After all or parts of four seasons with the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles, Heffner joined the New York Yankees for the 1934 season.[1] He spent four seasons with the Yanks as a part-time player before a trade to the St. Louis Browns afforded him an opportunity to play regularly. He appeared in more than 100 games from 1938 to 1941 with St. Louis, including regular stints at second base (1938; 1940–41) and shortstop (1939), before reverting to a reserve role. He finished his playing career with the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers in 1943–44. In 743 games over all or parts of 11 American League seasons (1934–44), Heffner batted .241 with six home runs and 610 hits.
In 1947, he began his managing career in the Browns' farm system, and he promptly won consecutive pennants in his first two seasons. He returned to the Major Leagues as a coach with the Athletics, now based in Kansas City, in 1958–60 and the Tigers in 1961. Heffner then spent two successful seasons managing the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, winning the 1962 league championship, before becoming third-base coach of the New York Mets in 1964–65.
Managing and coachingedit
In October 1965, he succeeded Dick Sisler as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Heffner was hired by longtime associate Bill DeWitt, the Reds' owner and general manager who was the front office boss of the Browns during Heffner's playing days.
The Reds were a first division finisher in 1965 and hopes were high for a pennant run the following year—especially after DeWitt added front-line starting pitcherMilt Pappas in a blockbuster trade with Baltimore involving former National Leaguemost valuable playerFrank Robinson. But while the Orioles roared to the AL pennant and world championship in 1966, the Reds never got on track under their new skipper. Heffner tried to convert all-star second baseman Pete Rose into a third baseman, only to draw the popular star's wrath. (Oddly, Rose would later willingly become a third baseman for Sparky Anderson). The Reds struggled to reach the .500 mark during the season's first three months, and finally peaked at 36–35 on June 28. Cincinnati then proceeded to lose 11 games in a row. They broke their losing streak in the last game before the All-Star break on July 10.
But it was too late to save Heffner's job. With Cincinnati in eighth place in the National League with a record of 37–46 (.446) on July 13, Heffner was released in favor of Dave Bristol, who was serving as his third-base coach.
heffner, donald, henry, heffner, february, 1911, august, 1989, american, second, baseman, coach, manager, major, league, baseball, born, rouzerville, pennsylvania, threw, batted, right, handed, listed, feet, inches, tall, pounds, second, baseman, managerborn, . Donald Henry Heffner February 8 1911 August 1 1989 was an American second baseman coach and manager in Major League Baseball Born in Rouzerville Pennsylvania he threw and batted right handed and was listed as 5 feet 10 inches 1 78 m tall and 155 pounds 70 kg Don HeffnerSecond baseman ManagerBorn 1911 02 08 February 8 1911Rouzerville Pennsylvania U S Died August 1 1989 1989 08 01 aged 78 Pasadena California U S Batted RightThrew RightMLB debutApril 17 1934 for the New York YankeesLast MLB appearanceApril 29 1944 for the Detroit TigersMLB statisticsBatting average 241Home runs6Runs batted in248Managerial record37 46Winning 446TeamsAs player New York Yankees 1934 1937 St Louis Browns 1938 1943 Philadelphia Athletics 1943 Detroit Tigers 1944 As manager Cincinnati Reds 1966 As coach Kansas City Athletics 1958 1960 Detroit Tigers 1961 New York Mets 1964 1965 California Angels 1967 1968 Career highlights and awardsWorld Series champion 1936 Contents 1 Player and coach 2 Managing and coaching 3 Personal life 4 References 5 External linksPlayer and coach edit nbsp Heffner in 1940 Heffner entered professional baseball in 1929 After all or parts of four seasons with the then minor league Baltimore Orioles Heffner joined the New York Yankees for the 1934 season 1 He spent four seasons with the Yanks as a part time player before a trade to the St Louis Browns afforded him an opportunity to play regularly He appeared in more than 100 games from 1938 to 1941 with St Louis including regular stints at second base 1938 1940 41 and shortstop 1939 before reverting to a reserve role He finished his playing career with the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers in 1943 44 In 743 games over all or parts of 11 American League seasons 1934 44 Heffner batted 241 with six home runs and 610 hits In 1947 he began his managing career in the Browns farm system and he promptly won consecutive pennants in his first two seasons He returned to the Major Leagues as a coach with the Athletics now based in Kansas City in 1958 60 and the Tigers in 1961 Heffner then spent two successful seasons managing the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League winning the 1962 league championship before becoming third base coach of the New York Mets in 1964 65 Managing and coaching editIn October 1965 he succeeded Dick Sisler as manager of the Cincinnati Reds Heffner was hired by longtime associate Bill DeWitt the Reds owner and general manager who was the front office boss of the Browns during Heffner s playing days The Reds were a first division finisher in 1965 and hopes were high for a pennant run the following year especially after DeWitt added front line starting pitcher Milt Pappas in a blockbuster trade with Baltimore involving former National League most valuable player Frank Robinson But while the Orioles roared to the AL pennant and world championship in 1966 the Reds never got on track under their new skipper Heffner tried to convert all star second baseman Pete Rose into a third baseman only to draw the popular star s wrath Oddly Rose would later willingly become a third baseman for Sparky Anderson The Reds struggled to reach the 500 mark during the season s first three months and finally peaked at 36 35 on June 28 Cincinnati then proceeded to lose 11 games in a row They broke their losing streak in the last game before the All Star break on July 10 But it was too late to save Heffner s job With Cincinnati in eighth place in the National League with a record of 37 46 446 on July 13 Heffner was released in favor of Dave Bristol who was serving as his third base coach Heffner never again managed in the Major Leagues although he spent 1967 68 as a California Angels coach and 1969 as manager of the Denver Bears of the American Association Personal life editHeffner died at age 78 in Pasadena California He was interred at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena References edit https www newspapers com article chattanooga daily times 42331791 External links editCareer statistics and player information from Baseball Reference Baseball library com John Duxbury ed The Baseball Register 1968 edition St Louis The Sporting News Sporting positions Preceded bySolly Hemus New York Mets third base coach1964 1965 Succeeded byWhitey Herzog Portals nbsp Biography nbsp Baseball Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Don Heffner amp oldid 1215395286, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
