Aaron Michael Heilman (born November 12, 1978) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

. Heilman was drafted by the New York Mets out of Notre Dame in 2001. He came up through the Mets system as a starting pitcher, but was converted to a relief pitcher in 2005.

High school years

Heilman was born in

Logansport, Indiana Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,366 at the 2020 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana at the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers, northwest of Kokomo. H ...

and attended Logansport High School, where he was a letterman in baseball. As a senior, he was a team M.V.P. and an All-State selection. Heilman graduated from Logansport High School in 1997.

College career

After a successful college career at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

, he was selected by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

in the first round of the 2001 amateur draft with the 18th overall pick. Heilman was a management information systems and philosophy major in the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. He was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

in the 55th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft and by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in the first round (31st overall) of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign either for either team.

Major League Baseball career

New York Mets

Heilman was selected by the Mets in the first round (18th overall) of the

2001 Major League Baseball Draft The 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round Selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban ...

. He signed and made his professional debut that year with the Class-A Advanced St. Lucie Mets. He pitched for the Double-A

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mirab ...

and Triple-A Norfolk Tides in 2002, and began the 2003 season with the Tides. Heilman made his major league debut at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

on June 26, 2003 in a 6-1 loss to the Florida Marlins. He posted an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

of 5.93 as a starter for 2003, 2004 and the beginning of 2005. Heilman's finest game came as a starter on April 15, 2005, when he made a start in place of the injured Kris Benson and pitched a one-hit

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. However, he was converted to a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

for the rest of 2005 and excelled with an ERA of only 2.18. In the second half of the 2005 season, he held a 0.68 ERA, leading the league. In Game 7 of the

2006 National League Championship Series The 2006 National League Championship Series (NLCS), the second round of the 2006 National League playoffs, began on October 12 and ended on October 19; it was scheduled to begin on October 11, but was postponed a day because of inclement weather ...

, Heilman surrendered a tie-breaking, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, putting St. Louis ahead 3-1. St. Louis would hold on to the lead to win the National League pennant, while Heilman suffered the loss for the Mets.

Seattle Mariners

After a dismal 2008 season, Heilman was traded to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

in a three team trade for

J. J. Putz Joseph Jason Putz (; born February 22, 1977) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks. High school an ...

Chicago Cubs

On January 28, 2009, the Mariners traded him to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

for Ronny Cedeño and Garrett Olson.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On November 19, 2009 Heilman was acquired by the Diamondbacks, in return for Scott Maine and Ryne White. He elected free agency on November 7, 2010. He re-signed with them on January 18, 2011. He was expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation. He was released on July 19, 2011.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies signed a minor league contract with Heilman on July 22, 2011. He was assigned to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He was released on August 20, 2011.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Heilman signed a minor league contract with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

on August 21, 2011, and was assigned to the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which opened ...

. He elected free agency on November 2, 2011.

Seattle Mariners

Heilman signed a minor league contract with the

on January 10, 2012, with an invite to Spring Training. He was released on April 1.

Texas Rangers

Heilman signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers on April 4, 2012 and was assigned to the Triple-A

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

. He elected free agency on November 2, 2012.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heilman, Aaron 1978 births Living people New York Mets players Chicago Cubs players Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball players from Indiana Major League Baseball pitchers Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players People from Logansport, Indiana St. Lucie Mets players Norfolk Tides players Binghamton Mets players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Indianapolis Indians players Round Rock Express players All-American college baseball players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players