Came across this nice picture of former New York Yankee coach Jim Hegan along with his son Mike Hegan, who was also in the Bronx at the same time, so I figured why not make a 1974 "Special"? So here you go:
The
elder Hegan was a Major League player for 17 seasons, in addition to
three "lost" years serving in the military during Worl War II, playing
from 1941 through the 1960 season.
Over that time he was a
five-time All-Star while catching for the Cleveland Indians, catching
such Indian legends as Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, Mike Garcia and Early
Wynn.
When his playing days ended he went right into coaching,
first for the Chicago Cubs in 1960 before eventually moving on to the
Yanks where he served as bullpen coach, mentoring guys like Thurman
Munson and Rick Dempsey.
During his last year as a coach for
the Yankees he also had the opportunity to coach his son Mike, who came
back to the Bronx for a second stint after starting his career with them
between 1964 and 1967.
Hegan the younger put in a 12 year
career in the Big Leagues, playing between 1964 and 1977, generally as a
first baseman with some outfield work thrown in with the Yanks,
Pilots/Brewers and A's.
That's just about 30 years of playing time between the two, with almost as much coaching time added on as well!
A baseball family indeed!
