# Bert Heffernan

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bert_Heffernan
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bert_Heffernan.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Heffernan
> Source revision: 1356159709
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Bertram Alexander Heffernan** (born March 3, 1965) is an American former professional [baseball](/source/Baseball) player who played for in 8 games for the [Seattle Mariners](/source/Seattle_Mariners) of [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) (MLB) in 1992. Heffernan was an All-American catcher in college for the [Clemson Tigers](/source/Clemson_Tigers_baseball). He played for the [Sinon Bulls](/source/Sinon_Bulls) in the [Chinese Professional Baseball League](/source/Chinese_Professional_Baseball_League) in 1997 and 1998.

## Amateur career

A native of [Centereach, New York](/source/Centereach,_New_York), Heffernan began playing catcher at 8 years old.[1] He played [college baseball](/source/College_baseball) for [Clemson](/source/Clemson_Tigers_baseball) from 1985 to 1988. He ranks highly in many program statistics, finishing his career third in hits (335), fifth in doubles (63), tied for seventh in triples (14), and sixth with 507 total bases. Heffernan excelled his senior campaign, hitting .337 with 93 runs scored, 18 doubles, 21 stolen bases and 62 walks to just 27 strikeouts, earning him a first team [All-American](/source/College_Baseball_All-America_Team) selection from the *[American Baseball Coaches Association](/source/American_Baseball_Coaches_Association)*.[2][3]

In 1986, he played [collegiate summer baseball](/source/Collegiate_summer_baseball) with the [Orleans Cardinals](/source/Orleans_Cardinals) of the [Cape Cod Baseball League](/source/Cape_Cod_Baseball_League).[4][5] In 1987, he was named to the [U.S. collegiate national team](/source/U.S._collegiate_national_team) that competed in the [Pan Am Games](/source/1987_Pan_American_Games), though he did not participate in the tournament.[6][7]

In 2002, he was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame.[3]

## Professional career

Heffernan was drafted by the [Milwaukee Brewers](/source/Milwaukee_Brewers) in the 9th round of the [1988 Major League Baseball draft](/source/1988_Major_League_Baseball_draft) and signed on June 2, 1988. He was a [Pioneer League](/source/Pioneer_League_(baseball)) All-Star with the [Helena Brewers](/source/Helena_Brewers) that summer and a [Midwest League](/source/Midwest_League) All-Star in 1989. The Brewers traded Heffernan to the [Los Angeles Dodgers](/source/Los_Angeles_Dodgers) on December 20, 1990 for pitcher [Darren Holmes](/source/Darren_Holmes_(baseball)). The Seattle Mariners selected Heffernan in the Triple-A portion of the 1991 [Rule 5 Draft](/source/Rule_5_draft).[6][8]

Heffernan made his MLB debut on May 13, 1992, starting at catcher, and hit a double, his only MLB hit. He was sent down later in May but returned to the majors to play one final game on June 4.[9][6]

Heffernan played in the [San Francisco Giants](/source/San_Francisco_Giants) minor league system in 1993, also suffering torn ankle ligaments.[10] Unable to find a catching job in 1994, he worked as a doorman at a restaurant in [Boston](/source/Boston). He was a [replacement player](/source/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_replacement_players) with the [Montreal Expos](/source/Montreal_Expos) in [spring training](/source/Spring_training) in 1995 during the [ongoing players strike](/source/1994%E2%80%9395_Major_League_Baseball_strike). He played for the Triple-A [Ottawa Lynx](/source/Ottawa_Lynx), also serving as a minor league coach.[11] He returned to the Lynx in 1996, then played two seasons for the [Sinon Bulls](/source/Sinon_Bulls) in the [Chinese Professional Baseball League](/source/Chinese_Professional_Baseball_League) in [Taiwan](/source/Taiwan).[10] Heffernan was also a coach for the [Cape Fear Crocs](/source/Cape_Fear_Crocs) in 1998 and [Jupiter Hammerheads](/source/Jupiter_Hammerheads) in 1999, both Expos minor league affiliates.[12][13] Heffernan was a [player-coach](/source/Player-coach) for the [Long Island Ducks](/source/Long_Island_Ducks) of the independent [Atlantic League](/source/Atlantic_League_of_Professional_Baseball) in 2000.[14][10]

## Personal life

Heffernan also competed in football and wrestling in high school.[15]

## References

1. Blackman, Sam; Bradley, Bob; Kriese, Chuck; Vandervort, Will (2017-08-15). [*Clemson: Where the Tigers Play*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Kl-CDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22bert+heffernan%22&pg=PA1928). Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-68358-040-9. "I don't know how I got put behind the plate," Heffernan said. "But, I've been there since I was eight years old. There's always something going on if you're the catcher. That's what makes it so much fun. I loved it."

1. Cavadi, Wayne. ["Clemson baseball: We picked an all-time starting lineup of Tigers greats"](https://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/2019-02-27/clemson-baseball-we-picked-all-time-starting-lineup-tigers-greats). *NCAA Baseball*. Retrieved 4 March 2021.

1. ["2002 Clemson Hall of Fame Class"](https://clemsontigers.com/2002-clemson-hall-of-fame-class/). *[Clemson Tigers](/source/Clemson_Tigers)*. 2002-09-10. Retrieved 2025-11-11.

1. Gray, John (June 6, 1986). ["Play Ball: Cape League Underway"](https://snow-library.com/viewer/4571?medianame=1986_thecapecodder_vol41_issue41_orleans_000028). *The Cape Codder*. p. 28.

1. Carey, Frank (August 22, 1986). ["Looking Back on the Cape League"](https://snow-library.com/viewer/4595?medianame=1986_thecapecodder_vol41_issue63_orleans_000031). *The Cape Codder*. p. 31.

1. [*Seattle Mariners 1993 Media Guide*](https://archive.org/details/seattle-mariners-1993-media-guide-c/page/205/). 1993. p. 205.

1. ["Overall Statistics for the 1987 Collegiate National Team"](https://img.mlbstatic.com/opprops-images/image/upload/opprops/bx88gc9qhtscyfb9mywg.pdf). *[USA Baseball](/source/USA_Baseball)*

1. ["Dodgers deal for catcher"](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/12/20/Dodgers-deal-for-catcher/6992661669200/). *UPI*. Retrieved 2025-11-11.

1. ["Bert Heffernan 1992 Batting Game Logs"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=heffebe01&t=b&year=1992). *Baseball Reference*. Retrieved 2025-11-11.

1. ["Bert Heffernan Minor, CPBL & Independent Leagues Statistics"](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=heffer002ber). *Baseball Reference*. Retrieved 2025-11-11.

1. Scanlan, Wayne (1995-09-13). ["'Coach' gets one more kick at the can, and makes it a beauty"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ottawa-citizen-coach-gets-one-more/184739783/). *The Ottawa Citizen*. p. B1. Retrieved 2025-11-11.

1. [*Montreal Expos 1998 Media Guide*](https://archive.org/details/montreal-expos-1998-media-guide-c/page/298/). 1998. p. 298.

1. [*Montreal Expos 1999 Media Guide*](https://archive.org/details/montreal-expos-1999-media-guide-c/page/309/). 1999. p. 309.

1. Herrmann, Mark (May 3, 2000). ["Player/Coach Heffernan Buoys Ducks"](https://web.archive.org/web/20201124213507/https://www.newsday.com/sports/player-coach-heffernan-buoys-ducks-1.283487). *Newsday*. Archived from [the original](https://www.newsday.com/sports/player-coach-heffernan-buoys-ducks-1.283487) on November 24, 2020. Retrieved 2025-11-11.

1. Knight, Bill (1990-04-16). ["Hustle, talent help Diablos' catcher move up baseball ladder"](https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/436085846/). *El Paso Times*. Retrieved 2025-11-11.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bert Heffernan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Heffernan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Heffernan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.