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 My Site News: Masters of the Game - Dec. 2004 - Mike O'Hearn |
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Masters of the Game - Dec. 2004 - Mike O'Hearn
Masters of the Game - Dec. 2004 - Mike O'Hearn
A tribute to people involved in Masters Fastball in Ontario
Mike O'Hearn - " Just Keeps on Ticking "
Mike can't remember when he first put a ball glove on, but from the moment he did, he fell in love with the game. At age nine Mike played softball in a league of 12 and 13 years olds and won his first batting title and MVP award. The next summer a guy who'd seen Mike playing in the park with his friends asked if hed like to give baseball a try. The guys name was Norm Bryant and he ran the Toronto Greenwood Baseball League at Dundas and Greenwood in Toronto. He was also a scout for the Peterborough Petes of the OHA. He said it was a house league and that if Mike was good enough perhaps the following year he'd give him a tryout with his rep team. Mikes first and only game in the Toronto Greenwood League saw him belt two home runs and Norm immediately moved Mike up to the rep team. Mike started out as an outfielder, but Norm felt he was more suited to be a catcher. At age 13 Mike caught his Little League team to a Canadian Championship. Mikes team was supposed to represent Canada and go play in Williamsport, Pennsylvania at the Little League World Series, but because of rain delays at the Canadian Championships they couldn't wait for the eventual winner so they sent the second place team from out west (Trail, B.C.) Mike watched the Little League World Series on television and Trail got their butts kicked by Taiwan. Mike must have wondered to himself how his team might have done against Taiwan. One of Mikes fondest memories of catching came in the all-Ontario Midget Championships when, with the bases loaded against his team and none out, he proceeded to pick off all three runners on three successive pitches to get his team out of the inning. During the same tournament he also blocked the plate on three successive plays to prevent a run from scoring, and after being run over for the third time the umpire helped Mike to his feet and said "that is the worst butt kicking I've ever seen a catcher take". It was after that tournament that the scouts (Mets, Tigers and Expos) started coming around to watch Mike play. The Expos decided that Mikes play deserved a tryout. They didn't question his heart, but felt he was too small to sign to a pro contract.
By the time Mike turned twenty he was playing for two or three local teams.
A semi-pro baseball team from Buffalo offered him $100.00 to come down every weekend to play a game for them, but he turned it down, though in those days that was good money.
Besides ball Mike played football, ran cross-country and captained the soccer, basketball, and volleyball teams in high school (Eastern Commerce). He also threw the javelin one year and without practicing a single time he threw it 3 times at the preliminaries and qualified for the city finals at the Canadian National Exhibition where again he threw it 3 more times and managed to finish 6th overall. In 1972-73 he was named Athlete of the Year for his high school where his picture is still on display on the school wall. Mike played ball with Al Sims who was Bobby Orr's defense partner in Boston for 5 years. Mike also played in the Toronto Ball Hockey League when there were only 10 teams in Ontario (I understand there are now 100's). During a game, NHL bad boy Steve Durbano almost killed Mike with a body check when he sent Mike head first into the boards, Mike didnt even come out of the game.
Of course by the time he was twenty and given the reckless abandon he played every sport with the wear and tear on his body was becoming too much. His knees were shot and his doctor strongly urged that at the very least he give up catching. He tried playing 3rd base in the junior baseball league in Leaside, but when he fired the first ball hit to him into the right field stands, he felt it was over, he retired at age 20. Three years later a friend called and asked if hed like to play softball on a team in a "B" league in west Toronto. Catching wasn't an option so he learned to play second base. Mike hit .425 after not playing for 3 years and the love affair with ball was rekindled. One of the guys on the team said he should be playing at Dieppe Park which was recognized as one of the best softball leagues in the province and said he'd get him a tryout. He made the team and during his first week in the league Mike soon realized what top notch softball pitching was all about. He struggled that first year, having never even seen, never mind face, a good rise ball before. He hit .210 and heard rumours that some of his teammates wanted to bring in someone else to take his position at second base. Fortunately the guy managing the team saw something in Mike and said he was going to stick with him another year. The next year Mike developed a unique batting style that he still uses today and hit .354. He came second in league batting average missing the batting title by 2 percentage points and was named all-star second baseman in what was regarded by most as the best league in the province. Nobody questioned his ability to play at that level again. Mike alternated between Senior and Intermediate ball for the next twelve years and in 1991 he again retired, tired of the constant pain in his body and the travel that intermediate and senior ball demand.
Gary Latchford called Mike the following winter and convinced him to come out the following spring to meet the guys on a team he ran called The Scarborough Blues. They played in a less competitive league, and only went in one or two tournaments a year. Mikes retirement was short lived as he liked the guys and with a reduced schedule he signed on. In 1996 Gary and Mike were asked to play with the Cold Springs Cats on a team that was forming to play in the new Masters Division of the OASA. The Cats won it that year and although they both played well for Cold Springs ( Mike ended up hitting 3rd or 4th in the lineup for them most of the year), they were not invited back in 1997. Gary and Mike decided to start their own Masters team and called it The Scarborough Blues which was a spin off of the club team they ran. All winter Mike recruited players, meeting with potential players in bars, parking lots, in their living rooms (mostly trying to convince their wives to let them play), and even had a chance meeting on a plane to Florida where he convinced Peter Kostin to give up coaching 1st base for the Toronto Gators and come play for the Blues. Thankfully it was his wife that finally said "I don't mind you playing again Peter as long as it's with Mike". They went out two straight that year (1997) in Cobourg, and once more packing it in crossed Mikes mind. Chris Giamou (his second baseman) passed Mike in the parking lot in Cobourg and said "Hearny, we had the best team on paper, no way we should have gone out two straight. If you do this again next year count me in, there's some unfinished business to take care of. " That was all Mike needed to hear, he went back to the drawing board and tinkered with the lineup. In 1998 his team went all the way to the finals (in Mitchell) undefeated, but lost 2-1 to Cold Springs and then fell apart in the "if" game. In 1999 they didn't allow that to happen again, and won it all in Port Perry. In 2000 they repeated as Ontario champions (in Mitchell) and this time decided to go to Nova Scotia to take a shot at the Eastern Canadians. They went undefeated and won that as well. In 2001 it all came unraveled and in 2002 instead of regrouping, Gary and Mike folded the team, partly due to some age rule changes made by the OASA. Mike didn't play Masters in 2002, and just stuck to some local ball in the town league in Richmond Hill.
In 2003 and 2004 Mike once again answered the call when Cold Springs said they could use some help although he was close to hooking up with the Stoney Creek Gators in 03. Of course bringing Mike Racioppo along with him to the Cats was a good move. All he did was win the batting title at the Masters Eliminations for them in 2003. They ended up coming second in 2003 and 3rd in 2004 and added a 2nd place finish at the North Bay Senior tournament Labour Day weekend in 2004.
Who knows what 2005 holds for Mike OHearn ? His retirement from the game never seems to last, so why fight it. Mike says I'll probably die with my spikes on, Mikes wife says, she dreads the day he can no longer play and so does Mike.
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