Mike Hessman batted .188 in 109 major league games and never played more than 32 games in one big league season between 2003 and 2010.
He’s now 36 years old, playing for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, and he hasn’t been in Major League Baseball in four years.
That said, he now can call himself a home run king of the minor leagues.
Hessman hit his 259th career home run in the International League on Monday night in Indianapolis, breaking the previous record set by Oliver Carnegie in the 1940s.
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Sure, breaking this record shows Hessman has been in the minors for a little too long. That said, it exemplifies his persistence and, of course, power. After all, Hessman did hit 14 home runs in his brief stint in the majors.
What has kept Hessman from sticking in The Show is his high strikeout rate and low batting average. He’s very much a poor man’s version of Chicago White Sox first baseman Adam Dunn, which means one can expect a lot of strikeouts and home runs.
Hessman now has 404 home runs across all minor league levels. Buzz Artlett holds the record of 432, and Hessman passing that isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Unless he’s called up, of course.
Photo via Andrew Weber/USA Today Sports Images
