Harry Edwin Heilmann (August 3, 1894 – July 9, 1951), nicknamed "Slug", was an American baseball player and radio announcer. He played professional baseball for 19 years between 1913 and 1932, including 17 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tigers (1914, 1916–1929) and Cincinnati Reds (1930, 1932). He was a play-by-play announcer for the Tigers for 17 years from 1934 to 1950.
Heilmann won four American League batting championships, securing the honors in 1921, 1923, 1925 and 1927. He appeared in 2,147 major league games, including 1,525 games as a right fielder and 448 as a first baseman and compiled a career batting average of .342, the 12th highest in major league history, and third highest among right-handed batters. At the time of his retirement in 1932, Heilmann ranked sixth in major league history with 542 doubles and eighth with 1,543 RBIs. He remains one of only six players in American League history to hit .400 for a season, having accomplished the feat in 1923 with a .403 batting average. He also hit .394 in 1921. At his peak from 1921 to 1927, Heilmann compiled a .380 batting average, .452 on-base percentage, .583 slugging percentage, and averaged 116 RBI, 41 doubles, 11 triples, and 104 runs scored per season. From 1919 through 1930, Heilmann hit over .300 for 12 consecutive seasons.
He also compiled six 5-hit games and 49 4-hit games in his 17-year major league career.
After retiring from baseball, Heilmann ran unsuccessfully for the office of Detroit City Treasurer and operated a semipro baseball team in 1933 and, in 1934, began a career as a radio broadcaster. From 1934 to 1942, he was play-by-play announcer for the Tigers on station WXYZ and the Michigan Radio Network, covering parts of Michigan located outside metropolitan Detroit, while rival Ty Tyson called games for station WWJ in Detroit exclusively. From 1943 to 1950, Heilmann was the exclusive radio voice of the Tigers throughout the state. Heilmann died from lung cancer in July 1951; he was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame six months later in January 1952 after garnering 86.75% of the votes.
Heilmann was born in San Francisco in 1894. His father, Richard W. Heilmann, was born in 1860 at Sacramento, California, the son of an Irish mother and a father from Saxony. His mother, Mary (McVoy) Heilmann, sometimes referred to as Mollie, was born in 1864 in County Roscommon, Ireland. Harry was the couple's fourth surviving child, having an older sister, May, and two older brothers, Richard Jr., and Walter. Heilmann's father operated a soap business, ran as a Republican for the office of Supervisor of San Francisco's Ninth Ward in 1896, and died in June 1897 at age 36. As a boy in the 1890s and continuing at least through the time of the 1900 Census, Heilmann lived with his family at 708A Brannan Street in what is now the South of Market district of San Francisco.
Heilmann's older brother, Walter, was a gifted athlete who attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory (then "Sacred Heart College") in San Francisco. On June 3, 1908, a year after the city's devastation by earthquake, Walter died at age 16 while on a sailboat excursion with three schoolmates to visit the battleship USS Connecticut in drydock at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, near the present site of Candlestick Park. The boat capsized in a squall, and Walter drowned while trying to swim to shore; the other three boys were rescued.
As of 1910, Heilmann was living with his mother at 112 Sixteenth Street in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. Heilmann followed his older brother to what is now Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, where he played baseball, track and field, and basketball. He graduated from Sacred Heart in 1912 at age 17 with a collegiate certificate. After graduating from Sacred Heart, Heilmann worked as a bookkeeper for the Mutual Biscuit Company.
Heilmann appeared in a semipro baseball game in 1913 for a team from Hanford, California. While playing for Hanford, he was signed by a scout for the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). After being signed by the Beavers, Heilmann was assigned to the Portland Colts of the Northwestern League. He compiled a .305 batting average in 122 games for the Colts.
In September 1913, Heilmann was drafted by the Detroit Tigers. He made his major league debut with the Tigers on May 16, 1914, and played in 68 games that year, batting .225 and committing six errors in 31 games in the outfield (29 games in center field) for an .870 fielding percentage.
For the 1915 season, the Tigers sent Heilmann to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). Heilmann missed the latter portion of the season after suffering from dizzy spells. Before the health problems sidelined him, Heilmann appeared in 98 games for the Seals and compiled a .364 batting average and .544 slugging percentage with 23 doubles and 12 home runs. His .364 batting average led the PCL for the 1915 season.
Heilmann returned to the Tigers in 1916 and appeared in 136 games, including 30 games at first base and 77 as an outfielder. Although his .282 batting average was low by the standards he would set later, he ranked among the American League leaders with 30 doubles (seventh best), 77 RBIs (sixth best) and 43 extra base hits (eighth). He also became a favorite in Detroit for his actions off the field. On July 25, 1916, he saved a woman whose vehicle had rolled into the Detroit River, diving into the water to rescue her, although two others died in the accident. His heroic act was reported in the national press, and he was loudly applauded at the next day's game.
He continued to improve at the plate in 1917, once again ranking among the American League leaders with 85 RBIs (fourth), five home runs (seventh) and 11 triples (eighth); but he was called "Slug" due to his notoriously slow running and difficulties in the field. In 1917, the Tigers tried playing him in right field (95 games), center field (28) and first base (27), but he was not particularly good at any of those positions.
In 1918, Heilmann appeared in 79 games for the Tigers, 40 in right field and 37 at first base, compiling a .276 batting average. In mid-July 1918, he left the Tigers to enlist in the United States Navy during World War I. He served as a quartermaster on submarines off the West Coast of the United States.
He returned to the Tigers in 1919 and had his best season to date, ranking among the American League leaders with a .320 batting average (10th best), .477 slugging percentage (seventh), 92 RBIs (fourth), 53 extra base hits (fourth again), 15 triples (second), 256 total bases (fifth), 172 hits (sixth) and eight home runs (eighth). He had another strong year in 1920 with a .309 average, 41 extra base hits and 89 RBIs, but he continued to fall short in the field in those two years. Detroit manager Hughie Jennings made him the Tigers' starting first baseman, and he led the league in errors at that position both years, including 31 in 1919 for a .979 fielding percentage.
Heilmann was married on October 5, 1920, to Mary H. Maynes, commonly known as Mae. They had a daughter, Mary Ellen, and a son, Harry Jr., and lived in Detroit.
In 1921, Heilmann appeared in 149 games, including 145 as the Tigers' starting right fielder. He won his first batting title, compiling a .394 batting average to outpace his manager and teammate Ty Cobb who hit .389. Unofficial figures released in October showed Cobb as the batting champion, but official figures released in December showed Heilmann to be the champion. He was the first right-handed batter to win the American League batting title since Nap Lajoie in 1905. Heilmann also led the American League in 1921 with 237 hits and ranked second behind Babe Ruth with 139 RBIs, 365 total bases, a .606 slugging percentage, 292 times on base, a 7.3 offensive wins above replacement (WAR) rating, and 159 runs created. He also ranked among the league leaders with a .444 on-base percentage (third behind Ruth and Cobb), 43 doubles (third behind Tris Speaker and Ruth), and 76 extra base hits (third behind Ruth and Bob Meusel).