Jay Heard

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Jay Heard

|position=Pitcher

|image=Jehosie Heard 1955.jpg

|caption=

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date|1920|1|17}}

|birth_place=Athens, Georgia

|death_date={{death date and age|1999|11|18|1920|1|17}}

|death_place=Birmingham, Alabama

|debutleague = NgL

|debutdate=

|debutyear=1945

|debutteam=Birmingham Black Barons

|debut2league = NPB

|debut2date=

|debut2year=1952

|debut2team=Hiroshima Carp

|debut3league = MLB

|debut3date=April 24

|debut3year=1954

|debut3team=Baltimore Orioles

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=May 28

|finalyear=1954

|finalteam=Baltimore Orioles

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=0–0

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=13.50

|stat3label=Innings pitched

|stat3value={{frac|3|1|3}}

|teams=

;Negro leagues

Birmingham Black Barons ({{by|1945}}–{{by|1949}})
Memphis Red Sox ({{by|1949}})
Houston/New Orleans Eagles ({{by|1949}}–{{by|1951}})

;Major League Baseball

Baltimore Orioles ({{mlby|1954}})

|highlights=

NgL All-Star (1951)

}}

Jehosie "Jay" Heard (January 17, 1920 – November 18, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. A native of Athens, Georgia, he was a left-handed pitcher who stood {{convert|5|ft|7|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|155|lb}}. He pitched two games in Major League Baseball for the {{baseball year|1954}} Baltimore Orioles, becoming the franchise's first African American player in Baltimore.{{cite news|last1=Encina|first1=Eduardo|last2=Kaltenbach|first2=Chris|title=Even with Camden Yards closed to public, fans found way to support O's|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bs-sp-orioles-empty-stadium-0430-20150429-story.html#page=1|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=April 29, 2015|accessdate=April 20, 2015}}

Heard began his pro career in the Negro leagues after serving in the United States Army during World War II.[http://baseballinwartime.com/those_who_served/those_who_served_atoz.htm Baseball in Wartime] During his career in the Negro leagues, he pitched for the Birmingham Black Barons, Memphis Red Sox, Houston Eagles and New Orleans Eagles.{{Cite web |url=http://www.baseballhistorian.com/html/american_heroes.cfm?page=204 |title=BaseballHistorian.com |access-date=2011-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226110212/http://www.baseballhistorian.com/html/american_heroes.cfm?page=204 |archive-date=2013-12-26 |url-status=dead }} In 1952, at age 32, he joined the organized minor leagues, winning 20 games for the Victoria Tyees of the Class A Western International League.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=heard-001jeh Minor league statistics] from Baseball Reference Promoted the following season to the top level of the minors, the Open Classification Pacific Coast League, Heard won 16 games for the Portland Beavers. The Orioles, newly transplanted to Baltimore as the former St. Louis Browns, purchased Heard's contract that winter.

Heard was a member of the first Baltimore team to play in the American League since {{baseball year|1902}}. He made two appearances for the 1954 Orioles as a relief pitcher, both times against the Chicago White Sox. In his April 24 debut, he faced four batters and retired all of them.[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1954/B04240CHA1954.htm 1954-4-24 box score from Retrosheet] But in his second game, more than a month later on May 28, Heard allowed six hits and five runs, all earned, in two innings. A grand slam home run by Chicago's light-hitting Cass Michaels was the most damaging blow.[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1954/B05281BAL1954.htm 1954-5-28 box score from Retrosheet]

He then returned to the minors, where he pitched at the upper levels through 1957.