Tommy Heath (baseball)

{{short description|American baseball player}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Tommy Heath

|position=Catcher

|image=Tommy Heath 1953.jpg

|width=150px

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date|1913|8|18|mf=y}}

|birth_place=Akron, Colorado, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1967|2|26|1913|8|13}}

|death_place=Los Gatos, California, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 23

|debutyear=1935

|debutteam=St. Louis Browns

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 18

|finalyear=1938

|finalteam=St. Louis Browns

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.230

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=3

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=34

|teams=

• St. Louis Browns (1935, 1937–38)

}}

Thomas George Heath (August 18, 1913 – February 26, 1967) was an American catcher and scout in Major League Baseball and a manager in minor league baseball. He played in parts of three seasons in the majors between 1935 and 1938, all for the St. Louis Browns. He was a United States Army veteran of World War II.{{cite web |url=https://baseballinwartime.com/those_who_served/those_who_served.htm |title=Those Who Served |last=Bedingfield |first=Gary |date= |website=baseballinwartime.com |publisher=Baseball in Wartime |access-date=15 March 2023 |quote=}}

Heath stood {{convert|5|ft|10|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|185|lb}} and batted and threw right-handed during his playing days. He appeared in 134 total MLB games for the Browns, compiling a batting average of .230 in 330 at bats with 76 hits (including three home runs) and 34 runs batted in.

Heath was somewhat better known for his 18-year career as a minor league manager (1947–1964), where he principally worked in the New York Giants and Los Angeles Angels farm systems, and in between piloted four Pacific Coast League clubs between 1952 and 1961.{{cite news |date=27 February 1967 |title=Ex-Atom Skipper: Death Claims Tommy Heath |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |location=Campbell, California |page=10 |quote=Next he managed the San Francisco Seals in 1952-55, and Sacramento in 1956-57, both of the Pacific Coast League. He was general manager of Portland in 1958-60 and manager and general manager of Honolulu in 1961, these teams also of the Pacific Coast League.}} As the leader of the Giants' Minneapolis Millers Triple-A affiliate (1949–1951), he managed future major leaguers such as Willie Mays and Hoyt Wilhelm — both members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1948, he managed the Trenton Giants to the Interstate League championship, the only title he won during his managerial career.

Heath served as a scout for the Angels after his managing career ended. He died at age 53 in Los Gatos, California.