Baseball & York County–Like Mom & Apple Pie
O.K., so maybe a lot of moms don’t bake apple pie anymore, but baseball is still big in York County, PA.
Glen Rock native Cliff Heathcote, who played in the major league from 1918 to 1932, shows up in a lot of the record books. In fact, one of his records may never be broken.
One of his fairly rare feats was to hit for the cycle (have a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game). Heathcote had his turn on July 13, 1918, in his rookie season for the St. Louis Cardinals. How rare is hitting for the cycle? According to one list of statistics, only two players accomplished that feat while playing for the Baltimore Orioles–fan favorites Brooks Robinson on July 15, 1960 and Cal Ripken, Jr. on May 6, 1984.
The rarer record, which Heathcote shares with Max Flack, was to play the same day for each of two teams in a double-header. On May 30, 1922, the Cardinals traded Heathcote to the Chicago Cubs for Flack between games. Both players then played for their new team in the second game.
Clifton E. Heathcote had a long career, playing later for the Cincinnati Reds and retiring when he was around 35. Sadly, he died in York from a pulmonary embolism in January 1939, a few days before his 41st birthday.
On a happier note, click here to read about good York County apples and apple pies.
