Story broken by Baseball America's J.J. Cooper:
The greatest home run hitter the domestic minor leagues have ever seen has decided that 19 seasons is enough. Mike Hessman, the U.S. minor league career home run leader with 433 home runs, announced on Twitter on Saturday that he’s retiring to become a coach.
Hessman, 37, topped Buzz Arlett’s record of 432 home runs with a homer off of Lehigh Valley’s Dustin McGowan on Aug. 3 this year. It proved to be the last home run he ever hit. Hessman’s career minor league statistics seem almost unfathomable. He played 2,095 minor league games, had 1,095 runs scored and 1,795 hits and drove in 1,207 runs. Mexican League slugger Hector Espino holds the all-time minor league home run record with 484 home runs, all hit in the Mexican League.
Hessman’s career is equally remarkable for its longevity. He was drafted by the Braves in the 15th round of the 1996 draft–part of the same draft that netted Atlanta righthander Jason Marquis and infielder Mark DeRosa.
Hessman hit 15 or more home runs in each and every one of his 17 seasons of full-season ball in the States. Hessman took one year off from playing in the States, as he spent 2011 playing for Orix in Japan. Seven of his 13 Triple-A seasons came with the Toledo Mud Hens. It was fitting that he returned to Toledo for his final season and the record-breaking home run.
Although he will be remembered as a real-life Crash Davis who played year after year in the minors, Hessman did reach the majors with the Braves (2003-04), Tigers (2007-08) and Mets (2010). He hit 14 homers as a big leaguer.
