Dear Reader:
Over half a century ago Richie Hebner was chosen in the first round, 15th player taken overall, by the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of the 1966 Major League Baseball Draft.
While history shows us that Hebner went on to play nearly two decades of pro baseball, including 18 seasons in the Major Leagues, the decision he had to make five decades ago wasn’t as easy as one would think. You see, while most people associate Hebner with baseball, those that knew him growing up in the Norwood, MA area knew that he was as equally great in hockey.
“At the time I know there were some very disappointed people who thought I should play pro hockey,” recalled Hebner, who played in the Major Leagues for the Pirates, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. “They knew me as a hockey player.
“The Boston Bruins were interested in me and people thought I would sign with them and have a career in pro hockey.”
Just how good was Hebner? Some New England hockey experts have ranked him as the second best player ever to come out of the Boston area.
The only player ahead of him was Robbie Ftorek. But Hebner was ranked ahead of players like Rod Langway, Bob Carpenter, Tom Barrasso, Tony Amonte and, yes, Jeremy Roenick.
Hebner began skating on a pond behind his boyhood home. When he was about seven Hebner began playing organized hockey and baseball.
“In the winter time it was skating and skating with hockey and in the summer it was all baseball,” remembered Hebner, a former hitting coach with the AAA Buffalo Bisons of the International League. “I played high school hockey.
“We would draw between a thousand and two-thousand people to a game. At a baseball game we might only draw a handful of people.
“So people knew me as a hockey player. And, honestly, I tell people that I think I was a better hockey player than I was a baseball player.”
Was there any hesitation about signing a contract with the Pirates?
“No, not really,” responded Hebner. “Milt Schmidt (the Bruins GM at the time and a Hall of Fame player with the team as well) talked to me and and told me to go ahead and sign with the Pirates.
“He told me that if I didn’t like baseball after a couple of years I could some back and sign with the Bruins.”
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Hebner signed with the Pirates and never looked back. And with the Pirates he helped win a World Series championship in 1971 and has a World Series ring to show for it.
Any regrets?
“Not really, although I did look back those first couple of years I was in pro baseball and wondered what would have happened if I had signed with the Bruins,” remarked the former left winger.
And the former third baseman had a right to wonder. The Bruins, who had been the doormats of the National Hockey League from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s were beginning to turn the corner.
Players like Phil Esposito, Wayne Cashman, Johnny Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers were helping to turn the Bruins fortunes around. Of course it didn’t hurt that Boston signed a youngster by the name of Bobby Orr either.
“Winning the Cup in 1970 and again in 1972 was great,” said Hebner. “It made me wonder what it might have been like to win a Stanley Cup.
“But then I take a look at my World Series ring and know that I made the right decision for myself.”
Although he grew up in a hockey-crazed area in Massachusetts, Hebner knows that hockey is very strong in New York State, especially in the Buffalo area where he has spent three baseball seasons coaching with the Bisons.
“The people here love their hockey,” concluded the 70 year-old Hebner. “I see it with the Sabres and their youth hockey programs.
“I’m still a Bruins fan and follow the game very closely. Hockey will always be in my blood.”
Until the next time.
Randy Schultz
