Hearn was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft after attending Fort Pierce Central High School. After four seasons in their organization in which he failed to reach higher than the double A level,he was released by the Phillies on January 7,1983. However,he was soon signed as a minor league free agent by the New York Mets.
Hearn spent most of 1983 with the Single-A Lynchburg Mets before being promoted to Double-A Jackson,batting .274 with five home runs and 49 runs batted in between the two clubs.[1] In 1984,he led the Jackson Mets with a .312 batting average and tied for second with eleven home runs. He earned his promotion to Triple-A in 1985,spending the whole season with the International League's Tidewater Tides.
Hearn was on the Royals' opening day roster,and was slated to be the starting catcher in 1987 until a serious shoulder injury ended his season only nine games into it. After rehabbing his injury,Hearn spent the 1988 season playing in the Florida State League. He returned to the majors when rosters expanded in September,going 4-for-18 in seven games. On September 29,he had a walk off extra inningspinch hit off the Chicago White Sox's Donn Pall.[3]
Hearn spent the entire 1989 season with the Omaha Royals,slashing .281/.328/.325,and was released at the end of the season. For his career,Hearn only appeared in thirteen games over two seasons for the Royals,batting .257 with no home runs and four runs batted in. In retrospect,with Hearns' injury riddled career and the journeyman careers of Anderson and Gozzo versus the All-star career of Cone,this trade is often listed as one of the most lop-sided in major league history.[4]
Expecting to spend his retirement selling insurance in Overland Park,Kansas,in 1992 Hearn was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Hearn immediately underwent a kidney transplant and was required to take several types of medication on a daily basis. Due to the debilitating effects of the disease,and mood swings caused by the medication,in 1993 Hearn almost committed suicide,but was able to fight his way past it through faith and a chance request for him to give a motivational seminar.[6] Finding a renewed strength,Hearn struggled on despite being treated for skin cancer twice,undergoing two more kidney transplants,[7] and being diagnosed with sleep apnea (requiring mechanical assistance to breathe while sleeping) - all of which forces him to take more than fifty types of medication on a daily basis.
Hearn currently works as a motivational speaker. In 2001,Hearn was awarded the prestigious Certified Speaking Profession designation from the National Speakers Association. He is the first and only professional athlete to receive this designation (only 8% of speakers throughout the world have received this distinguished honor).
Hearn also operates a charity:the Bottom of the Ninth Foundation,[8] which is a mentorship program for children.
Hearn has written an autobiography entitled Conquering Life’s Curves –Baseball,Battles &Beyond.[9] He resides in Shawnee,Kansas with his wife,Trish and son,Cody.
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