Hefner’s comeback trail makes stop in OKC
Jeremy Hefner, a former Perkins-Tryon standout, is trying to come back from two Tommy John surgeries. He will pitch Wednesday night for the Memphis Redbirds against the OKC Dodgers.
Jeremy Hefner drove the 1,300 miles weary and alone with the belief his baseball career was finished.
Ten days earlier he suffered a fracture in his ulnar bone and UCL tear. The injury happened while he was recovering from Tommy John surgery and a second was needed for the repairs.
He drove from Port St. Lucie, Fla., to Owasso in August 2014 thinking of the future.
“I wanted to retire, quite honestly, because I didn’t want to go through the rehab again,” Hefner said. “I knew I could still pitch and play and compete, but with three kids already I thought it might be time to move on.”
Three months after sitting at his home with his family watching baseball almost nightly, Hefner talked and prayed with his wife Sarah.
It was time to return to baseball.
Seventeen months after a second surgery, Hefner starts Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Dodgers as a member of the Memphis Redbirds, likely in front of what could be more than 200 friends and family from his days at Perkins-Tryon, Seminole State and Oral Roberts.
“I never doubted his ability … ever,” Sarah Hefner said. “When he sets his mind to something he’s going to follow through with it to his best.”
Perkins-Tryon athletic director Bobby Buck — Hefner’s baseball coach — recalls how Hefner arrived his freshman year as a 6-foot-1, skinny catcher who had never pitched. By the end of his sophomore season, he was a school hero after pitching nine innings in a 1-0 loss to Verdigris in the state semifinals.
“From then, everybody recognized him as the kid who threw that game,” Buck said. “He was just lights out after that.”
Hefner continued developing and was drafted in the fifth round by the San Diego Padres in 2007. He was later claimed off waivers by the Pirates and Mets, where he made his MLB debut in 2012 and made 26 starts the next two seasons before tearing his UCL.
The first surgery was by all accounts a success. Six starts into rehab the following summer, Hefner’s bone fractured in his elbow and the replaced ligament was detached. Dr. James Andrews performed the second surgery and Hefner spent 2015 rehabbing at ORU while taking classes for his business administration degree and spending time with his family.
He watched as the Mets rode a young, powerful rotation to the World Series, hoping his phone would ring with a chance to return to baseball. It never did.
That led him to the Dominican Winter League, where he had multiple MLB teams on the phone following a few energizing starts.
Hefner signed a minor league contract with St. Louis in December. He’s 30 years old, but he does look re-energized with a 1.86 ERA in two starts.
“I may never be able to pitch again start to start, so I’m going to absolutely enjoy it and leave it all out on the field,” Hefner said. “Whatever happens as far as the big leagues, my season, my numbers, I’ll let them play out as they may and I’m going to enjoy it.”