When it comes to Kentucky’s leading birthplaces of Major League Baseball players, Covington ranks among the best. The city has produced 23 major leaguers, according to Baseball-Reference.com, a comprehensive database of baseball statistics. Lexington has produced nearly 30 major league players, while Louisville boasts nearly 90. Together, these three cities account for 40% of all major leaguers born in Kentucky, totaling upwards of 340.
Of the nearly two dozen ballplayers born in Covington, at least 12 were pitchers and several played for the Cincinnati Reds. Four played exclusively in the 19th century, and eight more had their careers end by 1925. Two brothers, Joe and Johnnie Heving, had careers spanning from 1920 to 1945, though one brother was born outside Covington. Another player from Covington had his brief career ended in 1942. The remaining Covington-born players competed in the expansion era, from 1963 to 2014.
Here is a look at some of the more obscure pre-expansion era major leaguers born in Covington and one near miss:
Bob Clark: Championship Catcher
Active from 1886-93. Played 246 of 290 career games in the field as a catcher. He was a rangy backstop for three teams. Clark played his first five years with Brooklyn, stole at least 10 bases each year, and was on two league champions in 1889 and 1890. He hit .266 in 1887 and a career-best .275 in 1889.
Clark was sold to the Cincinnati Reds in 1891 and hit .111 in 84 at-bats. He had at least 170 at-bats each of his years in Brooklyn. He was out of baseball in 1892 before concluding his career in Louisville. Clark was a .230 lifetime hitter in 1,105 plate appearances, but he was clutch in the biggest games. He hit .467 in two league championship appearances, going 7-for-15.
“Independent of his catching, Clark is a good and free batter, excellent base runner and a fine fielder,” said one report early in his career. “He has been doing good work ever since he joined the Brooklyn Club, of which he is one of the most valuable members.”
Bill Niles: Reserve Infielder
Active in 1895 for the Pittsburgh Pirates at age 28. Fielded mostly third base with one appearance at second base. Played in just 11 games with 43 plate appearances. Batted .216 with no extra-base hits, five bases on balls, and two stolen bases. So little has been written about Niles that his height, throwing arm, and batting side are unknown.
Harry Berte: Good-Hit, No-Field
Played four games split between second base and shortstop in the majors. Hit .333 in his brief stint, going 5-for-15 with the 1903 St. Louis Cardinals. He also made four errors, hastening a return to the minor leagues where he played from 1893 to 1914. He was player-manager for several seasons in the minors where he won more than 300 games.
Berte was an early challenger to baseball’s reserve system during his playing days before the majors. On March 19, 1898, a Sporting Life account headlined “The Case of Harry Berte” made the front page after it was decided a minor league team had the right to keep reserve players. Berte asked for his release from Quincy on grounds the team was disbanded. But a ruling said the club got to keep his services after merely moving to Ottumwa.
Eddie Hohnhorst: Lefty First Baseman
Active but little-used in 1910 and 1912 for the Cleveland Naps. Batted .317 in 63 at-bats across 18 games in 1910 as a teammate of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. Spent 1911 in the minor leagues. Was back in the major leagues the next year and hit .204 in 54 at-bats. He never saw the majors after that. He was a .265 lifetime hitter.
John Black: The Original Jack Black
Active in 1911. Played 54 games in his lone half-season as a 21-year-old part-time first baseman for the St. Louis Browns. Had just 28 hits and batted .151 after being a June call-up. Black had four doubles and four stolen bases. He made 16 errors. Born John Falconer Black, he was commonly known as Jack Black to teammates.
Dick Niehaus: Young Lefty Reliever
Active from 1913-20. Debuted as a 20-year-old with the St. Louis Cardinals and spent three seasons with them. Was out of the majors for four years before returning for a final season with Cleveland. Got into 45 career games, 36 in relief. He posted a 4-5 lifetime record with a 3.77 ERA across 126.2 innings. His best season was his last, going 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA in 19 appearances. He later moved to Georgia where he was a trainer for the Atlanta Crackers in the Southern Association for 12 years.
Neal Brady: Youngest Yankee
Active as a right-handed relief pitcher from 1915-25. Cornelius Joseph Brady played three seasons in 11 years and won just two games but made history. When he debuted at age 18 on Sept. 25, 1915, he became the youngest player to suit up for the New York Yankees. Brady was 160 days shy of his 19th birthday. He pitched 8.2 innings in two games that first season and posted a 3.12 ERA with no decisions. He earned the rookie promotion after going 20-12 in 382.2 innings that year in the minors.
Brady’s final major league season was with the Reds when he received his most action, going 1-3 in 20 appearances with a 4.66 ERA in 63.2 innings. He finished fifth in the league with 15 games finished. In all, he made 24 appearances with five starts. He had a 2-3 lifetime record with a 4.20 ERA covering 81.1 innings pitched. Brady grew up in Ludlow where he became a star pitcher. He attended St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati. He was a barnstormer in Newport.
Joe Heving: Late Blooming Pitcher
Active from 1930-45. A right-handed pitcher who played with five teams including two stints with the Cleveland Indians. He didn’t break into the majors until he was 29 and pitched until he was 44. He owned a candy store until his pro league debut then sold it. His peak years were 1939 (11-3), 1940 (12-7) and 1941 (5-2, 2.29 ERA). Led the league with 22 games finished as a rookie. His specialty pitch was a sinkerball. Led the league with 66 appearances with 10 saves and a 1.96 ERA at age 43 when he was the only grandfather in the majors. He was the oldest pitcher to lead the league in appearances at the time.
Heving retired after 13 major league seasons. He made 430 appearances including 40 starts and finished with a record of 76-48 and a 3.90 ERA. Recorded 65 career saves. Was the oldest player in the American League from 1942-44, despite getting hit by a car outside a hotel in Cleveland and missing time in 1943. The youngest of four boys and the only one born in Covington, Joe’s older brother, Johnnie, began his major league career 10 years before Joe. The brothers never faced each other in the majors.
Joe Heving’s major league career was interspersed with minor league flourishes including 1936 when he helped lead Milwaukee to the American Association pennant. The day they clinched, the Brewers sold him to the Cleveland Indians for the 1937 season. It was his third shot at the majors, and this time it worked out.
“Heving proved a life-saver when he was brought up from Milwaukee,” wrote The Sporting News in 1938. “His side-arm sinkerball pitching proved effective.”
Johnnie Heving was born 40 miles downriver so he doesn’t count toward the list of major leaguers born in Covington. Nevertheless, he grew up in the city then enjoyed a long career in professional baseball spanning more than 30 years as a player and manager. He was active in the majors from 1920-32 for three teams.
A lifetime backup as a player, Johnnie Heving often came through at the plate and behind the dish, batting .265 lifetime in 1,068 plate appearances. He had a career .981 fielding percentage and led the league in caught stealing percentage in 1924 while hitting .284. Hit a career-high .319 in 1929. Had one hitless at-bat for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1931 World Series as a backup for future Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane.
