Heinie Meine

Henry William Meine
(The Count of Luxemburg)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.

• Debut August 16, 1922
• Final Game September 18, 1934
• Born May 1, 1896 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died March 18, 1968 in St. Louis, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Heinie Meine was a pitcher 13 years (1921-1934), seven in the Majors (1922;1929-1934) and six in the minors (1921;1923-1926;1928), losing one year to inactivity. Meine was born on May 1, 1896, in St. Louis, MO. He broke into Organized Baseball at age 24 with Beaumont in the Texas League. He married Grace Bonds on November 14, 1921 and, he was 26 years old when he broke into the big leagues on August 16, 1922, with the St. Louis Browns. He had a cup of coffee with the Browns and returned to the minors, where he played with San Antonio - Wichita Falls in the Texas League (1923); the Syracuse Stars of the International League (1924-1925); and the Kansas City Blues of the American Association (1926); retiring at age 30.

Talked out of retirement, he returned to Kansas City in 1928 and went on to the Pittsburgh Pirates (1929-1934), where he played his final MLB game on September 18, 1934, ending his baseball career at age 38. In civilian life until the War, Meine served in the U. S. Army during World War II (BN).

Meine's career was handicapped by the outlawing of the spitball, his money pitch. Adjusting to life without it, Meine appeared once for the 1922 Browns, pitched well in the minors, and then retired to operate a tavern in 1927. Egged on by his patrons, he made his comeback as a junkballer. As a Pirate in 1931, he tied for the NL lead with 19 wins, and led the league in starts (35) and innings (284).(ME)

In 1931, his best year in the majors, he was (19-13) with 22 complete games in 35 games started, 58 strikeouts, 87 walks and 3 shutouts in 284.0 innings pitched with an ERA of 2.98 and a WHIP of 1.285 in 36 games. In 1926, his best year in the minors, he was (17-14) with 74 strikeouts and 88 walks in 275 innings pitched with an ERA of 3.27 in 36 games.

Overall in MLB, he was (66-50) with 60 complete games in 132 games started, 199 strikeouts, 287 walks and 7 shutouts in 999⅓ innings pitched with an ERA of 3.95 and a WHIP of 1.413 in 165 games. Overall in the minors, he was (69-59) with 386 strikeouts and 478 walks in 1,188 innings pitched in 182 games

He operated a tavern and liquor store in Lemay, MO and he also ran a baseball school. He had brown hair and blue eyes, his ancestry was Dutch and his principal hobbies were hunting and fishing. He died at age 71 from cancer in Alexian Brothers' Hospital in St. Louis on March 18, 1968 and is buried at St. Trinity Cemetery in St. Louis.

Notable Achievements

• NL Wins Leader (1931)
• NL Innings Pitched Leader (1931)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 2 (1931 & 1933)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (1931 & 1933)

Records Held

• Most consecutive hits allowed (10) against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 6th inning, June 23, 1930

Quotes

"His name was Heine Miene, who gave so much concentration to his job that when he had finished a game he could check off each of the 100-odd pitches he had made, cite the situation and explain just why he made each pitch. sometimes he failed to accomplish what he wanted but more often he succeeded because he had a definite plan in mind against each hitter." Source: Ernie Mehl in The Kansas City Star (3/4/1962)

Sources

Principal sources for Heinie Meine include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (1932-1935) (WW), old Baseball Registers (1952) (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN (none) (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) and The Texas League in Baseball, 1888-1958 by Marshall D. Wright; The American Association: Year-By-Year Statistics for the Baseball Minor League, 1902-1952 by Marshall D. Wright and The International League: Year-by-year Statistics, 1884-1953 by Marshall D. Wright and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• Heinie Meine at the SABR Bio Project
• Heinie Meine at the Baseball Almanac
• Bio at Baseball Page
• The Baseball Chronology for Heinie Meine
• and a full Bibliography from SABR's The Baseball Index (TBI)