New Kansas City Royals pitcher grew up competing in two sports: baseball and rodeo
When the Royals on Tuesday placed pitcher Zack Greinke on the injured list, they recalled left-hander Taylor Hearn from Triple-A Omaha.
Hearn, who was acquired from the Atlanta Braves in a trade for infielder Nicky Lopez, had a 2.70 ERA in three appearances with the Storm Chasers.
There are some interesting tidbits about Hearn, including this: he was drafted in four straight years before he signed with the Nationals in 2015. He also had been chosen by the Twins, Reds and Pirates.
Since then he has been traded three times and had his contract purchased once. Hearn also has been with the Pirates, Rangers and Atlanta organizations.
And then there’s this: before baseball, Hearn’s calling was rodeo.
MLB Players Media shared a video of Hearn’s rodeo heritage. Many baseball players grew up trying other sports. Few were in rodeo.
“They’d be like oh, we were suspecting you to be a really good quarterback or good basketball player,” Hearn said in the video. “I was like, no, I did something different that a lot of kids didn’t do.”
A 2019 MLB.com story noted that Hearn’s grandfather Cleo was a trailblazer.
“His grandfather is a legend, a native of Seminole, Okla., who was the first African American to attend college on a rodeo scholarship and the first to win a major calf roping event in 1970 at the Denver National Rodeo,” T.R. Sullivan wrote. “His Cowboys of Color is a major event at the Fort Worth Stock Show and he has a star on the Texas Trail of Fame at the Fort Worth Stockyards.”
Hearn’s father, Robby, and uncles also have competed in rodeo.
“My parents stuck me on a horse when I was 4 years old and I have been riding ever since,” Hearn told Sullivan. “They didn’t force it upon me, but it was something I decided was kind of fun. Plus, it was something that took my mind away from things on the weekends.”
Hearn, 28, is hoping to find a home with the Royals. But he plans to one day return to rodeo.
In the Players Media video, Hearn said: “(I’m) trying to set everything up. Eventually working on getting some land and then getting cattle and then working from there and then get back into it.”
Here is that video.
