Cowboy Baseball’s Heaney Makes History
Cowboy Baseball’s Heaney Makes History
STILLWATER – Former Oklahoma State star Andrew Heaney is a World Series champion, joining a select group of Cowboys to earn that distinction.
Heaney and the Texas Rangers captured the 2023 Major League Baseball World Series title, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games.
A southpaw who starred at OSU from 2010-12, Heaney is the eighth player in Cowboy Baseball history to play in the World Series, and he is one of four to play for a World Series champion.
“What an amazing thing for Andrew to be a part of a world championship and to have played such a key role along the way,” said OSU head coach Josh Holliday. “His start in Game 4 was fun to watch – he delivered in a big way for his team.
“Since the day I met him, Andrew has always been so loyal and so real about his school, his life and his family and to see him sign with the Rangers and become a huge part of that winning team isn’t surprising to me. He has that kind of winning personality and loyalty to his people.
“Andrew and his wife, Jordan, are also as generous and kind to others as they are successful. We are extremely proud of Andrew.”
Heaney joins a list of OSU Baseball World Series winners that includes Allie P. Reynolds, Frank Kellert and Joel Horlen. Another former Cowboy, John Farrell, won a World Series as the manager of the Boston Red Sox in 2013.
Reynolds won six World Series titles with the Yankees, the first in 1947 before five straight from 1949-53. In 15 World Series appearances, Reynolds went 7-2 with four saves and a 2.79 ERA while also tossing five complete games and a pair of shutouts.
Kellert was a member of the 1955 World Series champion Brooklyn Dodgers and recorded a single in three at-bats in the Fall Classic.
Horlen also celebrated a World Series title, that coming with the Oakland Athletics in 1972, as he made one relief appearance in the series.
Heaney joins Reynolds as the second Cowboy pitcher to win a World Series game. After working 2/3 of an inning in relief in Game 2 against Arizona, he earned the start for the pivotal fourth game and tossed five innings, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out three as the Rangers took a 3-1 lead in the series.
Inducted into the Cowboy Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019, Heaney’s OSU career saw him lead the Pokes in wins in each of his three seasons as he posted 20 career victories and 246 strikeouts.
He capped his career with a dominant junior season in 2012 as he earned consensus All-America honors and was named OSU’s first-ever Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year. He was also a finalist for the College Baseball Hall of Fame Nation Pitcher of the Year award and a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.
Heaney’s junior season saw him post an 8-2 record and toss six complete games in 15 starts. He recorded three shutouts and a 1.60 ERA, and he led the NCAA with 140 strikeouts in 118 1/3 innings.
The Big 12 leader in ERA, strikeouts, shutouts, complete games and opponent batting average (.180) in 2012, Heaney recorded eight or more strikeouts in 12 of his 15 appearances, and his 140 strikeouts are the fifth most in a season by a Cowboy pitcher.
Heaney was the ninth overall pick in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft by the Miami Marlins, becoming the fourth-highest MLB Draft pick in program history, and he made his big league debut in 2014.
In 10 MLB seasons, Heaney has pitched in 171 games and recorded 46 wins, including a career-high 10 for the Rangers in 2023, while tallying over 900 strikeouts.
OSU Cowboy Baseball alums who played in the Major League Baseball World Series
- Dib Williams, Philadelphia A’s – 1931
- Allie P. Reynolds, New York Yankees – 1947, 1949-53
- Frank Kellert, Brooklyn Dodgers – 1955
- Jerry Adair, Boston Red Sox – 1967
- Joel Horlen, Oakland A’s – 1972
- Pete Incaviglia, Philadelphia Phillies – 1993
- Robin Ventura, New York Mets – 2000
- Andrew Heaney, Texas Rangers – 2023
*In 2004, Scott Williamson pitched for the Boston during the regular season but was injured and not on the roster for the Red Sox during the postseason.