After spending 20 years playing professional baseball across the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, and Chicago Cubs, Norwood native Richie Hebner found himself lending a hand right back home as the third-base coach for the Norwood American Legion baseball team.
Far from making a superficial celebrity appearance, Hebner seamlessly integrated into the dugout. “The kids know him, so he’s no big deal with them,” said Coach Pete Wall. “He’s just a regular guy… It’s not like somebody came down from outer space or anything.”
Hebner preferred it that way, aiming to stay behind the scenes and assist rather than overshadow the coaching staff. “I’m just having some fun,” Hebner explained. “Maybe one or two kids might ask me a question, but I tell people I just coach third. Pete runs the show. I don’t try to and I don’t plan to.”
Hebner’s illustrious 17-year major league career came to a close just two weeks prior to Opening Day during spring training when the Chicago Cubs indicated he might miss the final roster cut under 24-man roster limitations. Unable to secure a trade, Hebner opted to hang up his major league cleats without regret. “The 24-man roster didn’t help,” he reflected. “I would have liked to make the club, but I was up 17 years, so I wasn’t embarrassed.”
Faced with his first summer without professional baseball in two decades, Hebner gravitated back to his roots in Norwood, attending local workouts before Pete Wall officially brought him onto the coaching staff. “I thought it would be an enjoyable thing to do and that’s exactly how it’s turned out,” Hebner said. “I thought it would be fun and when you’re 31-1, it’s a little more fun.” (Reporting by John Johnson, The Patriot Ledger).
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
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