Mike Hessman has been tabbed as the real-life Crash Davis, who was played by Kevin Costner in the 1988 hit movie Bull Durham. On Monday the 37-year-old Hessman set a new all-time minor league home run record when he hit his 433rd career homer in the seventh inning of a game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Hessman plays with the Toledo Mud Hens of the AAA International League and his record-breaking home run was a grand slam helping him surpass a 79-year-old record held by Buzz Ardett, who was often called the “Babe Ruth of the minor leagues.”

Hessman is playing in his 19th season as a minor leaguer. His major league career consists of 109 games played with the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, during which time he hit 14 home runs at baseball’s highest level.

Hessman is one of the ultimate minor league players, but more than that he is one of the prototypes for “love of the game.” Even when his baseball dreams never really came to fruition, his enthusiasm and dedication to the game never wavered. He will make a great coach, as he expects this will be his last year as a player.

There’s a new home run champion of all-time, and it’s Mike Hessman.  (Photo credit – Andrew Weber)

Dodger fans will remember another ultimate minor league player who is now in his 20th year in the minor leagues. John Lindsey, the man with the infectious smile, has played with 17 teams during his minor league career during which he has hit 309 home runs.

Lindsey finally fulled his life-long dream when he was called up to the major leagues by the Dodgers on September 6, 2010. He made his major league debut two days later and had a total of 13 plate appearances, collecting his lone major league hit on September 12 against the (National League) Houston Astros. But Lindsey’s long-anticipated and short-lived 11-game major league career ended abruptly when he suffered a broken left wrist after being hit by a pitch by Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Daniel Hudson on September 25. But however, his time in major league baseball was a dream come true for the extremely popular Hattiesburg, Mississippi native.

“I’ve been waiting all my life for this,” Lindsey said. “It was an awesome feeling.”

John Lindsey is still playing the game he loves, at age 38, with the Toros de Tijuana of the AAA Mexican League. I expect he is still wearing his characteristic perpetual smile every time he puts on his uniform.

There was a happier man on the planet than when John Lindsey finally received his call up to the big leagues. (Video capture courtesy of Fox Prime Ticket)

Some Dodger fans might not be aware that there is another ultimate minor league player on board in the Dodgers farm system. In January, 46-year-old Darryl Brinkley was hired as the hitting coach of the rookie level Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League.

Brinkley graduated from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1991. Even though he hit an eye popping .528 in his senior year he was not selected in the First Year player Draft.

Ogden Raptors hitting coach Darryl Brinkley.
(Photo credit – Dennis Montgomery)

Upon graduation Brinkley’s baseball odyssey began. He played in the Netherlands and Italy for three years and an additional two years with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent Northern League.

During the 1996 winter season he played in the Mexican Pacific League and was named Baseball America’s Winter League Player of the year and also the MVP of the Caribbean Series. From 1981 through 2006, only one Winter League Player of the Year did not make it to the major leagues. That player was Darryl Brinkley.

In 2001 Brinkley finally got an opportunity to make an appearance at the major league level. At the conclusion of the minor league season had flown to Australia to play in the Australian Baseball League.

While there he received a call on September 10th to report to the Orioles as a September call up. However, he could not get a flight out of Australia as flights to the United States were grounded because of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11th. Tim Raines Jr. took his place on the Orioles roster. He was not to get another opportunity for a big league at bat.

As he had done throughout his career, Brinkley took the disappointment of not getting his chance to play with the Orioles in stride.

“It hurt at first, but what are you going to do?” Brinkley said. “I’m not the biggest religious guy you’re going to find, but the man upstairs gave me longevity. I’m still playing. I’ve gotten the chance to see the world, and my family has gotten a chance to see the world.”

Brinkley continued to play in independent leagues with considerably more than a little success. His baseball journey took him to the Northeast League, Can-Am League, Atlantic League, Mexican League, Northern League and Golden Baseball League. Perhaps the highlight of his career came in 2007 with the Calgary Vipers when he became the first player in Northern League history to hit .400. He was also named Baseball America’s 2007 Independent League Player of the Year.

Calgary Vipers manager Mike Busch perhaps more than anyone appreciated what Brinkley brought to the game.

“I tell the younger players, if you want to watch one guy on how to prepare and go about your business, watch Darryl Brinkley,” Busch said. “He loves the game. He shows up every day ready to play. He’s the first guy at the park every day.”

Brinkley played two more years of independent league baseball and at age-40 finished his final season in 2009 with a .297 batting average.

For the next three years Brinkley served first as the manager of the Yuma Scorpions in the Golden Baseball League and then as a hitting coach in the Mexican League.

One of his Mexican teams trained in Tucson, Arizona where the Dodgers hold an instructional league. Brinkley kept in touch with the Dodgers and Gabe Kapler, director of player development, liked Brinkley and offered him the job of hitting coach with the Ogden Raptors.

Brinkley spoke with Brett Hein of the Standard Examiner regarding his new career.

“This is way harder than I thought it would be, but it’s way more gratifying,” Brinkley said. “I had no idea I was going to enjoy being a hitting coach more than playing. I really, really enjoy it. It’s a great feeling to see these kids do well and know you were a part of their success. It’s a phenomenal feeling.”

As one would expect, the first-to-the-ballpark guy has already made a strong first and most likely a lasting impression on the young Raptor hitters. Shortstop Matt Beaty, since promoted to the Class-A Great Lakes Loons, had been one of the Raptors’ most consistent hitters and feels fortunate to have had Brinkley as a coach in the rookie league.

“You can tell when talking to him during the game or during batting practice, the little things he teaches us, you can tell the amount of knowledge he has about the game and how long he’s been around it because of the little details he points out,” Beaty said. “Brink wanted to come down to this level and help the younger guys, so that’s cool for all of us to see someone who was at that level to come down here and pass on the knowledge he has.”

Hot-hitting first baseman Scott De Jong also endorses his hitting coach.

“Brink’s a great guy, he brings a lot of energy to the team,” De Jong said. “If the outfielders are doing a drill, you can hear Brink yelling at the outfielders and having a lot of fun. He brings a ton of energy. If you’re wanting to go hit, he’ll always be ready to go hit with you.

“Me and Brink have been working on simplifying my swing and getting to a point where I can repeat it really well,” added De Jong. “Over the last month that’s something we’ve really cracked down on. I’m definitely getting more consistent with my swing.”

Brinkley has been a man on the move throughout his career. He has played minor league baseball for 15 years, played on over 20 different teams and on four different continents. His traveling days may well be over as he now works his way through the Dodgers coaching ranks.