Former Notre Dame standout Aaron Heilman made his Major League postseason debut in the 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Former Notre Dame Pitcher Aaron Heilman Helps Mets Win In His Postseason Debut (Pro Baseball Update)

Oct. 4, 2006

Former Notre Dame pitching standout Aaron Heilman – a rare four-year All-American who completed the even rarer combination of totaling 40-plus wins (43-7) and 400-plus strikeouts (425) in his college career – helped the New York Mets open the National League playoffs with a 6-5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night at Shea Stadium, the first postseason game of Heilman’s Major League career. Heilman was one of the top setup men on the Mets staff throughout the 2006 regular season, with the righthander compiling a 3.62 ERA and 2.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio (73/28) in his 74 appearances while holding opposing hitters to a .231 batting average and logging 14 more innings (87) than hits allowed (73).

Two other former Notre Dame pitchers – righthander Brad Lidge (Houston Astros closer) and lefthander Chris Michalak (Cincinnati Reds starter) – nearly joined Heilman in the postseason, as their teams chased the St. Louis Cardinals into the final days of the National League Central race.

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Chris Michalak’s 15-year pro baseball career has included stints with four big-league teams, most recently as a member of the 2006 Cincinnati Reds.

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Heilman entered the playoff series opener versus the Dodgers in the top of the 8th (with a 6-4 lead) and retired all three batters he faced. He worked to a 2-2 count versus J.D. Drew before inducing a shallow lineout to left field. Russell Martin then fell behind in the count versus Heilman (1-2) and worked hard to foul off the next two pitches before grounding out to the second baseman Jose Valentin. Heilman closed out his appearance by throwing two strikes past Marlon Anderson before seeing first baseman Carlos Delgado tag out Anderson on a soft grounder. Billy Wagner then allowed a run in the 9th but closed out the save, 6-5.

Michalak became Notre Dame’s fourth active Major League player after being called up from Louisville to the Reds in the middle of the 2006 season, after earlier big-league stints in his 15-year pro baseball career with the Diamondbacks (’98), Blue Jays (’01) and Rangers (’01 and ’02). Infielder Craig Counsell completed another season with the Arizona Diamondbacks in ’06 and now appears set to test the free-agent market.

The past 12 years have seen 49 different Irish players be selected in the Major League draft (36) or sign as free-agents (13), with 37 of those 49 players developing into pro prospects at Notre Dame after having gone undrafted out of high school. There were 20 former Irish players active in professional baseball during the 2006 season (listed below):

Former Notre Dame Players Active in Pro Baseball During 2006 Season

Craig Counsell, IF (Arizona Diamondbacks) – 105 GP, 372 AB, 56 R, 95 H, 14 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 30 RBI, 31 BB, 47 K, 15-23 SB, .327 OB, .347 slug, .255 batting avg.

Brian Stavisky, OF (Midland Rockhound/Texas League; A’s, AA) – 85 GP, 329 AB, 60 R, 104 H, 22 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 49 RBI, 64 BB, 53 K, .429 OB, .450 slug, .316 batting avg.
(Sacramento River Cats; A’s, AAA) – 33 GP, 109 AB, 16 R, 26 H, 6 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 16 BB, 23 K, .333 OB, .349 slug, .239 batting avg.

Brant Ust, 3B (Altoona Curve/Eastern League; Pirates, AA) – 55 GP, 166 AB, 14 R, 33 H, 3 2B, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 13 BB, 38 K, 0-1 SB, .262 OB, .289 slug, .199 batting avg.
(Lynchburg Hillcats; Pirates, high-A) – 7 GP, 18 AB, R, 3 H, 2B, RBI, 4 BB, 9 K, .375 OB, .222 s;ug, .167 batting avg.

Matt Macri, 3B (Tulsa Drillers/Texas League; Rockies, AA) – 83 GP, 288 AB, 35 R, 67 H, 12 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 35 RBI, 22 BB, 66 K, 2-6 SB, .294 OB, .372 slug, .233 batting avg.

Steve Sollmann, 2B (Brevard Country Manatees/Florida State League; Brewers, High-A) – 97 GP, 345 AB, 51 R, 98 H, 16 2B, HR, 38 RBI, 45 BB, 37 K, 13-17 SB, .394 OB, .339 slug, .284 batting avg.

Javi Sanchez, C (Fort Myers Miracle; Twins High-A) – injured

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Craig Cooper

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Craig Cooper, 1B (Fort Wayne Wizards/Midwest League; Padres, Low-A) – 6 GP, 21 AB, 6 R, 7 H, 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K, .423 OB, .476 slug, .333 batting avg.
(Eugene Emeralds/Northwest League; Padres, Low-A) – 60 GP, 231 AB, 45 R, 74 H, 18 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 46 RBI, 32 BB, 44 K, 5-6 SB. .418 OB, .485 slug, .320 batting avg.

Greg Lopez, IF (Pulaski Blue Jays; Blue Jays Low-A) – injured

Matt Edwards, 3B (Evansville Otters; Independent Frontier League) – 90 GP, 327 AB, 51 R, 98 H, 26 2B, 4 3B, 12 HR, 54 RBI, 50 BB, 58 K, 3-7 SB, .408 OB, .514 slug, .300 batting avg.

Matt Bransfield, 3B (Gateway Grizzlies; independent Frontier League) – 38 GP, 127 AB, 18 R, 29 H, 4 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 10 BB, 30 K, 0-3 SB, .296 OB, .307 slug, .228 batting avg.

Brad Lidge, RHP (Houston Astros) – 1-5, 5.28 ERA, 78 GP, 32 SV, 75.0 IP, 69 H, 44 ER, 10 HR, 36 BB, 6 HB, 104 K, .238 opp. avg.

Aaron Heilman, RHP (New York Mets) – 4-5, 3.62 ERA, 74 GP, 87.0 IP, 73 H, 37 R, 35 ER, 5 HR, 28 BB, 3 HB, 73 K, .231 opp. avg.

Danny Tamayo, RHP (Omaha Royals/Pacific Coast League; Royals, AAA; spent much of season on DL) – 3-2, 4.21 ERA, 7 GP/3 GS, 25.2 IP, 24 H/.245 opp. batting avg., 12 R, 12 ER, 4 HR, 4 BB, 26 K

Chris Michalak, LHP (Cincinnati Reds) – 2-4, 4.89 ERA, 8 GP, 6 GS, 35.0 IP, 42 H/.304 opp. batting avg., 21 R, 19 ER, 6 HR, 16 BB, 10 K
(Louisville Bats/International League; Reds, AAA) – 9-5, 2.99 ERA, 23 GP, 22 GS, 132.1 IP, 142 H/.278 opp. batting avg., 56 R, 44 ER, 17 HR, 28 BB, 61 K

Grant Johnson, RHP (Daytona Cubs/Florida State League; Cubs high-A) – 7-5, 4.70 ERA, 31 GP, 10 GS, SV, 92.0 IP, 108 H/.294 opp. batting avg., 63 R, 48 ER, 8 HR, 38 BB, 56 K

Chris Niesel, RHP (Kinston Indians/Carolina League; Indians, high-A; spent much of season on DL) – 3-0, 4.65 ERA, 17 GP, 31.0 IP, 35 H/.285 opp batting avg., 17 R, 16 ER, 6 HR, 15 BB, 4 HB, 34 K

Ryan Doherty, RHP (South Bend Silver Hawks/Midwest League; Diamondbacks, low-A) – 9-1, 2.59 ERA, 39 GP, 5 SV, 62.2 IP, 50 H/.214 opp. batting avg., 25 R, 18 ER, 2 HR, 20 BB, 76 K

Tom Thornton, LHP (Oneonta Tigers; Tigers, low-A) – 2-4, 3.33 ERA, 12 GP/ 11 GS, 51.1 IP, 55 H/.278 opp. batting avg., 24 R, 19 ER, 9 BB, 39 K

Jeff Samardzija, RHP (Peoria Chiefs/Midwest League; Cubs, Low-A) – 0-1, 3.27 ERA, 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 6 H/.167 opp. batting avg., 5 R, 4 ER, HR, 6 BB, 4
(Boise Hawks/Northwest League; Cubs, Low-A) – 1-1, 2.37 ERA, 5 GS, 19.0 IP, 18 H/.247 opp. batting avg., 5 R, 5 ER, HR, 6 BB, 5 HB, 13 K

Jeff Manship, RHP (Fort Myers Miracle/Florida State League; Twins, Low-A) – 0-0, 2.08 ERA, 4 GP/3 GS, 8.2 IP, 7 H/.212 opp. batting avg., 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 12 K
(Gulf Coast Twins/Gulf Coast League; Twins, Low-A) – 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 GP, 5.2 IP, 3 H/.150 opp. batting avg., 1 BB, 10 K

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Craig Counsell

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Brad Lidge

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Danny Tamayo

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Brian Stavisky

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Brant Ust

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Matt Macri

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Steve Sollmann

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Grant Johnson

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Chris Niesel

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Ryan Doherty

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Jeff Samardzija

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