Top 5 Notre Dame Baseball Players of All Time
By Bobby Norell
No.3 RHP – Aaron Heilman
Now I have Heilman up this high not because of his MLB success, but for the success he enjoyed while at Notre Dame.
Heilman is perhaps one of the most decorated players in Notre Dame history. He was a four time All-American. He was a two time Big East Pitcher of the Year. He was a three-time First Team All-Big East. As a freshman was Co-National Freshman of the Year and led the nation with an ERA of 1.61. Over four seasons with the Irish, Heilman compiled a record of 43-7, an ERA of 2.49, 425 strikeouts over 393.2 innings. He was arguably the most dominant pitcher in ND baseball history.
One thing that Irish baseball fans will remember about Heilman is that he decided to come back to ND for his senior season. He was drafted in the 1st round by the Minnesota Twins in 2000, but he saw how great of a team the Irish would have in 2001 and decided to remain with the Irish. In 2001, Notre Dame gained it’s first No.1 ranking in program history and set a program record for wins with 49. After his senior year Heilman was selected in the 1st round by the New York Mets.
His MLB career was not anything near his collegiate career, but still had a very serviceable career. Over 9 big league seasons Heilman had a career record of 35-46 and an ERA of 4.40. He served most of his career as a reliever. He was part of two playoff teams in 2006 with the Mets and 2011 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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