Stop us if this sounds familiar: An aging baseball player plugs away for years and years in the minor leagues. He tastes the major leagues only briefly, but never really sticks. But through perseverance and dedication, he becomes something of minor-league hero, and even picks up a pretty cool — if slightly peculiar — record along the way.  No, we're not talking about Crash Davis, the catcher Kevin Costner played in Bull Durham. We're talking about 37-year-old Mike Hessman, who on Monday night hit a grand slam for the Toledo Mud Hens to become the minor leagues' all-time home run leader. He's now hit 433 career dingers in front of small crowds a world removed from the big leagues' bright lights.  “Some guys can run, some guys can throw, some guys can play defense,” the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Hessman told The Sporting News last summer. “But I’ve been lucky enough to have some power.”  But Hessman exists in a no-man's land. He's had enough power to play pro ball ever since graduating from Mater Dei High School in Southern California nearly 20 years ago. He's had enough power to rope those 433 minor league homers, plus a handful more in the majors. But he hasn't had enough power — or skill, or speed, or just enough something — to ever become a bonafide big leaguer.  Along the way, Hessman's crossed paths with plenty of big names since being drafted out of high school in the 1996 draft. One of those names, Atlanta Braves legend Chipper Jones, saluted his old teammate's new record via Twitter on Monday night.  Congrats to my old minor and major league teammate, Mike Hessman, for blasting his 433rd HR tonite for the Toledo MudHens! #lotsoftaters  — Chipper Jones (@RealCJ10) August 4, 2015  So what gives? How is it that a guy is good enough to hit 433 career home runs in the minor leagues, but not good enough to leave the minor leagues behind for good?  Hessman has played in a total of 109 major league games for the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers and New York Mets over the past 12 years, according to The Associated Press, but hasn't gotten a call-up since 2010. He has 14 career home runs in the majors, with a career batting average of just .188 overall.  “I don’t think he’s gotten his fair shake of getting enough at-bats in the big leagues,” Cincinnati Reds pitcher Jason Marquis told The Sporting News last year. “I believe, from what I see, he could have been a dangerous major-league hitter.”  In Bull Durham, Davis, the baseball lifer played by Costner, promptly retires after finally nabbing the minor league home run record. Asked if he'd ride off into the sunset after getting the record in real life, Hessman said he won't be pulling a Crash anytime soon.  "If it was later in the year, maybe. But no, I've never thought about that," Hessman told MiLB.com of retiring. "Now I can go out there and hopefully finish the season strong."  Who knows? Even at 37 years old, a return trip to the bigs is always just a phone call away.
Meet the man behind a very strange baseball record. Mike Hessman just set the minor league home run mark.