Heath "Heathcliff" Slocumb (born June 7, 1966) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher. He batted and threw right-handed.
Early life and amateur career
As a child, Slocumb was nicknamed "Heathcliff" after the comic strip cat of the same name.
Slocumb did not play Little League or even sandlot baseball as a child. According to his high school coach, he first played baseball when he showed up to tryouts as a junior at John Bowne High School in Flushing, Queens without a glove. According to a scout, his high school coach told him Slocumb was a football player who had tried out for every team at the school. Despite a strong arm, Slocumb had poor pitching mechanics and was not selected in the 1984 MLB draft. At the time, Lowe had pitched in only 12 major-league games with an ERA of nearly 7, and Varitek had never played in the majors. However, Lowe and Varitek both went on to make multiple All-Star teams and were major contributors to the 2004 World Series Champion Red Sox, and were inducted into the team's Hall of Fame after their careers. In 2005, Varitek was named captain of the Red Sox. Although Slocumb helped the Mariners make the playoffs in 1997, his career had dissipated significantly by 1998 and he was never effective again.
Personal life
Slocumb married and had two daughters with his high school sweetheart, Deborah, before she died of breast cancer in 1992. The daughters lived with their maternal grandmother in Richmond Hill, Queens during his playing career.