ProRodeo Sports News - April 16, 2021

rodeo in their younger days and certainly had the advice and know-how to guide Taylor to greatness. Then, reality set in. Robby sat his son down. “My dad was blatantly honest,” Taylor said during a recent off day. “He said I’m not going to be able to make a living in rodeo and being on the road, but he wasn’t deciding for me. He said he’d support me either way, but I knew he was right. It was about me making the decision that would be better for me long term, so I took my chance at baseball and started to look at rodeo as more of a hobby.” It looks like the youngest Hearn made a nice choice. Fast forward to March 2021, when the now 26-year-old made the Opening Day roster for the first time for the Texas Rangers, his favorite team growing up. And though he didn’t choose rodeo as his full-time career, he has plenty of perspective on how rodeo helped shape him as a professional baseball player. “I think rodeo has made a pretty big impact on my baseball career, for sure,” Hearn said. “For one, there’s the grit. Then there’s patience, and that’s probably the biggest thing. In baseball, you’re going to fail a lot. The experiences I had in failure in rodeo in those days in the practice pen really help me out now. More so, it’s trusting the process as learning is a day-by-day thing.” Hearn, whose No. 21 was eventually retired by his high school – he graduated in 2012 – was drafted three times before he signed in 2015 as a fifth-round pick of the Washington Nationals. One year later, he was traded to Pittsburgh, then in a twist of fate, was dealt to Texas in summer 2018. “I think that was God’s hand working his wonder,” Hearn said. “I always pictured myself playing for the Rangers, but I just didn’t know when. Here I am. I just remember going to a bunch of Rangers games as a kid, then listening to them on the radio when they were on the road.” He made his major league debut April 25, 2019, but was placed on the injured list the next day due to elbow inflammation and missed the rest of the season. More elbow woes shortened his 2020 season, but he rejoined the club in August during the coronavirus-shortened season and registered a 3.63

earned run average in 14 appearances. Now, with a clean bill of health, Hearn is eager to progress and trust that process he learned from all those tie-down roping runs. “For one, I just want to finish the season healthy,” Hearn said. “Then, it’s just the desire to get better. I know I’m going to have good and bad outings. It’s just a matter of bouncing back and limiting those bad outings.” And during his down time, he’s sure to stay connected with his lifelong rodeo friends, most notably reigning World Champion Tie-down Roper Shad Mayfield, along with fellow ropers Cory Solomon and Tuf Cooper. As a bonus, Hearn had a chance to reconnect in person in December when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo to move to Arlington, Texas, and Globe Life Field, the home of the Rangers. “I’ve known a lot of these guys for a long time, and our families go back multiple generations,” Hearn said. “We definitely stay in touch when we can, and thank God for social media since I know how busy they are and vice versa. It was a cool experience at the NFR, getting to see it live and up close and getting to see friends I hadn’t seen in a long time.” Mayfield praised Hearn. “I got to know Taylor through my family and his family,” Mayfield said. “I’ve known Taylor quite a while, and recently we started keeping in touch. He’s a really good guy. He ropes a little bit, knows all about rodeo and loves to follow the PRCA results. He keeps up with what I’m doing. He does rope, and I know I would like to hit one of his fastballs. I’ve never done it, but I would love to try it.” Hearn doesn’t have any regrets on his career choice, but he’s not about to leave rodeo and the cowboy lifestyle behind. Hearn will spend parts of his offseason riding and roping to rekindle boyhood memories. And maybe down the road, he’ll have a wife and family to introduce rodeo to the next generation, even if it doesn’t produce a world-class athlete in the process. “If I do have a family, this will be something I want to show them and do for sure, to just show them that side of me,” Hearn said. “And if it’s something to do on the side or if it’s something they want to do as a career, I’ll fully support them, either way.”

Photo courtesy Texas Rangers

Rangers pitcher Taylor Hearn, who grew up rodeoing, made the Opening Day roster for the first time this season.

ProRodeo Sports News 4/16/2021

ProRodeo.com

43