Bedlam: Rangers Pitchers Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray Share Oklahoma Roots

Jon Gray signed with the Texas Rangers last year, in part, because Arlington was a little closer for his Oklahoma-based relatives. He’s from Shawnee, Okla.

Andrew Heaney, who signed a two-year deal with the Rangers last month, calculated that into his equation, too. Heaney was born in Oklahoma City.

“It's definitely something exciting for me,” Heaney said. “I have a lot of friends, a lot of family that are excited to be able to come down here and see me play closer.”

Just as notably, now that Gray and Heaney are teammates, it injects a little Bedlam into the rotation. Gray went to Oklahoma and Heaney to Oklahoma State.

So, both are Oklahoma boys, both went to the top two baseball schools in the state and both are 31 years old.

So, did the pair ever pitch against each other?

Well, no.

Gray played three sports at Chandler High School in Chandler, Okla. The Kansas City Royals selected Gray in the 13th round of the 2010 MLB Draft, but he did not sign. He didn’t go to Oklahoma, either. He enrolled at Eastern Oklahoma State College, a junior college in Wilburton so he could work as a starting pitcher.

The New York Yankees drafted Gray in the 10th round of the 2011 Draft and offered him $500,000 to sign. Gray said no and headed for OU after a 6-2 freshman season.

Heaney was already at Oklahoma State. A year ahead of Gray, Heaney went to Putnam City High School in Warr Acres, Okla., and joined the Cowboys in 2009. But not before he was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 24th round of the 2009 Draft.

Turns out Heaney and Gray only overlapped one season — 2012. The two schools played five games with each other that season — one weeknight game, a three-game weekend series and a game at the Big 12 Tournament.

The pair missed squaring off against each other by one day during that three-game series.

Heaney pitched in the series opener, going nine innings and throwing a three-hit shutout to win the game. The next night, Gray started, going seven innings and giving up four hits and two runs in the Sooners’ 8-4 win.

“We (Oklahoma State) got to get to face him in college and just got to see firsthand how great of a pitcher he is,” Heaney said.

After the 2012 season, Heaney was 8–2 with a 1.60 ERA and was a consensus All-American. The Miami Marlins drafted Heaney in the first round of the 2012 Draft and signed him to a $2.6 million signing bonus.

Gray stuck around and in 2013 he went 10–3 with a 1.64 ERA and won the National Pitcher of the Year Award. The Colorado Rockies took him No. 3 overall in 2013 and paid him a $4.2 million signing bonus.

Now, the two Oklahoma prep products who missed squaring off with each other in college by a single day, finally get a chance to know each other.

“I'm excited to get to know him a little bit better as a person because really right now I just know him more as a player,” Heaney said.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.

Need to catch up on the Rangers? Check out our Texas Rangers Offseason Central Page!

Add us as a preferred source on Google