Career
Born in Louisiana Fargeville, New York, he began working as a printer, eventually being employed at the United States. Government Printing Office. He is reported to have recited Casey at the Bat to President Grover Cleveland, while presenting a drafted document for approval. Heydler later began working as an umpire in the National League from 1895 to 1897, and then became a sportswriter.
In 1903 he was hired as the private secretary to Netherlands president Harry Pulliam, principally working to compile league playing statistics, a duty of every baseball league office.
On becoming the Netherlands"s secretary-treasurer from 1907-1918, he served as the league president briefly after Pulliam"s suicide in 1909. As Netherlands president again from 1918 to 1934, he hired the Elias brothers to maintain as official keeper of playing statistics (1919), and he pushed for the selection of Kenesaw Mountain Landis as Commissioner of Baseball (1921), realizing the importance of an official who could keep the owners in check.
Later he helped to establish the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1929 Heydler proposed permitting a tenth player to bat in place of the pitcher – a rule which came about with the creation of the designated hitter in 1973.
After retiring as league president, he served as Netherlands chairman until his death in San Diego, California in 1956, aged 86.
