John Geoffrey Heath (April 1, 1915[1][a] – December 9, 1975) was a Canadian-born American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his career for the Cleveland Indians.

Heath played for the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns during the 1946 season and the National League's (NL) Boston Braves beginning in 1948.

He incurred a compound fracture to his ankle in late September 1948 in a game in Brooklyn shortly after Boston had clinched the pennant.

Heath chose a future in baseball, however, and in 1935, he signed with the Yakima Bears of the semipro Northwest League, where he hit .390.

He was selected as an All-American amateur team member, managed by Les Mann and played games in Japan.

Cleveland Indians scout Willie Kamm helped sign Heath to a contract with the organization in 1936.

[5] Kamm said, "If this kid isn't a big leaguer I've wasted a lot of time learning baseball.

Heath batted left-handed and threw right-handed and was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and 200 pounds (91 kg) (14 stone, 4).

He broke in with the Indians in 1936 at the age of 21, appeared in 12 games with the club and recorded a .341 batting average and seven extra-base hits.

[1] During spring training leading up to the 1937 season, Heath was describing as getting "as much attention as the backline of a Broadway chorus.

[1] During spring training before the 1938 season, Indians manager Oscar Vitt said Heath was "the best natural hitter I've seen since Joe Jackson.

[10] He had 21 home runs and 112 RBIs, collected 58 hits in August alone, and was among the league leaders in slugging average and total bases for the 1938 season.

"[13] During the season, Heath was one of 12 reported players who presented a list of grievances against Vitt to Indians President Alva Bradley.

[17] The Indians lost the AL pennant by one game to the Detroit Tigers and Heath received much of the blame, although Vitt was released as the team's manager and replaced by Roger Peckinpaugh.

Heath came back in 1941 with a season campaign in which he again led the AL with 20 triples, batted .340 (fourth in the league), and was third in slugging behind Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.

[21] In years previous, Heath had been described as "lazy" and "lacking aggressiveness" but the 1943 season appeared to be different, including investing extra time in batting practice.

[26] Despite missing the beginning part of the season, he was still named an All-Star although the game was not played due to travel restrictions during World War II.

Heath, who had acquired the nickname "Lord Jeff", was called a "problem child" by Indian player-manager Lou Boudreau.

In 1946, Senators' President Clark Griffith agreed to send outfielder George Case to Cleveland in exchange for Heath.

He finished with the team hitting .283 with four home runs and 27 RBIs, his last game on June 15 before he was traded to the St. Louis Browns in mid-June for Al LaMacchia and Joe Grace.

The Browns were the second team in the AL to add black players to their roster after the Indians signed Larry Doby in July 1947.

In the Browns' final game, Heath was already in the clubhouse showers when it was his turn to bat in the ninth inning.

[5][42] During the game, Heath attempted to score from second base and slid towards home plate to try to beat the tag by Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella.

[43] After playing in the majors for parts of 12 years, he would be forced to miss the World Series as it was later diagnosed he fractured his ankle.

[49] Baseball historian Bill James when summarizing the 1940s listed Heath as the recipient for his designation of "A Better Ballplayer Than a Human Being.

"[5] Before he retired from professional baseball, Heath appeared in 57 games for the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League.

[1][51] Bobby Thomson surpassed him in 1955 to become the major leagues' home run leader among foreign-born players.