Scott Heinig
1988-2011
In Spring of 2011, a great friend, teammate, captain, and person was lost after a brain aneurysm burst and immediate brain surgery failed to save him. Scott Heinig was no ordinary man, he was truly extraordinary. He loved the game of baseball and his teammates that came along with it. He inspired people around him daily just with his character - no body worked harder then him and no one enjoyed every second of life as much as him. He was known for starting each practice with the phrase "How great is LIFE today?". It's hard to understand why we lose the great ones and Scott was truly that. He will always be missed, but always remembered as he continues to inspire like he inspired me and the UC Davis Baseball team of '09-'10.
Memorial Bench
I was completely honored when the team asked me to build a memorial bench in honor of Scott. I knew that there was no better way for Scott to continue to inspire future UC Davis athletes like himself. It was a very rewarding project for me, but also a very difficult one. Not difficult in the building process as I had a tremendous amount of support and generosity from everyone who had been a part of Scott's life or even just heard his story. The difficult part of this bench was that I had to finally say goodbye to Scott once it was all done. While working on the bench, there was never a moment where I didn't feel like Scott was there with me. I even had the opportunity of storing the bench in my house up until installation into the UC Davis Baseball Stadium in which I looked at that bench everyday and it was like Scott was there. I know that Scott will be with this bench and he will be there at every UC Davis baseball practice and every game inspiring and motivating and showing everyone just how great life really is today.
Bench Assembly
In the Fall of 2011 after my final year of baseball I set out to design a bench that would pay memorial to the life and character of Scott Heinig. After a busy fall quarter of classes, I began building and gathering donations at the beginning of winter quarter. In a matter of six weeks I turned my bench design into a reality and presented it at the Baseball Season Kick-Off social event on February 18, 2012. The complete fabrication of the bench was done solely by myself in that time, the welding, the cutting, the mounting of the bats. I would like to thank S & K Steel for the donation they made for part of the steel tubing; as well as Powder-Coat It for the beautiful paint job that will last forever; and Fedex Expess for the printing, sealing, and coating of pictures to ensure they will last as long as possible. I also want to thank everyone who donated money to this cause, your generosity will live with the beauty of this memorial bench.