Honoring CJ Heatley's Living Legacy
CJ "Heater" Heatley
CJ “Heater” Heatley is a 76-year-old lifelong ballplayer and former Naval Aviator, born in Pensacola, Florida and raised in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. His love of baseball began at age six, when he pitched with a borrowed glove worn backwards, and it never left him. Known for his blazing fastball and gritty determination, Heater went on to play across the U.S. and internationally, even throwing bullpen sessions on aircraft carriers while deployed.
Since 1991, he’s been a cornerstone of the DCMSBL community, earning eighteen championship rings and mentoring countless teammates. Despite a cancer diagnosis in 2010, CJ continues to play, coach, and inspire others through the game he loves.
For him, time, timing, memory, and memories are as essential as oxygen, water, and food.
"They give life its shape, meaning, and depth," Heater said. "Without them, you might still survive, but you wouldn’t live."
Baseball has been a constant, a teacher, and a timeless joy that has created many lasting and worthwhile memories.
Time, Timing, Memory, and Memories
The Origins of "Heater"
Before he was ever called “Heater,” CJ Heatley was a six-year-old lefty in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, already toeing the rubber in Little League, underage but undeterred, signed up by his dad. It was the 1950s, long before tee-ball or coach-pitch were the norm. Back then, the kids threw from the mound, and because Heatley was a southpaw, he was immediately made a pitcher.
He didn’t own his own glove starting out. Gloves for lefties were scarce. For the first few years, he wore a right-hander’s glove backwards on his right hand. In the field, it was too awkward to catch, take the glove off, and then throw lefty, so he wore it on his left hand and threw with his right, unless he was on the mound.
CJ’s first game in the Babe Ruth League was a no-hitter (the first batter walked), a performance that quickly caught the attention of the local American Legion team. They recruited him as a freshman, and over four years he went 17-0, with professional scouts regularly showing up to watch him pitch. Though he wasn’t drafted, a Mets scout recommended him to the University of Missouri’s baseball coach. Ironically, a football injury during his sophomore year there ended his college baseball career; at least until he discovered adult leagues years later.
It was in the Men’s Senior Baseball League (MSBL), and later from studying YouTube videos, that CJ truly began to understand the game at a deeper level.
“Thanks to the ex-big leaguers on my teams, I learned more about baseball in my first two years playing MSBL than from all the coaching I’d had before,” Heater said. "Even today, I have Tom Carroll from 1975’s 'The Big Red Machine' in our dugout, and Bart Zeller of the 1960’s Cardinals on my tournament teams.”
Decades later, he’s still playing first base, outfield, and pitching, still learning, and still in love with what he calls “an amazing game”—a passion he’s carried for over 70 years.
Hardballers
In 2015, what started as a small midweek workout at Nottoway Park with Heater & “Rocky” Graziano, turned into one of the most tightly knit and well-organized adult baseball communities in the region. It began with just five or six players looking to get extra reps—BP, infield, outfield—outside of the weekend games. But under the leadership of “Heater,” it became so much more.
Using his background in marketing and photography, Heater created weekly recap emails filled with action photos, captions, and a colorful narrative of each Wednesday morning session. The emails were shared and word spread fast. Players wanted in. Soon, the mailing list, “The Hardballers List,” ballooned to over 225 names, with 25–38 players showing up every week.
The format was structured like a professional clinic:
- Full infield/outfield
- Batting practice with towering fly balls and sharp grounders between BP pitches
- “Last Man Standing” infield drill
- Bunting, pick-offs and stealing practice
- PFPs, bullpens, and catcher-called live scrimmages (all ABs started 1-1)
And then came lunch—a tradition all its own.
What started with Dick Rader and Barney Sisco grilling hot dogs turned gourmet when chef Mike Gordon took over, serving up sausages, burgers, chicken, brats, and spicy slaw each week.
For 15 years, The Hardballers combined baseball, friendship, and food into 3.5 hours of pure joy, every Wednesday morning from January to October. Even those who moved away or could no longer play refused to be removed from the list; they wanted to stay connected to their baseball family.
The group didn’t just keep players sharp. It built the foundation for what would become the powerhouse 60+ and 70+ DCMSBL leagues. The Hardballers are more than a practice squad. They’re a living legacy of community, competition, and love for the game.
In 2020, Heater was inducted into the DCMSBL Hall of Fame. This recognition carried extra meaning, as the DCMSBL HoF had been honoring the league’s most influential contributors since its creation in 2008. For many, the honor wasn’t just about his skill on the field, but about the culture he had built; one that kept players coming back week after week, year after year, for the fellowship, competition, and connection that only baseball could provide.
A Fighter Pilot's Baseball Perspective
Baseball and Naval Aviation aren’t as different as they might seem to Heater. Both demand precision, discipline, and the ability to perform under pressure. Both are extremely competitive and adrenaline-fueled. From his years flying fighter jets, Heater carried over a relentless focus and a no-compromise attitude that continues to define how he approaches the game.
Baseball, like aviation, brings together people from every background— truck drivers, a White House Press Secretary, lawyers, doctors, airline pilots, military personnel, landscapers, plumbers, even ballet teacher named Charlie Abel who Heater says is one of the best players in the league. What mattered most in both worlds wasn’t your background, race or religion— it was your commitment, your competitiveness, and your ability to work as part of a high-performing team.
That sense of purpose shaped how Heater played and managed. He believed in preparation, structure, and intensity and that while winning may not be everything, it certainly made the game a whole lot more fun. Whether practicing on land or throwing into a catcher’s mitt on the flight deck between missions, Heater made every rep count.
Even the nickname “Heater” stuck, not just for his fastball, but for the way he brought the heat mentally. He never went through the typical Navy callsign hazing process because everyone, even his wife, already called him Heater. The mindset of a fighter pilot followed him to the mound: prepare, focus, execute, and compete like it’s life or death. After all, second place is dead last in a dogfight.
And while the stakes on the field weren’t as high, the intensity never left. Heater brought the same edge to every pitch, every practice, and every teammate huddle, because that’s just how he is wired.
The Sanctuary of the Diamond
Baseball isn’t just a game to Heater; it’s become a refuge.
Each time he steps onto the field, from the quiet respect of the pregame plate meeting to the final round of postgame handshakes, he’s granted something rare: peace.
"Baseball is my sanctuary now. From the pregame managers’ & umpires’ meeting at home plate until the postgame handshakes, I escape from severe tinnitus, blood cancer, Amyloidosis, and coronary artery disease from ultra high Lipoprotein(a). It’s absolutely wonderful to have a three hour escape from progressively debilitating fatal diseases. Just being in the dugout with the guys is the best medicine."
In the baseball community, Heater finds more than teammates, he finds purpose, perspective, and belonging. These aren’t just games. They’re three-hour windows where pain quiets, spirits lift, and the world makes sense.
Over decades, this community has become family. Many players have stood by him for 30+ years, aging up through 30+, 35+, 40+, etc.......,65+, 70+, 73+ & 75+ divisions, winning championships, traveling together, and forging lifelong friendships. They’ve laughed, competed, supported each other through illness and injury, and created a brotherhood that defies time. He’s hoping he’ll still be here to compete in 80+.
To Heater, baseball is not a hobby. It’s a place to be whole again.
It’s the sanctuary that keeps him going.
You don't quit baseball because you're old. You get old because you quit baseball!
"If you want to play baseball, you need three things: teams to play, fields to play on, and umpires to make it official. First step, ya gotta find a league," Heater said.
While stationed in San Diego, Heater played in the NABA (National Adult Baseball Association). When he moved to the DMV, one or two games a week just wasn’t enough. Like many dedicated players, he joined two DCMSBL teams in different age brackets and a Ponce team, giving him three games a week, a pace he kept for decades.
Today, Heater focuses on playing and managing the 60+ and 70+ DCMSBL Cardinals, still bringing the same love for the game that’s driven him for over 70 years.
Heater the Ultimate Teamate
"Heater has a burning desire to win. I have played with Heater over the past 15 years, and he does know every aspect of baseball. Yet he continues to research and learn as if he still was that 6-year-old southpaw in PA. He certainly works on his own game, figuring out how to get outs with no rotator cuff in his left arm, and his body fighting him rather than helping him.
Heater’s individual statistics are legendary. As a coach and a teammate, Heater is dedicated to seeing the game played the right way. He will spend hours (trust me), going over every situation, – ask anyone who has played with him about what to do when we have first and third and nobody out, one out, two outs. Then we go over those plays from our defensive approach.
Throughout his playing career, but I think particularly after Father Time took something off his fastball, Heater took pride in his prowess at first base. I played a lot of third base and often my throws were not on the mark. With his great wingspan, his ability to scoop balls, and just playing first base correctly, Heater saved me from so many errors. If you think that you have to make perfect throws every time, that might be some pressure. Heater removed that pressure from the entire infield.
The remarkable thing about Heater is that he will give his time to any player who is willing to listen and learn, no matter what level of baseball talent they have. He gets excited when he sees eight to ten players warming up (correctly) in the outfield 30 minutes before the start of the ballgame because they are paying respect to the game. As he has faced every challenge that has presented itself, he is always there for his teammates. One week I was going to fill in for Heater as manager because he was stuck in Florida.
We may have only had eight or nine players, so it might have been a challenge. Twenty minutes before the game started, Heater shows up ready to play and lead the team after driving all night to get there. I know that in his Navy career, he would have been regarded as the ultimate shipmate. I know him through baseball as the ultimate teammate."
-Brian Heagney
Capturing a Moment
From the Field to the Frame
CJ “Heater” Heatley started at the University of Missouri (Mizzou) chasing baseball and football dreams, but it was the school’s renowned journalism program, the best in the country, that ultimately changed his path.
On campus, many students poked fun at the “J-School” crowd for their grueling workload, but Heater found himself envious of their drive and purpose. Frustrated with his own uncertainty about a major, he decided in his sophomore year to make the leap, switching to journalism and diving in with everything he had. Just as they warned, the work was intense — but he loved every minute of it.
His entry into photography came almost by accident. Unable to type fast enough to keep up in Reporting 101, Heater swapped into Press Photography 1. Without a camera of his own, he borrowed the school’s twin-lens reflex and developed his first roll of film in the darkroom. Watching an image slowly appear on the paper was pure magic, and it hooked him for life.
From then on, he carried a camera everywhere. Over the next three years, he shot for the town's daily paper, The Columbia Missourian magazine, advertisers, and the Associated Press and United Press International wire services, sharpening the eye that would later capture iconic moments both on the ground and in the skies.
"I set up my camera then ran into position next to 320 lb, All-Pro, Larron Jackson on the left," Heater said about taking the Mizzou reunion photo. "We’re on the exact same spot we took the original team photo 50 years earlier."
The Cutting Edge
As a working photojournalist, Heater carried a camera everywhere, usually two at once, each loaded with different lenses and film speeds. So it was only natural that he brought a camera into the cockpit during his Naval Aviation career, capturing rare and powerful images from above.
His extensive photo collection caught the eye of The Cutting Edge publishers, who were creating a follow-up Navy aviation coffee table book after a USAF edition. While scouting NAS Miramar, they noticed his photos everywhere, in the Officers’ Club, TOPGUN, and squadron offices, and visited his home to see the full archive.
They told him 15,000 copies sold would be typical for a coffee table book, with 25,000 being a spectacular success. Instead, by 1989, The Cutting Edge had sold over 500,000 copies—making it the best-selling coffee table book ever.
Nearly 40 years later, Heater still receives 2–3 copies weekly from fans around the world to sign and return, each with its own fascinating story. It’s a legacy he treasures deeply.
Photo: "This is 'Ducks' my back-seater and my three wingmen returning to the ship," Heater said. "It was this photo in California Magazine that inspired the producers to make Top Gun."
Timing and Truth
Photojournalism isn’t about simply taking pictures, to Heater it’s about capturing truth in its most powerful form.
His guiding principle is simple: “Timing.” Being in the right place at the right moment is everything. In the early days, every frame was manual, no auto-focus, no auto-exposure, just instinct, light, composition and skill. Today’s digital tools may make it easier to take thousands of shots, but Heater believes the heart of great photography hasn’t changed.
More importantly, he sees photojournalism as a sacred duty:
"The public has the right to know the truth," Heater said. "The journalist has a duty to tell it, fully and fearlessly. Journalists must remember: Truth is sacred. Access is a privilege. Context is everything. Photojournalists don’t just shoot pictures, they reveal truths some people may not want seen. Iconic images resonate emotionally because they are both powerful and memorable."
On the Field and in the Sky
Photojournalist to Fighter Pilot
The Path to Becoming a Pilot
CJ Heatley didn’t grow up dreaming of being a fighter pilot, not at first. As a kid, he was fascinated by his dad’s balsa wood airplane models and old aviation books from WWI, WWII, and Korea. He loved imagining himself taking photos from the backseat of a fighter, but flying one? That seemed unlikely since roller coasters scared him.
Everything changed when he saw war footage of U.S. troops cheering as fighter planes swooped in overhead to save the day. Then came Winston Churchill’s stirring words from the Battle of Britain:
“Never in the course of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Heater realized he wanted to be one of those few.
At age nine, he decided to overcome his fears and ride the famous Dorney Park roller coaster. After a couple of aborted attempts just to get in line, he finally managed to climb into the front seat. The plan was to pretend he was in flying a P-51 Mustang chasing German Messerschmitt's and Japanese Zero’s through the skies. Instead of being scared to death with his stomach in his throat on every downhill plunge and fearing the G’s in the tight turns, he held his imaginary stick and throttle and asked his “fighter” for more. In Heater’s mind he needed to go faster, dive steeper and pull harder in order to stay behind the enemy aircraft. First time around was anything but a “silk scarf, swagger” moment but luckily Heater had three more tickets. After four consecutive runs his future was set. He was going to be a fighter pilot... and there was never a Plan B.
Fourteen years later, he was flying F-4 Phantoms off the USS Forrestal, intercepting Soviet bombers over the Mediterranean. From childhood dreams to high-speed dogfights, Heater’s journey to the cockpit was built on courage, grit, and one wild ride that changed everything.
Photo: Heater’s RIO (Radar Intercept Officer) here is the future Admiral Ted “Slap Shot” Carter. He also ran the Naval War College, the Naval Academy, the University of Nebraska and is currently President of The Ohio State University.
A Real TOPGUN
Heater served during one of the most transformative periods in Naval Aviation, when TOPGUN was born out of necessity after poor air-to-air combat performance in Vietnam.
At TOPGUN, “Good enough is never good enough” wasn’t just a motto, it was a way of life. The instructors embodied what Heater calls the relentless pursuit of perfection. From lectures and briefings to every flight, the standards were uncompromising. Heater eventually even became an instructor himself.
From 1977 to 1981, Heater served as a TOPGUN Instructor, training the Navy’s best aviators in air combat tactics. He saw firsthand the 80-hour weeks, the obsession with precision, and the mission-first mindset that made TOPGUN elite. It was the most intense culture of excellence he had ever experienced.
Though he eventually took off the flight suit, the TOPGUN mindset never left him. Heater carried that same focus, discipline, and refusal to settle for “good enough” into everything he’s done since
28 Years in the Fast Lane
Basic training began in Pensacola in the T-34, followed by advanced training in Beeville, TX in the T-2 Buckeye and TA-4 Skyhawk. While in Beeville, Heater proposed over the phone to his college sweetheart, who drove down from Missouri with all she owned. Their wedding was postponed for the base football playoffs, and afterward a Justice of the Peace married them for ten dollars. The money they saved went toward two motorcycles and a bicycle built for two.
Motocross became a weekend obsession until a fighter slot opened up. Heater joined VF-74, flying the F-4 Phantom on two cruises aboard USS Forrestal and Nimitz. Dream orders to TOPGUN followed, where he flew MiGs against students and joined the inaugural cadre of the 4477th Test & Evaluation Flight (America's Secret MiG Squadron) in 1979.
Transitioning to the F-14 Tomcat with VF-1 Wolfpack, he completed two WestPac cruises, then moved to shore duty at the Naval War College and then served as Operations Officer/Executive Officer with VF-124 in San Diego, training new Tomcat crews.
As Commanding Officer of VF-21 Freelancers, Heater led two more WestPac deployments, replacing USS Midway with USS Independence in Japan. Immediately afterward, he served with COMCRUDESGRU One as Air Operations Officer for the entire Battle Group—unusually remaining fully flight-qualified in the F-14 with VF-1 and VF-2, flying over Iraq and adding to his 1,064 traps (carrier arrested landings).
Following a Pentagon tour, Heater’s final command was the Joint Warfare Analysis Center, closing out a career of 28 years, 6,400 flight hours, and 1,124 traps.
“I never thought about a Plan B,” Heater said. “I was so lucky. Flying fighters was the best gig in the world—and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
His Worlds Collide: Top Gun
The Man Who Inspired "Top Gun" the Movie
Long before "Top Gun" hit the big screen, CJ “Heater” Heatley was already flying high with a camera in hand. One of his cockpit photos, showing his back-seater and three wingmen caught the attention of producers, Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. The image perfectly captured the power, speed, and mystique of Naval Aviation, and it became the visual blueprint for the film. The producers called the image “Star Wars on Earth” and they had to put it on the big screen.
Months before filming started, Tony Scott, the Director of "Top Gun," went to Heater’s house multiple times to sort through hundreds of slides and talk about movie-making. Tony Scott selected 30 photos to be used in the movie, including the one above in the bar scene where Heater sat next to Kelly McGillis and sang along with Tom Cruise during two days of shooting. Tony also used the photos on office walls throughout the movie as well as blowing up some of his favorites to pump up the cast each night. He told them, “This will be the look and feel of Top Gun" During the classroom in the hangar scene when Heater arrived on set the very first time, Tony yelled out "Heat-tah” in his British accent. Tom Cruise heard him and left the classroom scene, walked over to Heater, introduced himself then asked, “Do you know what Tony’s been doing with your photos?” and then excitedly told Heater about it.
After working together for four months Heater received a number of 3-page handwritten letters from Tom Mapother for years afterwards. (His real name is Tom Cruise Mapother IV.) Heater and Tony Scott remained very close until Tony’s death in 2012.
Today, CJ “Heater” Heatley’s legacy lives on not only in the skies he once flew, but also in the iconic cinematic moments his camera helped create; proof that one man’s vision can help define the look and feel of an entire era.
Behind the Lens, Ahead of the Danger
While filming "TOP GUN," Heater wasn’t just flying, he was behind the camera for some of the film’s most iconic moments. He captured all of the missile launches and most of the over water scenes in the movie using a bulky Arriflex reel-to-reel camera from the backseat of an F-14. There was no CGI in the first "TOP GUN," every shot had to be real, and perfect.
But during one critical missile shoot involving eight Tomcats, something went dangerously wrong.
Heater, serving as the official Safety Observer, saw on radar that a C-130 drone carrier had violated protocol. Instead of turning around after drone launch, it continued down range, straight into the firing line behind the target drone. The fighter was moments from pulling the trigger.
Heater keyed the mic and called out:
“Knock it off! Knock it off! The range is foul.”
That split-second decision prevented a potential shootdown of an F-14 instead of the drone. The C-130 pilot admitted his mistake, and the mission was reset safely.
It was a moment Heater never forgot—one that showcased not just his eye for film, but his steady nerves and decisiveness when it mattered most.
Heater's Biggest Difference Between TOPGUN and Top Gun
CJ “Heater” Heatley enjoyed both “Top Gun” films, but he’s quick to point out the difference between the Hollywood version and the real TOPGUN.
In real life, TOPGUN instructors have to be humble, credible, and approachable. There’s no room for caustic egos or reckless stunts.
“Maverick and Iceman?” Heater said. “They never would’ve been asked back as instructors. Maverick would’ve been court-martialed for half the stuff he did. However, a lot of the flying in both movies is exactly how we trained and fought."
While the movies delivered heart-pounding action and unforgettable drama, the real TOPGUN is about discipline, precision, teamwork, and most importantly mission success, not buzzing the tower without permission or showboating on a training flight.
CJ "Heater" Heatley's Legacy
Heater's Fight
"I was in 8 different experimental trials for my cancer over 11 years. Some had brutal side effects and the last one was a radioactive Iodine isotope administered intravenously. I couldn’t be near people, including my wife, for week after each infusion. Four weeks after my last infusion my still radioactive body tripped the sensors at Reagan airport and I was immediately surrounded by seven heavily armed men in all black uniforms plus two Belgian Malinois dogs. They accepted my explanation and I told them all how much I appreciated knowing they were there. None of the 8 chemotherapies worked.
In January of 2023 I was diagnosed with ATTR-CM Amyloidosis, as often happens to people who have blood cancer. It came with the devastating news that my heart muscle tissue was infiltrated with sticky amyloid fibrils and was twice as thick as normal. They gave me about 4-6 years to live. With all the extra medical scrutiny it was discovered that I had ultra high Lipoprotein(a), something almost never checked on blood tests. Lp(a) is ten times worse than bad cholesterol so they did a special scan of my heart and found severe coronary artery disease. That could take me out at any time so you can imagine the anxiety and insomnia that comes with that."
- CJ "Heater" Heatley
Making Memories
When asked what keeps him motivated and what he still wants to accomplish Heater responded:
"Basically, I’m trying to buy more time so I can make more memories with my family, friends and teammates. I try to make all encounters that I have with humans and pets a positive one. I’d like people and animals to feel better for meeting me."
Giving Back
CJ “Heater” Heatley has always believed in paying it forward. When The Cutting Edge became a surprise bestseller, he donated the royalties to seven different charities, using the book’s success to help others. He also spoke at charity events, sharing insights on the real TOPGUN vs. the Hollywood version to inspire and educate.
Now, the community gives back to him.
From longtime fans and friends to entire congregations, countless people have kept Heater in their hearts and prayers during his ongoing health journey. A Marine friend and fellow aviator even launched a “Give Tax Free” page to help cover costly, uncovered treatments; it's a gesture Heater calls both humbling and deeply moving.
In giving, and in receiving, Heater continues to show what a living legacy truly means.
Can't Take the Game Out of a Player
"Amyloidosis ruptured both biceps tendons, all of my rotator cuff tendons, and both hamstrings, requiring 10 separate surgeries to reattach. On a Monday, August 17, 2019, they reattached my right biceps to my forearm and 36 hours later I was throwing BP at Nottoway to the Hardballers on Wednesday!"
-CJ "Heater" Heatley
Thanks!
Thank you Heater for providing and allowing us to use your photos! We wish you the best of luck in your battle!
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