Hetling was born in November 1885 at St. Louis, Missouri. His father, Henry Hetling, was born in Missouri in 1856, and his mother, Bertha Hetling, was also a Missouri native born in 1865. At the time of the 1900 U.S. Census, the family lived in St. Louis, and Hetling\'s father was employed as a day laborer.\n', '

Hetling played only one day in Major League Baseball, appearing as a third baseman in both games of a double-header for the Detroit Tigers on October 6, 1906. Hetling had one hit in seven at bats for a .143 batting average. He handled five total chances with three putouts, two assists, and no errors.\n', '

\n', 'Hetling spent most of his baseball career, totaling 14 years, in the minor leagues. He played for the Springfield Midgets (1904, 1906), Springfield Highlanders (1906), Wichita Jobbers (1907–08), Kansas City Blues (1909), and Spokane Indians (1910). In 1906, he had 30 doubles, 12 triples and three home runs in 140 games for Wichita. In 1908, he hit .318 in 140 games for Wichita. His .318 batting average was second best in the Western Association in 1908, and he led the league with 116 hits. Early in the 1909 season, while Hetling was playing for Kansas City in the American Association, Sporting Life wrote:

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