Baseball awards are always given out at the end of the year, after the World Series has been played: most valuable player, Cy Young, rookie of the year, manager of the year, executive of the year. In the past few years, I have even named a winner of the Sigh Young award.
I am creating another award, but I’m not going to wait until after the World Series to give it out. There’s no need to. I am not promising that the honor will be awarded in subsequent seasons because the winners of this award have set the bar so high any subsequent candidates will be hard pressed to deserve it.
If you’re waiting for the punch line, sorry, I don’t have one. There is nothing funny about this award. The winners of the award are only to be admired. This is the Humanitarian Award, and the winners are the top two executives of the Arizona Diamondbacks – the managing general partner Ken Kendrick and the president and chief executive officer Derrick Hall.
Kendrick and Hall have performed an act of humanity rarely seen in Major League Baseball or any sport or industry, for that matter.
“They’ve done so many great things for me and my family. They don’t do it for the headlines. They do it because they care.”
Cory Hahn said that on Monday, taking a few minutes away from his job with the Diamondbacks. Twenty-three years old, Hahn works in the Diamondbacks’ scouting department. He would rather be playing for the Diamondbacks or for one of their minor league teams or anybody’s minor league teams, but he can’t play for anyone.
In the first inning of his third game at Arizona State University in 2011, the freshman outfielder slid headfirst into the second baseman’s knee and broke a vertebrae. He was paralyzed from the middle of his chest down and today gets around in a wheelchair.
He had been a talented high school baseball player, being named Mr. Baseball in California in 2010 and being good enough for the San Diego Padres to choose him in the 26th round of the 2010 draft. He opted for the Arizona State scholarship instead, but it wasn’t to be the last time he would be drafted.
At the suggestion of scouting director Ray Montgomery, the Diamondbacks made Hahn their pick in the 34th round of the 2013 draft, choosing that round because 34 was Hahn’s uniform number when he played at Arizona State.
“When Ray Montgomery and his staff came up with the idea and presented it to me, it was a no-brainer,” Hall said. “It’s not about us. It’s really about Cory and his family.”
That magnanimous gesture was not to be the last. There would be another this year, but before the Diamondbacks executed that one, they hired Hahn for their scouting department upon his college graduation last year.
Then came this year’s draft. A few days before the draft the Diamondbacks announced they were creating an annual “Cory Hahn 34th Pick.”
“When we drafted Cory two years ago, we did so with the intention of him being a part of this organization for many years to come,” Hall said in the team’s news release.
“By naming our 34th pick after him, we ensure his place in D-backs history even as he just begins to make his mark in the front office. He has already made valuable contributions to the franchise and we look forward to keeping tabs on those who follow in his footsteps – both on and off the field – as our 34th-round pick each year.”
As impressed as I was with the D’backs’ treatment of Hahn, I wondered if it could boomerang on Hahn and wind up having a negative effect. After all, here’s a young man who was looking forward to playing baseball professionally and was confident he could, but here he was scrutinizing players his age doing what he wanted but never would.
“Definitely it’s tough,” Hahn said candidly, “because I tend to revert to thinking about what would I be doing if I were playing.”
On the other hand, Hahn has obviously come to grips with his circumstance and accepts the reality of it, difficult though it may be. “It’s one of those things I look at it more,” Hahn said. “I watch games in general. I’m very passionate about baseball.”
“I like scouting,” he added. “I grew up around this game and love this game. Being in baseball is where I want to be.”
Does he want to make a career of it?
“I think. This is year one for me. My ultimate goal is to get in a position of power. I’m always trying to look forward and take the next step, get to where I’m in a position of power, have influence in creating a world championship team.”
Hahn has outlined an ambitious future for himself. The path to that future, he knows, would be difficult and different.
“This is my first real job,” he said. “I realize I’m in a great environment. The things that they’ve done for me speak volumes for Kendrick and Hall. It’s pretty easy to come work with them. It doesn’t happen very often; that’s true. They didn’t have to do any of the things they’ve done. It shows they care about the game, but there’s more to playing the game than playing it.”
Hahn reserves a large part of his gratitude for his father, Dale.
“Once I sustained my injury I went back to California for my in-patient therapy,” he related. “Then I went back to school to get my degree. Initially my dad came in for a couple weeks. My dad said, ‘I’m staying with you.’
“I don’t think I’m anywhere near where I am today without my dad. He put his life on hold for me. My mom’s back home, but she comes out to visit.”
This isn’t what the Hahns had planned for their son’s or their future. But the Diamondbacks have eased their way into it.
As icing on this humanitarian cake, the D’backs had one gesture left. As the three-day draft progressed, they told Hahn that the 34th-round pick was his to make. At that juncture the 30 teams had selected 1,005 players. Hahn designated No. 1,006.
Perhaps it should not have surprised anyone that Hahn’s selection was a senior from Arizona State University, a 22-year-old left fielder, Jake Peevyhouse.