Hutch Award

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hutch Award is a Major League Baseball award[1] given to an active player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire to win. The award was created in 1965 in honor of Fred Hutchinson, the former major league baseball pitcher and manager, who died of cancer in November 1964 at the age of 45.

The Hutch Award was created by Hutch's longtime friends Bob Prince, broadcaster of the Pittsburgh Pirates; Jim Enright, Chicago sportswriter; and Ritter Collett, sports editor of the Dayton Journal Herald. They also created a scholarship fund for medical students engaged in cancer research to honor Hutch's memory.

The award is now presented each January in Seattle, Hutch's hometown and the site of the renowned cancer center that bears his name. The award is hosted by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and is bestowed at the annual Seattle Post-Intelligencer "Sports Star of the Year" Banquet. Recipients traveling to Seattle to accept the award have visited and lifted the spirits of patients at the Hutchinson Center.

The permanent display of the Hutch Award trophy is at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, where it has been since 1979, with the list of winners updated yearly. A replica is on display in Seattle.

Danny Thompson, the 1974 recipient, was diagnosed with leukemia earlier that year. He continued to play through the 1976 season; he died that December at the age of 29.[2]

[edit] Award Recipients

[edit] Other baseball awards for spirit

  • The Major League Baseball Alumni Association initiated the Heart & Hustle Award in 2005 for the "active player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire to win".
  • The San Francisco Giants have given out the Willie Mac Award since 1980 to "the player on the San Francisco Giants who best exemplifies the spirit and leadership consistently shown by Willie McCovey throughout his long career."

Omar Vizquel has won all three of the Hutch Award, the Heart & Hustle Award and the Willie Mac Award. The only other player that has won more than one of these awards is Dave Dravecky, although Willie McCovey himself won the Hutch Award in 1977.

[edit] References

  1. ^ A Brief History of the Hutch Award. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
  2. ^ Salisbury, Jim (2007-12-22). Commentary: This memory of Killebrew is priceless. Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
Languages