Tim Hudson getting arm ready for NBC World Series work
There’s a self-deprecating aspect to Tim Hudson that must come with the territory of being a retired athlete, because it’s shared among many of his Kansas Stars teammates.
There also is the side of Hudson that forced him to hang up the phone on Monday morning because he had to pitch a bullpen session.
Hudson, who won 222 games in 17 major-league seasons, is living between the idea of coming to Wichita and the National Baseball Congress World Series to have fun playing baseball while catching up with old teammates — and his default mode to treat every competitive situation with urgency.
“Your competitive nature takes over once you go out there and you get on that field and start playing,” said Hudson, a 41-year-old right-hander. “Especially if you get up there pitching and you get your cap spun a couple times, that smile will come off your face pretty quickly.
“It’s like, ‘All right, these guys mean business. They’re trying to hit me and I need to buckle down and try to get them out.’ Even though this isn’t big-league caliber, guys are going to try to balance the having fun and the camaraderie with competitiveness on the field.”
Hudson is one of 25 former major-league players for the Stars, which begin pool play Aug. 6. Hudson made the All-Star team four times, the same number of times he finished in the top six in Cy Young Award voting.
Hudson retired after the 2015 season, his second with the San Francisco Giants. In his first, he helped the Giants to the World Series championship. He was a National League All-Star in 2014 but lost Game 3 of the series to the Royals before the Giants won in seven games.
An ankle injury suffered when Hudson was covering first base derailed him briefly and ended his nine-year run with the Atlanta Braves, but he returned for two more productive seasons and what he thought were his final 53 starts.
“I never really thought I’d play competitively again,” Hudson said. “I think (the Stars opportunity) was something that just kind of came out of nowhere and it was intriguing and kind of exciting. I just got done coaching my son’s little league team, so I was in fairly decent shape throwing-wise. I feel like I’ve thrown batting practice for about an hour and a half every day for the last two months.
“Arm-wise, I felt like I wasn’t too far away from getting into shape to go out there and be competitive. I’m not sure exactly how good I’m going to be, but at least go out there and be somewhat competitive.”
Outsiders see the names of the players – Hudson, Adam LaRoche, Roger Clemens, Chipper Jones, Roy Oswalt, Josh Beckett, Dan Uggla, etc. – and assume the Stars will dominate the tournament that begins Friday. The players themselves see the age and the injuries they’ve accumulated, along with the youth and exuberance of their opponents – and become cautious.
“I don’t have a clue,” Hudson said. “I can see us going out there and doing really well and I can see us going out there and absolutely getting thumped for three games. I really don’t know. I’m not sure what caliber of teams are going to be there and how young they are, but I know there are going to be a lot of teams that are going to be excited to play us.
“They’re going to try their damndest to put a loss on our column, for sure. What better way for a team to get their confidence going than to go out and beat a team of former big-leaguers.”
The big-leaguers, though, will probably be just as spirited, whether they’re ready to admit it or not.
“We’re all baseball players,” Hudson said. “It’s in our DNA. It’s what we are, it’s what we do. Regardless of how old we are or what kind of injuries we’ve dealt with, it’s something we all love. To have a chance to do it in somewhat of a non-pressure environment – you’re pretty much out there playing for fun and to have a good time.
“You’re obviously trying to win at the same time, but you don’t have to worry about getting sent down (to the minors) if you do bad. Or getting released.”
This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Tim Hudson getting arm ready for NBC World Series work."