Major League Baseball teams do not make money by being nice; they make money by winning. Winning means making decisions that are sometimes unpopular and almost always emotionless. But every once in a while, we are reminded that human hearts do beat in the chests of baseball executives. This was one of those days.
In 2010, Cory Hahn, a high school baseball star was drafted in the 26th round by the San Diego Padres. Hahn had always wanted to go to college, so he decided instead to attend Arizona State University, confident that he would be drafted again after college. In the first inning of his third game as a freshman Sun Devil, Hahn, who wore uniform number 34, singled and was given the sign to steal second. As Hahn slid head-first into the bag, he collided with the second baseman. The force of that collision caused a fracture to his C5 vertebrae. Hahn was paralyzed from the neck down. Lying on the field unable to move, Hahn’s first question to his coach was whether he was safe. When he was informed that he did in fact reach second on the attempted steal, and as he was being taken from the field on a stretcher, Hahn replied “Damn right I’m safe!” The Sun Devils had themselves a new hero, and a new motto. ASU players still wear wristbands bearing that phrase.
2013 was Hahn’s third year out of high school, which meant he was eligible for Saturday’s MLB draft. Had he not suffered the catastrophic injury in his freshman year, he would likely be entering the draft. He would have spent Saturday waiting eagerly by the phone with his family to hear where he would be starting his professional career. Instead, Hahn who is still a student at ASU and an assistant coach for the Sun Devils baseball team, was sitting on an airplane waiting to take off, when his phone rang. On the line was Arizona Diamondbacks Scouting Director Ray Montgomery. Montgomery informed Hahn that the D-backs would be selecting him in the 34th round of today’s draft, in a deliberate nod to his uniform number at ASU.
It was a classy gesture by the Diamondbacks, but not an empty one. While Hahn won’t be in his old spot in the lineup, according to D-backs CEO Derrick Hall, he will have a permanent spot with the Diamondbacks organization as a full-time employee.
Damn right he’s safe.
