Tim Hudson joins Baseball Staff

[toddc 13,194]

Tim Hudson joining Auburn baseball staff

ByJASON CALDWELL 9 minutes ago 

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AUBURN, Alabama—A former Auburn All-American and a winner of 223 games in 17 seasons in the major leagues, Tim Hudson will be joining the Auburn baseball staff as a pitching coach for Butch Thompson. With veteran Steve Smith leaving to take the head coaching position at Tennessee Tech, a spot opened up for the Tigers as the full-time pitching coach and the call was an easy one for Thompson to turn to Hudson. 

"I came here as the head coach," Thompson said. "I don't want to be the pitching coach. I have been one for 16 years in the SEC. I see all of these prongs that are in place to help someone like Tim Hudson, somebody that won 223 major league games and is a World Series winner and pitched game seven of a World Series. Somebody that was the top collegiate baseball player in college. His experiences round us out that this is the best developmental pitching plan in America."

One of the most consistent pitchers in MLB during his time in the big leagues, Hudson won at least 10 games in 13 of his 17 seasons. His best year came in 2000 when he went 20-6 with an ERA of 4.14 for the Oakland A’s, who selected him in the 6th round of the 1997 draft. In six seasons with the American League club he compiled a record of 92-39 before moving closer to home to pitch for the Atlanta Braves.

Hudson’s best season in Atlanta came in 2010 when he was 17-9 with an ERA of just 2.83 in 34 starts after missing much of the previous season with an injury. His time with the Braves was good enough to earn Hudson an induction into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame.

Tim Hudson works with Cody Greenhill (Photo: Jason Caldwell/Inside The Auburn Tigers, 247Sports)

 

 

During his nine seasons in a Braves uniform, Hudson ranked ninth in wins and 17th in innings pitched. His .611 win percentage is the third-best mark in Braves history and he ranks fifth in team history in wins (113), ERA (3.56), strikeouts (997) and innings pitched (1,573.0). 

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A four-time all-star, Hudson finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1999 and finished in the top six three different times in voting for the Cy Young Award as the top pitcher in his league.

While at Auburn, Hudson earned SEC Player of the Year, First Team All-American and First Team All-SEC honors following one of the best years any player has ever had for the Tigers. Helping Coach Hal Baird’s program to the College World Series in 1997, Hudson went 15-2 on the mound with a 2.97 ERA and 165 strikeouts while also hitting .396 with 18 home runs and 95 RBI at the plate. Hudson led the NCAA in wins while his strikeout total was also the highest in the SEC. Additionally, his wins, ERA and RBI numbers are second in single-season program history.

[auburntiger1987 759]

Sweet!

[AU1947 157]

AUsome!!

[AlaskanFAN 1,666]

Dang it, 2423 called it 1 day before I did and Mikey said no way he would.  Welcome Tim.  War Eagle

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

Great news for AU baseball!

 

[Gowebb11 9,352]

Butch is building something special. Can’t wait for the season.

[boisnumber1 2,820]

Welcome back, Huddy. Is this awesome or what?

[gravejd 3,270]

Wow this is super cool news. Having someone with his reputation and experience has to be a huge drawing point for potential pitching recruits. Welcome back to AU Coach Hudson!!

[auburnphan 6,050]

Butch doing his work!

[SaltyTiger 7,837]

Love It. 

Auburn Baseball

June 27, 2019 · 

“This 2020 roster, it's got to be one of the top five rosters ever assembled in our 100-plus years of Auburn baseball.”

🗣 » Butch Thompson

[Mikey 16,669]

I'm shocked. Happy, but shocked. Why a multi-millionaire wants to be an assistant college baseball coach is a mystery to me but I'll follow the old advice, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth".

[I_M4_AU 7,908]

14 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I'm shocked. Happy, but shocked. Why a multi-millionaire wants to be an assistant college baseball coach is a mystery to me but I'll follow the old advice, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth".

Some times the multimillionaire just enjoys the sport and wants to give back.  At least I hope that is what it is.  If he can keep his motivation when things look bad and not think “why am I doing this” it could be great for all concerned. 

[steeleagle 2,945]

17 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I'm shocked. Happy, but shocked. Why a multi-millionaire wants to be an assistant college baseball coach is a mystery to me but I'll follow the old advice, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth".

Its hard to get it out of your blood. And he's not that old, and with his kids in school here, he has a great opportunity to give back to his college what he has learned. 

And he was probably bored...

[The Freak 2,528]

7 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

Its hard to get it out of your blood. And he's not that old, and with his kids in school here, he has a great opportunity to give back to his college what he has learned. 

And he was probably bored...

Exactly.  It's not a job to people who love baseball.  It's an excuse to get back on the field and compete at a high level.

[McLoofus 35,182]

38 minutes ago, steeleagle said:

Its hard to get it out of your blood. And he's not that old, and with his kids in school here, he has a great opportunity to give back to his college what he has learned. 

And he was probably bored...

 

28 minutes ago, The Freak said:

Exactly.  It's not a job to people who love baseball.  It's an excuse to get back on the field and compete at a high level.

That was my assumption. Couldn't imagine many better ways to spend my retirement still pursuing my passion, minus any real pressure. 

[auburnphan 6,050]

Anyone else notice how they called him a volunteer assistant coach?

[SumterAubie 3,031]

So where was Hudson coaching before Auburn hired him?

[The Freak 2,528]

59 minutes ago, SumterAubie said:

So where was Hudson coaching before Auburn hired him?

He has coached MLB spring training several years.  Not quite a HS coach, but not too shabby.

I'm guessing he has been sporadically working with the Auburn kids over the last couple years too.  Enough so that Butch, a former pitching coach, could evaluate him for the position.

 

Then again, it might just be cool to have an all-star, and WS champion on staff to help with recruiting.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

3 minutes ago, The Freak said:

He has coached MLB spring training several years.  Not quite a HS coach, but not too shabby.

I'm guessing he has been sporadically working with the Auburn kids over the last couple years too.  Enough so that Butch, a former pitching coach, could evaluate him for the position.

 

Then again, it might just be cool to have an all-star, and WS champion on staff to help with recruiting.

Definitely

[TigerCatcher 182]

3 hours ago, SumterAubie said:

So where was Hudson coaching before Auburn hired him?

He has to be a volunteer...NCAA with their insane restrictions on baseball.  Nonemaker and Gross are the "paids".   The push to add a third was slammed last year by Emmert and his team of knuckleheads.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/baseball/news/ncaa-rejects-proposal-to-invest-in-baseball-softball-staffs/18t83y4wkpyk51d6dm2vt71v26

[boisnumber1 2,820]

On 1/15/2020 at 11:51 AM, auburnphan said:

Anyone else notice how they called him a volunteer assistant coach?

Has to be. Baseball is very limited on paid coaches - only 2 paid assistants.

[auburnphan 6,050]

1 minute ago, boisnumber1 said:

Has to be. Baseball is very limited on paid coaches.

I assumed that Smith and Nonemaker were the paid guys. And that Gross was volunteer. I understand the 2 coach deal.

[AlaskanFAN 1,666]

He is pulling a Bowden (a la Clemson) since he came back to school last year to finish his degree. Besides his wife is a lawyer here in town, if you have bought a house in Auburn she might have done your closing, she did mine. 

[TigerCatcher 182]

8 hours ago, auburnphan said:

I assumed that Smith and Nonemaker were the paid guys. And that Gross was volunteer. I understand the 2 coach deal.

The pitching coach spot has been the unpaid since Butch got here, Drye then Smith.  Some would say they don't do enough to get paid 

[Paladin 3,305]

Quote

Hudson already making an impact on Auburn pitching staff

ByJASON CALDWELL 45 minutes ago

 

AUBURN, Alabama—Two of the most experienced pitchers on Auburn’s roster heading into the 2020 baseball season, Cody Greenhill and Jack Owen have played a big part in the success the last two seasons for Butch Thompson’s Tigers while working with pitching coach Steve Smith.

 

This season they have someone new to learn from with former Auburn All-American and College Player of the Year Tim Hudson taking on the role of the pitching coach for the Tigers. Hudson, the volunteer assistant, brings a wealth of experience and over 200 Major League wins with him to the coaching side of things. That hasn’t gone unnoticed by his new pupils.

 

“It’s huge,” Owen said of having Hudson on the staff. “Even though this might be his first coaching job as a collegiate pitching coach he’s been a veteran guy on a big league club. He’s been working with younger guys and new guys every year and showing them the ropes. He’s been doing this his whole career with guys that are younger and maybe not as smart as him baseball-wise. He’s always been helping guys, now he’s doing it with an even younger group.”

 

The closer for the Tigers and the guy who Thompson wanted with the ball in his hands to wrap up the first College World Series berth for the program since 1997, Greenhill has been good his first two seasons with the Tigers. Now with a chance to learn from from a Major League all-star, he said it’s an exciting time on the Plains.

“It has been great,” Greenhill said. “He’s had so much time with this game. I got to talk with him last spring being in a class with him, just picking his brain before he got here. A lot of things he was saying to me are the same things he’s saying to these guys. It’s just great having him here along with the analytics and everything. It’s just tremendous.”

A player who understood the game from the mound and knew how to work hitters, Hudson is carrying that knowledge over to Auburn’s pitchers along with giving them some ideas about how to take their games to another level.

“It’s just trial and error,” Greenhill said of pitching. “Like he told us, he said with his splitter or change he just picked it up one day and it felt comfortable. He’s been around more pitchers and guys that hold it different ways. 

“The big thing for him is to feel comfortable with it. Not everybody is the same. Not everybody is going to throw the same way. He’s not trying to make us all throw the same way. Find something comfortable for you and whatever works, works.”

Owen agreed with Greenhill, saying that has even carried over to the way they’ve worked on fielding practice, spending more one-on-one time to get their work in.

“It has been awesome,” Owen said. “He has really been working with us and giving us his knowledge from all the time he’s spent on the field and been around the game. We’ve already changed some things that he saw and we felt like made things more efficient. 

“We kind of used to do mass PFP (pitcher fielding practice), but now we’re going one at a time and making sure it’s quality. He has already revamped my slider that I really didn’t have and I’m throwing it in scrimmages and getting swings and misses. He’s been a big help to me and other guys as well.”