USA TODAY International Edition
Hanson recalled as humble, genuine
Ex- Brave dies at 29; Ross: ‘ He was a great pitcher ... teammate’
ATLANTA Tommy Hanson never wanted to be called “Tom.” It was too grown up.
He was 6- 6, but he never had that brassy look that comes with some big- leaguers. There was no big noise out of Hanson in the Atlanta Braves clubhouse, just soft chuckles over the antics of teammate Kris Medlen. Hanson never wanted to be crowned as the centerpiece of the next generation of stalwart Atlanta pitchers.
It somehow was fitting that Hanson’s best friend on the Braves was 5- 9 Medlen and that Hanson had a dog named “Hooch.”
It is because of Hanson’s persona — the big- leaguer who didn’t know he was a big- leaguer — that there was an outpouring of emotion after his sudden death Monday. Hanson, a right- handed pitcher who was once the top prospect in a pitching- proud organization, was 29 when he died at Piedmont Hospital late Monday.
Richard Hawk, Coweta County coroner, told USA TODAY Sports that Hanson’s death was still under investigation and it would be two or three days before findings were released.
WSB- TV and The Atlanta Journal- Constitution said Tuesday that an initial police report listed “overdose” as the possible crime but offered no further specifics. WSB reported Hanson was comatose Sunday and suffered catastrophic organ failure.
“Very sad story,” Braves general manager John Coppolella said earlier Tuesday.
Hanson, the 22nd- round pick of the Braves in 2005, pitched for Atlanta from 2009 to 2012 and was 45- 32 with four consecutive double- digit win seasons. He was third in the National League rookie of the year voting in 2009, when he was 11- 4 with a 2.89 ERA in 21 starts.
He was traded to the Los Angeles Angels after the 2012 season, spent a season with the Angels and had been trying to get back to the big leagues for the last two years.
Hanson owned a home in Alpharetta, Ga., a suburb of lush lawns and in- ground swimming pools that is about 30 miles north of downtown Atlanta, but he was not an aloof or distant professional athlete.
“He was so important to our community and ... letting people see the real side of him, the giving side,” Steve Hernandez, Hanson’s high school coach in Southern California, told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s always nice to have a big- leaguer from your program ... willing to talk to the players.”
Hanson had two younger sisters and an older sister, and he bought the sisters a home in Kennesaw, Ga., also north of Atlanta. They cleaned his apartment in Buckhead when he was on the road, he told ChopTalk magazine in a 2009 interview, and he cher- ished having them move close to him.
Hanson said then that he bought his sisters the house because, “Every year when I’d leave ( for spring training), I’d have to see them cry.”
Hanson had a half- brother and stepbrother but called them his brothers as if there was not the slightest separation of blood. When his stepbrother, two years younger, died in 2013 while Hanson was with the Angels, it took an emotional toll. He took a leave from the team for three weeks.
“That was the first time anything like that had ever happened to me,” Hanson, then 26, told reporters. “I didn’t know how to cope with it.”
Chicago Cubs catcher David Ross, who played with the Braves from 2009 to 2012, said there was a pureness to Hanson and his death reminded Ross to cherish the people who surround him in the clubhouse.
“He was a great pitcher, person and teammate,” Ross said. “Really, put things in perspective. I’ve had two teammates from the team text me and tell me how much our friendship means.”