Athlete Spotlight: Kade Hudson, Lee-Scott Academy
At 9-years-old, Kade Hudson received a school excuse for the month of October to watch his father make a World Series run with the San Fransisco Giants.
Now, as a senior in high school at Lee-Scott Academy, his dad is his coach. As the son of Tim Hudson, a 17-year MLB veteran and Atlanta Braves Hall-of-Fame pitcher, baseball serves as a staple in Kade’s life.
“In his early career I don’t remember much, but like 2011 and 2012 – the last few years with the Braves – and then the World Series year with the Giants, I remember all that,” Kade said. “I remember getting out of school for like a month to go watch the playoffs with the Giants and just travel with the team. That was always super fun. Especially hanging out with all those guys in the big leagues.”
Kade watched his dad play while growing up. Now, Tim holds a front row seat to watch his son complete his final baseball season as a high school student athlete.
Formerly a pitching coach at Auburn University, Tim took the reigns as the Warriors’ head coach last August after Auburn’s College World Series run. Kade recalled hanging out with Braves catcher Brian McCann in his dad’s clubhouse, and now he shares a clubhouse as a player with his father.
The Hudson boys share the same love for the game, but according to Kade, having his dad as his coach is about more than just baseball.
“To have my dad as my coach for senior year is like a cherry on top because it’s my last year of (high school) baseball. It’s been really fun,” Kade said. “It’s awesome having him as a dad and as a teacher of life things, not just baseball. But it’s always good having him around.”
Coming off a 14-18 season, Kade and his team are now 17-8. They have the benefit of working with not only Tim, but also MLB and Korean-League veteran Anthony Lerew, former Auburn University baseball player Dan Gamache, former Southern Union player and coach Patrick Reeves and four and six-year coaches at Lee-Scott Brian Cole and Clay Samford.
“They just really teach us how to play the game right,” Kade said.
Playing with the well-known “Hudson” name on the back of his jersey has brought him some trash talking, Kade admitted, but at the end of the day, he will play ball at Tennessee Tech next year with a lot of familiarity with high-level baseball that many guys don’t have coming out of high school.
With two homers and 20 RBIs this season paired with 17 strikeouts in 13.1 innings on the mound, Kade has mimicked his father’s early days as a two-way player. Kade has been at both corner infield positions as well as on the mound this season. Tim was a heavy sinker-ball pitcher in his MLB career, but he also played first base at Auburn and slugged four home runs out of Atlanta’s Turner Field, bringing on some comparisons between the two.
“Well, I’m gonna be honest with you, he has a lot more power than I did,” Tim said with a grin. “I think I might have a little better of a sinker than he has. I’m trying to teach him that sinker. I think my daughter got my sinker genes; I think it might’ve skipped him. But his approach is a lot better than mine at his age because I didn’t really get coached until I got to Auburn, honestly.”
Nine years after Kade watched his father hoist a World Series trophy, he embarked on a baseball journey of his own. But as he grabs his glove and heads out to the hot corner, a man watches who’s been in his shoes more times than he can count.
“The main thing is, have fun. This game will beat you down; there’s a lot of disappointment in this game, and you can’t expect to go out and be successful every time you have the bat in your hand or take the mound,” Tim said. “The best learning opportunities is when you get your tail whipped, and (figuring out) how can you learn from it and get better.”
— By Noah Griffith, The Auburn Advance