Tommy Hanson Celebration of Life Service Draws over 200 to RCC

RIVERSIDE -- A celebration of life service for former Riverside City College (RCC) baseball player Tommy Hanson drew over 200 friends and family members Saturday (Jan. 16) to RCC's baseball field.

Hanson, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, died Nov. 9, 2015. He was 29.

Several people in the world of baseball -- both professional and amateur -- approached the podium behind home plate and reminisced about their relationship with Hanson the pitcher and human being.

Hanson pitched for the RCC Tigers during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

RCC head baseball coach Dennis Rogers said that "Tommy (Hanson) was a humble guy who liked to compete. I would go to the mound and tell him (Tommy) that he was there to talk to then catcher Andy Bouchie. Rogers would then tell Hanson, You're fine!"

Hanson once told Rogers, steadfastly: "You can leave now."

Also relaying stories about Hanson were former RCC catcher and longtime friend Bouchie, former Redlands East Valley (REV) High School head baseball coach Steve Hernandez -- who was his coach in the early 2000s, Tim Mead, Los Angeles Angels vice president, Dan Segal of the Corvallis (Ore.) Knights of the West Coast League, Shabrie Hanson, Tommy's sister, Rudy Arguelles, current RCC assistant baseball coach, Clarence Hudson, a neighbor during Hanson's childhood, and Randy Curtis, ABD assistant coach.

While at REV, Hernandez had Hanson play catcher as a freshman and then switched to first base in junior varsity before becoming a pitcher. Hernandez relayed a story that when he wanted Tommy to switch positions, he called Tom, Sr. The father said: "'H,' he's yours. Do what you think is best."

Mead recalled Hanson as "selfless, a great teammate, a solid competitor and a good man. He was one of the more popular players in the clubhouse."

Segal also spoke fondly of Hanson, who was the WCL Pitcher of the Year in the summer of 2005. "He had a four-pitch mix and was absolutely loved by the staff. He was called the "hibernator" because ha had a penchant for sleeping in."

Shabrie Hanson said that her brother "loved all unconditionally."

Arguelles said that Hanson was "a vicious competitor, selfless. He (Tommy) had a plan. He had direction."

Hudson recalled that Hanson, "a little, freckle-faced boy," would occasionally ask him if he had a baseball that he could have. Hudson frequently gave the young Hanson baseballs. On one occasion, Hudson gave Hanson a baseball glove.

Curtis stated that Hanson, who played for Redlands ABD from the age of 12 through 18, "was an integral part of the ABD family."

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Hanson, who suffered "catastrophic organ failure" after slipping into a come on Monday, Nov. 9, 2015 according to WSB-TV in Atlanta, died that same day. He had been hospitalized since early Sunday morning (Nov. 8, 2015).

His major league career was sidetracked by a shoulder injury and the death of his step brother in 2013.

Hanson's name appears in several RCC pitching single season and career categories.

He is third on RCC's list with 16 strikeouts in a game (twice in 2006) against Cuesta and Sacramento City Colleges. In 2006, Hanson set a RCC record with 154 strikeouts in a season. Elsewhere on RCC's single season lists, he is tied for third in starts (17) and tied for seventh in victories (11). On RCC's career pitching lists, Hanson is first in strikeouts (233), third in games started (31) and eighth in innings pitched (202.2).

A 6-6, 220-pounder with an amiable personality, Hanson last pitched in the major leagues in 2013 with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He spent nearly a month away from the club that season as he coped with the sudden death of his stepbrother.

He finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2009, when he won 11 games and posted a 2.89 earned-run average for the Atlanta Braves.

Shoulder discomfort bothered him in 2010, and limited him to just 22 starts in 2011.

While Hanson made 31 starts and won 13 games for the Braves in 2012, they traded him to the Los Angeles Angels that off-season for reliever Jordan Walden. When Hanson's stepbrother passed away that spring, Hanson took six days off from the team, made one start, and then realized he needed more time away to mourn.

He returned to the Angels three weeks later.

"I was having mental issues with the death of my younger brother," Hanson, then 26, told reporters then. "I was just trying to get through it. I didn't know how to handle it.

"That was the first time anything like that had ever happened to me. I didn't know how to cope with it."

He made 13 starts for the Angels in 2013, and made his final major league appearance, a relief outing, on Sept. 28.

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