AUBURN, Ala. – Speaking to attendees at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame banquet, Class of 2025 inductee Tim Hudson sailed through his speech until he looked at his family seated nearby.
That’s when the lump in his throat grew and, as the Southern saying goes, his eyeballs started to sweat.
“That meant everything for me, for them to be a part of it,” said Hudson of the Feb. 22 ceremony in Macon, Georgia, attended by his wife, Kim, and their three children, two of whom are current Auburn University students and one who, like her parents, is an Auburn graduate, now attending professional school at Belmont. “To see all the fruits of your labor with your kids starting to shape up into what you hope they’ll become, and to have them there with Kim and me is something that’s really special.
“To see their genuine happiness for me and what has ended up being a career that we’re all proud of, is something that’s special for all of us.”
Auburn played a pivotal role in Hudson’s career. The Columbus, Georgia, native arrived on the Plains 30 years ago after two seasons of junior college baseball. He left two years later after the finest season in Auburn history: A 15-2 record with a 2.97 ERA and 165 strikeouts while also hitting 18 home runs with a .396 batting average and 95 runs batted in while leading the Tigers to the College World Series.
He was the Shohei Ohtani of the SEC, the conference’s player of the year in 1997.
Drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the sixth round, Hudson zoomed through the minor leagues and pitched 17 seasons in the big leagues, including nine with the Atlanta Braves. A 222-game winner, Hudson helped San Francisco win the 2014 World Series.
“When I was here playing, Coach (Hal) Baird taught me how to become a professional and what it meant to represent not only yourself but other people and organizations in a way that makes everybody proud,” Hudson said. “He not only helped shaped my career but also who I am as a person and as a professional.”
After retiring from MLB, Hudson returned to the Plains, serving as Auburn’s pitching coach for three seasons, helping the Tigers return to Omaha in 2022.
“Having a chance to come full circle and coach at Auburn with Coach (Butch) Thompson, and Gabe (Gross) and Karl (Nonemaker) was something I was thrilled to do and very happy to try to help the program that helped me become who I am as a player and as a man,” he said.
“It was something I looked forward to then, and I’m proud of the impact I hopefully made on some of the players who were here with me.”
Hall of Fame inductions are nothing new for Huddy, who was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2018.
“An incredible honor,” Hudson said. “People appreciate what you’ve done in your career, and you get overwhelmed with that, and the appreciation you have for everybody who helped you along the way to get to where you are.
“You think about all of the coaches, institutions and organizations that helped me and that I’ve been a part of. With your family there supporting you is really awesome and can be overwhelming at times.”
The only person to help Auburn reach the College World Series as a player and a coach, Tim Hudson continues to represent his alma mater at a hall of fame level.