Hassan Hopes To Be Going Home
By Don Leypoldt
“The Red Sox are an awesome organization to be in, and I’m really fortunate to be here,” Alex Hassan mused. “Each level I’ve moved up, it seems like I’ve gotten closer to home. That has made it more accessible for my family to come watch me play, which has been pretty special.”
Mapquest- and Hassan’s play- bear this out.
It’s 965 miles from Greenville, South Carolina to Hassan’s hometown of Boston. Greenville is the home of the Red Sox Low-A affiliate. It’s also where Hassan, drafted out of Duke in the 20th round in 2009, hit .313 just weeks after his conscription by the Red Sox.
It’s 685 miles from Salem, Virginia to Boston. Salem is the home of Boston’s High-A affiliate. It’s also where in 2010 OF Hassan earned an Milb.com Organizational All-Star Award after hitting .287 with 28 doubles and leading the Carolina League in on base percentage among players with at least 100 games.
It’s 107 miles from Portland, ME to Hassan’s hometown. Portland is the home of Boston’s Double-A affiliate. It’s also where in 2011 Hassan led all Eastern League outfielders in fielding percentage, led all Red Sox farmhands in on base percentage and finished eighth in the Eastern League in On Base Plus Slugging.
His fruitful year in Portland snapped Hassan’s streak of getting closer to home. Boston sent him to the prestigious Arizona Fall League, where elite prospects are sent to baseball’s version of finishing school. Hassan loves his family as much as the next guy, but he jumped at the chance to go far away.
“I learned a lot,” Hassan relayed on his time in the AFL. “Overall, it was just a really, really positive experience.
“The level of pitching was what I was used to seeing. What was different is that you would see five or six pitchers in one game because guys are on innings limits,” he said. “You wouldn’t necessarily face a starter two or three times. You might only face him once. “
It is 46 miles from Pawtucket, RI to Fenway Park. Pawtucket is the home of Boston’s Triple-A affiliate. It’s also where in 2012 Baseball America rated Hassan as having the best strike zone judgment in the Boston system. It’s also where, in June and July, Hassan hit .301 while racking up a .422 on-base percentage before an injury did what opposing pitchers could not: stop Hassan.
“I fouled a ball off my leg, tore a gash in it and had to have stitches. I actually opened it up again once I started playing,” Hassan reported. “It’s just one of those freak injuries. Right now, it’s a matter of getting healthy. That’s what I’m focused on right now: making sure my body is healthy.”
The timing of the late July injury is unfortunate. Hassan started off this year slow, but by the time he fouled that unlucky ball, he had made the adjustments needed to have success at the Triple-A level.
“Guys in Triple-A are more experienced and they have put it together a little bit more. I think in Double-A, guys have the ability and the tools but they haven’t figured out to use them as well as they can yet,” Hassan explained. “They’re still trying to figure out that process. Here, there are a lot of guys who have taken that next step and really figured out how to use their tools…I think how polished the pitchers are is the biggest difference.”
Another adjustment came to his home ballpark. Any homer in Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium is earned. The yard has pitcher-friendly distances, coupled with tall fences to discourage a hitter from “grippin’ it and rippin’ it.”
“It’s definitely challenging. Sometimes you’ll hit a ball really deep to left,” Hassan noted, “and it will get caught up in the wind and be an out whereas in other places it would be a home run. There are times where you certainly think about it but you really can’t change your approach or who you are.
“Trying to change to be someone I’m not wouldn’t be beneficial,” he concluded. “It’s there, but it’s the same for everybody so you have to mentally, stick to your approach and keep playing.”
Portland and Pawtucket are not the only baseball seasons where Hassan called New England home. In the summer of 2007 two-way threat Hassan suited up for Pittsfield with the Dukes. Slotting him as an outfielder is easy in hindsight, but Hassan made two pitching starts for Pittsfield. He left Duke with 13 career saves- and several appearances on the ACC Academic Honor Roll, making his college career about as complete as it could be.
As a Pittsfield Duke, the 6’3” Blue Devil hit .303 and had an on base percentage of .408 during his NECBL season, in which he ranked third in bases on balls. Hassan also stole 18 bases in 19 attempts.
Hassan’s 34 runs-second in the League that summer-meant he came home a lot. “Home” took on special meaning for the Duke in ’07. He started the summer living in one of the cabins at Dan Duquette’s Sports Academy and was the last Duke to get placed with a host family.
“We had no intention of taking a kid in,” explained Rick Wixsom, Hassan’s host Dad in Pittsfield. “A friend of mine is an environmental scientist; we were out one Saturday morning scouting snakes. My wife received a phone call from my sister-in-law, who knew a person who needed a house to live in for the summer.
“My wife comes from a family of ten and her mother never refused a kid for anything. So she said, without hesitation, ‘We can take him in.’” Wixsom chuckled. “My wife doesn’t know how to say no to people and I don’t know how to say no to her!
“By 10 p.m. that Saturday night, Alex was moving in. We had never met him! “
“My host family- Tina and Rick Wixsom,” Hassan quickly replied when asked about what stuck out during his season in the Berkshires. “They’re just the nicest people in the world. They’re close friends of my parents and mine. We all got pretty close to them and their daughter Danielle. Those friendships are something that stands out to me.”
“I was in Fort Meyers in March for my niece’s softball tournament and I got a chance to watch Alex play for several nights. It’s been a great experience,” Wixsom echoed. “We always talk with Alex’s parents and we’re very close to them.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten the chance to see him play in Pawtucket because we’re hosting three ballplayers this summer. But my wife and I both went to Portland last year. And we’ve been to Pawtucket to see Matt Torra when he first got traded to Durham. I’ve known Matt all of his life and we’re real close to that family as well.”
Pittsfield native and current Durham Bull Torra starred for the Torrington Twisters in 2003. Torra’s experience acquainted the Wixsoms with the NECBL. The next season after hosting Hassan, the Wixsoms took in one of Alex’s Duke University teammates- Mike Ness- and became close to that family as well.
“Family picnics can get crazy,” Wixsom observed. “We’ll have 80 to 100 people for 4th of July. Alex was kind of quiet when he first got here, but by the end of the summer he was out of his shell.
“We showed Alex all around Berkshire County. He was like one of our family. He’d go out to dinner with us if we were going out to dinner and he had the night off. I think he had a very good experience in staying here.”
Hassan enjoyed his time in the Wixsom’s home. Now, it would be poetic if he could play ball in the shadows of his own home. Despite the temptation for Triple-A prospects to let their imaginations run to what could-be, Hassan remains grounded in today’s reality.
“You know you’re here to work hard and eventually, hopefully, make that step,” he said about his time in Triple-A. “That is the motivation of everyone here. It’s not necessarily a time table. It’s more of a need and if you’re ready. It’s a matter of coming here, preparing and then trying to be ready for that opportunity if it does come.”
Thomas Wolfe famously wrote “You can’t go home again.” Alex Hassan hopes to prove him wrong.
Alex Hassan’s Advice for the NECBL Class of 2012: “Not to get too caught up in the numbers and the success you are having but rather focus more on the process of what its going to take for you to become a good player. That is what my focus was when I was there. I was really focused on what was going to make me a better hitter, and that didn’t necessarily mean ‘I want to go have success right away in this League.’ If that meant failing, in order to figure out what was going to make me successful, I was OK with that. A lot of times people get caught up with ‘I have to do well for them to notice me.’ I think, in the long run, understanding yourself and what type of player you need to become will ultimately lead to long-term success.”
