The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) recently announced the 30 preliminary winners of the 2022 Heart and Hustle Award, one for each team.
The Baltimore Orioles’ recipient is Austin Hays, joining Cedric Mullins as the only other member on the Orioles’ roster to be named a recipient in the award’s history.
“This is an amazing award,” Hays said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 8. “It means a lot because it embodies how I play the game, the no batting gloves, the going all out, the dives, just trying to play the game the right way.”
The Heart and Hustle Award, created by the MLBPAA in 2005, honors active players that demonstrate a passion for the game of baseball and best embody the traditions, spirit and values of the game. The overall winner of the award will be announced in mid-November.
The 6-foot, 205-pound outfielder has been a steady force for the Orioles at the plate. He is hitting .261/.317/.434 with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs. Defensively, Hays has collected seven outfield assists, behind only his nine-assist season in 2021 for the most in his career.
Hays’ performance has played a key role in Baltimore’s best season since 2017.
“It’s a really fun team, it’s a fun locker room,” Hays said. “Winning a lot of series this year so getting to celebrate and have music playing in the clubhouse again, not losing 100 games, it’s been a super fun turnaround.”
Losing 100 games had been something of the norm for Hays in his time in Baltimore. After a 20-game stint in 2017, Hays spent the entirety of 2018 in the minors and didn’t rejoin the big league club until September 2019.
From Hays’ return to the MLB in 2019 to 2021, the Orioles compiled a record of 85-158, a winning percentage of .350. Hays was in Baltimore for the end of Baltimore’s 108-loss season in 2019 and the entirety of the 110-loss season in 2021.
“To see things finally turn back around and get things back to where the Oriole Way was … it’s fun to see the fans be excited again and it means a lot for me to see the change,” Hays said.
Hays has seen the transformation of the Orioles, but the job isn’t finished. Baltimore hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016 or won a World Series since 1983.
“That’s always the goal. When you get drafted by a team you want to make it to the big leagues and win a World Series with that team one day, that’s the ultimate goal,” Hays said.
Not only has Hays impacted Baltimore on the field, but he is leaving his mark in the community as well. In late July, Hays announced the creation of the Austin Hays scholarship. The scholarship, aimed at those in low-income situations, is open to both high school and college students from Maryland. The winner will be awarded $20,000 to pursue higher education.
“It was very important for it to be a student from Maryland because I’ve been up here for six years now,” Hays said. “I’m looking forward to being able to give that scholarship to a student who doesn’t have the means that a lot of other people do.”
Like Hays, Trey Mancini had been a staple of the Orioles’ offense over the past few years. Mancini was drafted by Baltimore in the eighth round of the 2013 MLB Draft and had spent his entire professional career with Baltimore up until this summer.
During his time in Charm City, Mancini endured multiple 100-loss seasons, although nothing was as difficult as his fight with colon cancer. Mancini missed all of 2020 due to cancer treatment.
When Mancini was traded from the Orioles to the Houston Astros at this year’s trade deadline, Baltimore lost not just an impact bat, but a key clubhouse guy.
“Trey is a great person, great leader, great teammate in the clubhouse,” Hays said. “I learned a lot from Trey, he was always my go-to-guy. … He was a big part of me learning how things are supposed to be done in the big leagues.”
Despite losing Mancini and All-Star closer Jorge López at the deadline, the Orioles reeled off five straight wins after the deadline and now sit just half a game back of the final wild-card spot.
With the improved play from Baltimore and postseason hope alive in August, large crowds have started to return at Camden Yards, including a 41,000-plus showing against the Pirates Aug. 6.
“It’s been amazing,” Hays said. “That was one of the most electric series I’ve seen at Camden Yards in a long time.”
For more from Hays, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox