By Marc Mullen

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Every major leaguer has his story and it’s been played out in baseball movies over the years – “The Rookie” often comes to mind. It’s the day the minor league player is called into the manager’s office and notified in some offbeat way that he has just had his dreams fulfilled by getting called up to the major leagues.

It’s a moment that will forever be remembered and recounted time and again, as the player’s hard work and persistence has paid off with a chance to play in the show. That was no different for former Tech player Jesse Hahn, who recalled his story recently in a phone conversation from the San Diego Padres clubhouse.

“Well, my manager with the San Antonio Missions Double-A team, Rich Dauer, called me into his office after one of our early games, and he told me to bring my clippers,” Hahn said. “I’m kind of the clubhouse barber, and I cut a lot of the guys’ hair. But he told me to bring my clippers with me because Bud Black [the Padres’ manager] might need a haircut – you’re going to the big leagues.

“As soon as he told me, my eyes lit up, and it just got so surreal. It was just a dream come true, and I was so happy. I had a smile on my face the rest of the day. The first one I told was my girlfriend, Jessica Pauley, who’s a Hokie as well, and then I told my father. And then just word spread out across the family, and the next couple of days, my phone was just blowing up left and right with congratulations.”

Hahn made his major league debut in San Diego on June 3 of this year against the Pittsburgh Pirates and started off strongly. He ended a perfect first frame by striking out reigning MVP Andrew McCutchen and then struck out the side in the second.

A shaky third and fourth ended his night. He pitched 3.2 innings and struck out five, but it would be his next start on June 14 that the Groton, Connecticut native, will remember for the rest of his life – a 5-0 win at the New York Mets in which he tossed six innings and struck out seven, while also notching his first major league hit and RBI.

“That was a ‘must’ win for me,” a joking Hahn said. “But that was awesome. I had a bunch of family and friends there, and pitching in front of people that have supported you for a long time means a lot and kind of gives you that extra edge to go out there and want to compete more.

“As soon as I ran out on that field, I looked up and saw everyone in the family section. It was just awesome to win and to have my first good major league start in front of all of them. It meant a lot to me.”

And the hit?

“Yeah, I’ll remember it as a screaming line drive,” Hahn said. “But the last time I hit was back in high school, and that was about seven years ago. I was a very average hitter in high school, so being an average hitter and picking up a bat seven years later and trying to face Zack Wheeler is not an easy task. So I was proud of that moment. I may have been more pumped about that than getting a win that day.”

Hahn would go on to win six of his next seven starts, a span that included a seven-inning, three-strikeout performance in which he allowed just one earned run against St. Louis on July 30 – a date that coincided with his birthday.

At the end of July, he was 7-2, with a 2.01 ERA in nine starts. Around the league, Rookie of the Year possibilities started surrounding his name. However, three winless starts later, combined with his 40-plus innings that he worked in the minors, resulted in him approaching his innings limit for the year, and he was reassigned back to Double-A San Antonio.

“I had an inning cap this year of 110 innings, and I hit that already,” Hahn said. “So I’ve been slowed down a little bit. I’m sure the organization doesn’t want me to throw too many more innings, but I will probably pitch out of the bullpen a few more times in September.

“Next year, I’ll take the offseason to get stronger and build up my leg strength and come in as, hopefully, a full-time starter next year. I want to compete for a spot in the rotation right out of spring training.”

In all, Hahn was reassigned and called back up to San Diego three times, including the last time on Aug. 30. That could really hurt the psyche of a young pitcher, but he took it all in stride, knowing what the Padres’ plan was for him, and he did his part to make sure he was ready for whenever the call came again.

“A lot of guys had told me the hardest part is not making the big leagues. It’s staying here, and I’ve experienced that this year,” Hahn said. “You have to stay focused. You have to keep that same mindset when you get sent down because, down there, it’s tough. The minor leagues are a grind, especially in the Texas League, where it’s 100 degrees every day.

“You just have to do the best you can to stay focused and keep your eye on the prize. Your goal is to get back to the majors, and you have to do everything you can to get back up there. For me, when I was optioned down, it was more of a rest for me. I knew I was coming back, but I still needed to make sure I was ready to make that next big league start.”

Hahn says he gets back to Blacksburg every offseason for at least a month to work out, take in some football and basketball games, and to go to “West End. I’m there to eat some West End.”

He was the first of what hopes to be an influx of Hokies in the majors over the course of the next few years. Ben Rowen, who was also a member of Tech’s eight-member 2010 draft class – the largest ever at Tech – made his MLB debut in June as well, becoming the 17^th former Tech player to appear in the majors and just the seventh pitcher.

When Rowen was called up to Texas and saw action on June 15, it marked the first time ever that two former Tech players made their Major League debuts in the same season and gave the Hokies three players in the majors at the time – including Joe Saunders – for only the sixth time.

Among that 2010 draft class, three more players, along with Rowen, finished their seasons in Triple-A – Tim Smalling (Colorado), Austin Wates (Miami) and Justin Wright (St. Louis). The stockpile doesn’t end there, though, as the 2013 draft class – the second-largest ever at Tech – saw Tyler Horan (San Francisco) and Joe Mantiply (Detroit) end the 2014 season in Double-A.

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