Hutch Award

The Hutch Award is given annually to an active Major League Baseball (MLB) player who "best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire" of Fred Hutchinson, by persevering through adversity.

[1] The award was created in 1965 in honor of Hutchinson, the former MLB pitcher and manager, who died of lung cancer the previous year.

[2] The Hutch Award was created by Hutch's longtime friends Bob Prince, a broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates and KDKA; Jim Enright, a Chicago sportswriter; and Ritter Collett, the sports editor of the Dayton Journal Herald.

[3] They also created a scholarship fund for medical students engaged in cancer research to honor Hutchinson's memory.

[9] The permanent display of the Hutch Award is at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, where it has been since 1979.

A man in a navy blue baseball cap and a grey baseball uniform shown from the chest up looks to his right.
Fred Hutchinson , the award's namesake
A man in a grey baseball uniform with the word "BOSTON" written across the chest in red letters walks along a baseball field.
Jon Lester won the award after recovering from anaplastic large-cell lymphoma . [ 5 ]
A man in a grey baseball uniform with a blue helmet holds a baseball bat while preparing for a pitcher to throw the ball to him.
Billy Butler won the Hutch Award in 2011.