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Saturday's Internet Edition, July 31, 2010.
RM native awes in Oregon State baseball debut
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Photo courtesy to River Valley Times
Rancho Murieta native Danny Hayes takes a swing for his Oregon State Beavers in a game against Arizona State. In his season debut game on March 19 against University of Maine, Hayes batted a jaw-dropping .571 average.
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By Sheri Barile
River Valley Times Reporter
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Aside from family, life has always boiled down primarily to two things for Rancho Murieta native son Danny Hayes – baseball today and baseball tomorrow. So when the Oregon State University (OSU) freshman got the news from doctors last fall that his season as an OSU ballplayer was over after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee, he was devastated.
That was in October. Remarkably, just five months later, thanks to intensive rehab and plenty of encouragement from coaches who wanted him back in the lineup, Hayes treated the Pacific -10 Conference on March 19 to an explosive starting debut virtually carpet-bombing the OSU Goss Stadium at Coleman Field with offense.
In the first of a victorious three-game series against University of Maine, the left-handed batter racked up three hits, three runs and three runs batted in. Hayes stepped off the field that day with a .571 batting average and was named player of the game.
OSU associate head coach Marty Lees, who was instrumental in bringing Hayes into their program, was not surprised by the intensity of his comeback. “Danny was brought here to hit,” Lees said. “It was nice to see that happen so early for him but not all that surprising.
He has a rich family history and a real savvy for the game.”
That rich family history has a name. Legendary UC Davis head baseball coach and RM resident Phil Swimley is Hayes’ grandfather. During his 36-year career at UC Davis, he coached Hayes’ father, Dan Hayes and uncles Steve Swimley and Colby Craig. After retiring in 2002, Phil Swimley was inducted into the UC Davis Baseball Hall of Fame and was later inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
While Hayes was rehabbing his knee and was home during the holidays, Swimley helped him work on his swing from a stool at Stonehouse Park. Hayes said it was tough medicine to swallow but just what the doctor ordered. “At first, hitting while sitting down was definitely tough to do,” he said. “But it helped me get a feel and a taste for the game again after missing fall ball. I was grateful to my grandfather for that.”
But the hunger to get back in the game was all Hayes. He said he wanted it, not only for himself, but also for his team. “When the doctor said rehab would be a yearlong process, I felt like I was letting my coaches and team down,” Hayes said. "I was determined to turn it into a four-month process. My goal was to be back by the third week into the season. I accomplished that, and my knee feels good.”
Hayes also said he feels pretty good about his opening game as an OSU Beaver, though he seems to be taking it all in stride. “My dad was honestly more nervous than I was about that first game,” Hayes said. “I just approached my situation as if I had nothing to lose and just stayed relaxed. It helped knowing that my mom and sister were there to cheer me on.”
Hayes’ father admitted that he was very nervous for his son that day. “I was nervous for him and for the program and his teammates,” Dan Hayes said. “I have been in his shoes, so I know how it feels to be a freshman in front of 3,000 screaming fans for the first time. But we couldn’t have written a better script. He just went out there and did what he does – play the game.”
Swimley said he has seen this quality in his grandson since Hayes was three years old. “He started coming to watch my games when he was little, and he was very attentive and focused,” Swimley said. "I watched him start to swing a bat when he was just two. You can tell when someone picks up a bat if they know what to do with it. There’s an explosion in the way he swings it that’s really not teachable. Those guys are hard to find.”
Swimley also said that his grandson, who plays first base, has good instincts in the field. “If you watch his hands, you can see that he knows what to do,” Swimley said. “He just knows how to pick up a ball and throw it where it needs to be.”
Family friend Linda Gaskins has been watching Hayes play baseball since he was very young. She feels that some who know the family might look at him and see a legacy. She sees something more. “Danny has always been a different kind of ballplayer than other kids, and it has been my absolute pleasure to see him play now as a grown man,” Gaskins said. “For him, it’s not just the game. It’s the brotherhood and camaraderie. He just wants to be around it all the time.”
Hayes’ mother, Jeanne stated it another way. “For Danny, there has never been anything else,” she said. “When the final inning ends and the cleats come off, baseball is still coursing through his veins.”
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