Orlando Thill Hudson (born December 12, 1977) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

second baseman. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

from 2002–2012 with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. Hudson was known for his fielding abilities, and for making spectacular lunging catches and diving stabs at grounders. His defensive talents were recognized in , when he won his first

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

while with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Early life and high school career

Hudson was born on December 12, 1977 in

Darlington, South Carolina Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2010, its population was 6,289. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. Darlington ...

. He attended Darlington High School, where he was a three-sport standout in baseball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. In baseball, he was the Player of the Year and an All-State selection. Hudson was the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

of Darlington High School's first-ever football team, and also served as the team's punter. After high school, Hudson went on to play baseball at Spartanburg Methodist College.

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

Hudson was drafted 4th in the 33rd round by the

in the

1997 Major League Baseball Draft The 1997 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1997. A total of 1607 players were drafted over the course of 92 rounds. First round selections ...

. He began his professional career with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays in the rookie leagues in 1998, hitting .298. He continued through the minors with the

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home ga ...

(1999),

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

(2000),

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off ...

(2000–01) and Syracuse Sky Chiefs (2001–02). In 2001, he was a Southern League All-Star and a

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

1st team Minor League All-Star at second base. He made his major league debut on July 24, 2002 for the Blue Jays against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. He was hitless in four at-bats in that game. Hudson recorded his first Major League hit in the second inning on July 26 against the

when he slapped an RBI single to center field off pitcher Joe Mays. His first home run was hit on August 5 against Baltimore's Rodrigo López. He played for the Blue Jays from 2002 to 2005.

Arizona Diamondbacks

In , Hudson was traded to the

along with

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

Miguel Batista Miguel Descartes Batista Jerez (born February 19, 1971) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals, Ar ...

for

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

Troy Glaus and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

prospect Sergio Santos. In the season, his first full season with Arizona, Hudson set career-highs in batting average with a .287, in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s with 15, in RBI with 67, and runs scored with 87. After the 2006 season, Hudson became the recipient of his second career Gold Glove Award, as announced on November 3. Hudson became only the sixth infielder in major league history to win a Gold Glove award in both the American and National Leagues. He was also honored with a

Fielding Bible Award A Fielding Bible Award recognizes the best defensive player for each fielding position in Major League Baseball (MLB) based on statistical analysis. John Dewan and Baseball Info Solutions conduct the annual selection process, which commenced in 2 ...

as the best fielding second baseman in MLB. Hudson was selected to his first All-Star Game in 2007, and won his third Gold Glove that season. He also raised his batting average from his previous career-high of .287 set the year before to a .294 clip. In 2008 Hudson raised his average for the third straight year with a career-best .305 batting average. Hudson missed the last month of the season, with a dislocated left

wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known as the carp ...

he suffered against the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

and became a free agent at the end of the season.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On February 21, , Hudson signed a one-year deal with the

, reportedly worth $3.4 million (with an additional $4.6 million more in performance bonuses). On Monday April 13, 2009, Hudson became the eighth Dodger to

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League B ...

, in the 2009 home opener against the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

before a record crowd of 57,099. Hudson was the second Los Angeles Dodger to accomplish this, since Wes Parker in 1970, and the only Los Angeles Dodger to do it at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

. Hudson singled in the first inning, hit a home run in the third inning, doubled in the fourth inning and tripled in the sixth inning. All of Hudson's hits came off of

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "The Big Unit", is an American photographer and former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle M ...

except for his triple, which was off middle reliever

Merkin Valdez Merkin R. Valdéz Mola (born November 10, 1981) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. Valdez graduated from Escuela Rural Palenque High School in his native Dominican Republic. Career Atlanta Braves Valdez was signed by the Atla ...

. He was selected to his second All-Star Game and won his fourth Gold Glove Award at the conclusion of the season.

Minnesota Twins

On February 4, 2010, Hudson signed a 1-year, $5 million deal with the

. He became the Twins second baseman, replacing

Nick Punto Nicholas Paul Punto (born November 8, 1977) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodge ...

and Alexi Casilla. In 126 games, Hudson hit .268 with a career-low .710

OPS In ancient Roman religion, Ops or ''Opis'' (Latin: "Plenty") was a fertility deity and earth goddess of Sabine origin. Her equivalent in Greek mythology was Rhea. Iconography In Ops' statues and coins, she is figured sitting down, as Chthon ...

San Diego Padres

On December 20, 2010, Hudson signed a 2-year contract with the

worth $11.5 million. On July 21, 2011, Hudson hit his head against the wall when he caught the ball in foul territory. He found himself unconscious after he hit the wall but avoided a disabled list stint. Through 2011, he had the second-highest career range factor per game of all active major league second basemen, behind

Ian Kinsler Ian Michael Kinsler ( he, איאן קינסלר; born June 22, 1982) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for ...

. He was released by the Padres on May 17, 2012.

Chicago White Sox

On May 19, 2012, the White Sox agreed to sign Hudson. Hudson finished 2012 with a career-low .204 batting average.

2013

Hudson sat out the entire 2013 season due to little interest from MLB teams. Hudson stated that he is "not ready to retire."

Activism

On April 13, 2010, Hudson hinted that there is racism toward blacks in free agency. He said, "You see guys like

Jermaine Dye Jermaine Trevell Dye (born January 28, 1974) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. Dye grew up in Northern California and was a multi-sport star at Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville. Dye attended Cosumnes River College in ...

without a job. Guy with 27 home runs and 81 RBIs and can’t get a job. Pretty much sums it up right there, no? You’ve got some guys who miss a year who can come back and get $5, $6 million and a guy like Jermaine Dye can’t get a job. A guy like

Gary Sheffield Gary Antonian Sheffield (born November 18, 1968) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball for eight teams from 1988 to 2009. He is a sports agent. For most of his career, Sheffield played rig ...

, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, can’t get a job."

Community involvement

Hudson founded the C.A.T.C.H. Foundation, a 501c3 organization that seeks to provide resources and a support system for youth coping with autism.

Family and retirement

Hudson married Keisa Carr in the 2008 offseason. He has two daughters and one son. Hudson currently works for the Diamondbacks as a player development assistant.

References

External links

* : {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Orlando 1977 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball players from South Carolina Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gold Glove Award winners Hagerstown Suns players Lake Elsinore Storm players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball second basemen Medicine Hat Blue Jays players Minnesota Twins players National League All-Stars People from Darlington, South Carolina San Diego Padres players Spartanburg Methodist Pioneers baseball players Syracuse SkyChiefs players Tennessee Smokies players Toronto Blue Jays players Tucson Padres players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople