St. John's Closer Reflects On Returning For His Final Season
By SEAN BRENNAN
Special to BIGEAST.com
It was about 10 months ago when Thomas Hackimer got the phone call most guys his age who have a passion for baseball can only dream about. Here he was, just off a record-setting season as St. John’s closer, a season which saw the Red Storm win not only the BIG EAST regular-season title but the conference tournament crown as well and now with the Major League Baseball amateur draft going on, the New York Mets were on the line with the Floral Park native to tell them they were interested, very interested, in bringing him into the Mets family.
“I was in my house and following along with the draft,” Hackimer said after tossing a scoreless ninth inning this past Wednesday in the Johnnies’ 9-5 win over Wagner. “But the funny thing about it was I walked outside to take a call from a Mets scout and we couldn’t come to an agreement on the phone. So I walked back inside and I told my dad that was a phone call from the Mets but it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out there.”
Literally seconds later, Hackimer surprisingly was plucked by the Mets.
“I looked at my phone again, refreshed it and right at the top (of the draft site) was my name, Thomas Hackimer drafted by the Mets in the 15
th round,” Hackimer said. “That threw me off a little bit. It took like a minute to process it. It was a good combination of emotions.”
From there you would think the process would be an easy one for a guy who loves baseball as much as Hackimer. There would be a little negotiation, a deal would be struck at some point and Hackimer, majoring in physics, could put the books away for a while and begin his pursuit of a professional baseball career. Only it didn’t work out that way for St. John’s all-time saves leader, which is why he is back in Queens adding to his record-setting career instead of spending last summer in Brooklyn playing for the Cyclones, the Mets’ Single-A farm team.
“I talked to my parents obviously, some coaches here, some of my old coaches and I also did a lot of thinking on my own along with late-night conversations with my dad,” Hackimer said. “It was a down-to-the-wire, at-the-deadline decision I made. I was playing in Brewster in the Cape Code League and I saw (Mets’ Scouting Director Tom Tanous) that day after my game. We recapped what we talked about the night before and I told him if he could meet the things I asked for then I’d be down the next day to sign my contract. If not, then call me back and let me know what he could do. I never got a call. Maybe he didn’t like what I asked for, but that’s all right. It really ended up not working out and I ended up back here and I have no regrets about it at all.”
Neither does the Red Storm which couldn’t be any happier to have its’ elite closer back for an encore season.
“I’m absolutely happy to be back,” Hackimer said.
To understand just how far Hackimer’s career has come you have to understand where it came from. He played his prep baseball at Molloy High School in Queens under the late legendary coach Jack Curran. Hackimer, by his own admission, was a great glove, not-so-great hitting shortstop for the Stanners who had been asked on several occasions by Curran to give pitching a try. Hackimer deflected all Curran’s attempts until one day he finally caved in and took the mound.
He didn’t exactly give it his best shot, however.
“Coach Curran always wanted me to pitch at Molloy and I never would,” Hackimer said. “I stuck strong to that and kept playing shortstop. But he did have me go out there one time and I deliberately hit two guys and coach was like, “All right get him out of there.’ I’m sure he found it kind of funny that I wound up pitching here.”
And Curran did have a hand in Hackimer landing at St. John’s.
“He ended up calling Blanky (St. John’s head coach Ed Blankmeyer) for me and what I imagine he told him was something along the lines of, ‘This kid could probably play the field there. He can’t hit but he has a good arm if you want to put him on the mound.’” Hackimer said.
Since that chat four years ago all Hackimer has done is produce.
After a freshman season that saw him tie a then-school record with 31 appearances while picking up eight saves, he followed it up with a sophomore season in which he appeared in 30 games while logging a 3-0 record along with five saves.
But it was last year when Major League Baseball took notice when Hackimer made a school record – and BIG EAST-leading – 35 appearances and posted a 4-1 record with a minuscule 1.92 ERA as well as a program-record 15 saves, also good for sixth best nationally.
A 5-11, 195-pound righthander, Hackimer now owns St. John’s records with 31 saves and 106 appearances going into this weekend’s series with New York Tech. And while the Mets made him their 15
th-round pick, 449
th overall, the side-arming senior is happy to be back with the Johnnies, hoping to replicate last year’s run to the NCAA Tournament while adding to his historic save totals every time he takes the mound.
Not a bad career so far for the former light-hitting, walk-on shortstop. Could he ever have imagined his career turning out like it has?
“I started to a little bit,” Hackimer said. “It was kind of like where before you go to bed (you have) these ridiculous dreams kind of thing. And then I actually started getting closer and closer to doing it and I started to realize it really was possible.”
The perfect ending to Hackimer’s St. John’s story would include another regular-season crown and a second straight tournament title followed by another NCAA Tournament run and, of course, being selected in the MLB Draft this June.
“I think we’re off to a pretty good start overall coming to the end of the non-conference schedule,” said Hackimer, who has already logged a 3-0 record with three saves and a paper-thin 0.38 ERA this season. “I think we’re looking pretty good and finding a lineup that works heading into conference play. The team is starting to come around real well and I think we’re going to have a good rest of the season. We lost some key guys (from last year) but we have most of our lineup back which is huge. We’ve had a lot of guys step up to fill in the roles where we lost guys, the starter roles and some of the back end roles. I think we’re going to be all right.”
And with almost two months left to the season and the BIG EAST portion of the schedule about to commence, Hackimer said when the time comes for the draft he’ll be ready for whatever happens or whoever should select him. All he knows right now is that he is at total peace with his decision to return for his senior season.
“This year it’s whatever happens, happens,” Hackimer said. “I really don’t have much control over it. Whatever people think of me, they think and hopefully somebody thinks highly enough of me to pick me again, hopefully a little higher this time. Either way I’m happy with my decision. I think that I’ve done nothing but good for myself coming back here and I’m glad to be a part of this program.”