With the New York Mets on the clock in the 15th round of this year’s June MLB Draft, Tom Hackimer was following along with the coverage on Twitter.
The St. John’s University, Jamaica, junior standout closer had just wrapped up a season in which he was a unanimous selection to the All-Big East Conference First Team, so he had a good feeling about his chances to be drafted.
And sure enough, his hometown Mets came through.
“I was surprised and then very happy,” the 21-year-old pitcher said. “It’s really special being able to experience that.”
Meanwhile though, the deadline for Hackimer to sign his contract with the Mets was July 17, which came and passed without his name being inked on the paper. Instead, he has decided to return to St. John’s to finish up his degree and play one more season with the Red Storm.
Though he took his time in making this decision, Hackimer said he never really experienced any sort of pressure. He had plenty of conversations with his coaches, former teammates and of course his family, but through it all, he kept everything in perspective.
“Really there was no bad decision for me to make here,” he said.
Seeds Planted at Molloy
The seeds of Hackimer’s baseball career were planted right here in the Diocese of Brooklyn at Archbishop Molloy H.S., Briarwood, where he was a member of the last team the late legendary Jack Curran coached for a full baseball season.
Hackimer, a native of Floral Park, L.I., was the team’s shortstop and followed both his father and older brother’s footsteps in attending Molloy. While there, he picked up on Coach Curran’s main philosophy.
“No matter what’s going on whether you’re up 20 or down 20, you always have to play the same way,” Hackimer said of what he learned from Curran.
Curran always envisioned that Hackimer would make a good pitcher, but Molloy’s team had plenty of arms at that time, which kept Hackimer at shortstop. However, with no offers to play college baseball on the table as Hackimer graduated in 2012, Coach Curran made a few phone calls.
Hackimer already had a full academic scholarship lined up to St. John’s, so Curran called Red Storm head coach Ed Blankmeyer and then-pitching coach Scott Brown. The Johnnies had a logjam in their infield, but Blankmeyer said Hackimer could tryout for the team as a pitcher.
With no experience on the mound since Little League, Hackimer had to be a bit nervous as he began transitioning into a pitcher. But since it was his best shot to continue his baseball career, he was certainly open to the change.
“It took me a little while to get used to it,” he said of pitching. “It was totally new to me basically. I hadn’t really pitched since I was like 12 or 13.”
Through the work ethic he learned from Coach Curran, Hackimer earned a spot in the St. John’s bullpen. The coaches shifted his arm angle, so he became a side-arming right-hander who relied on deception to retire opposing hitters.
There were, of course, some growing pains his first two seasons in the bullpen, but this past spring as a junior, Hackimer flourished as the team’s closer. He had studied the mechanics of some professional side-arming relievers, including Joe Smith, Steve Cishek and his favorite, Darren O’Day, as he developed a comfort with this unique pitching style.
He led the Big East with 15 saves and in the process became the all-time saves leader at St. John’s. He also posted a 1.92 ERA and .177 batting average against while striking out 55 batters in 51 2/3 innings for the Red Storm team that won the Big East regular season crown, the Big East championship and reached the NCAA Regional Finals.
So naturally, Hackimer was on the Mets’ radar this past June, especially because he was playing just minutes from Citi Field in Flushing. Since he had played a full college season, the next step if he had signed would have likely been playing for the Brooklyn Cyclones at MCU Park in Coney Island, which would have further added to the fairy tale of playing professional ball so close to home.
School Comes First
But for Hackimer, school has always come first. He is a physics major at St. John’s – a rarity for a student-athlete given the nonstop nature of the sports season. Hackimer, though, is always sure to make up the assigned work and is grateful to the department for understanding the rigors of his schedule.
With aspirations to someday be a theoretical physicist or an engineer, Hackimer knew he would need his college degree. While he could have always finished at a later date, he felt the time was now to return to St. John’s for one more season on the diamond and to finish out his degree requirements.
“Whenever my playing career is over, whether it’s after this year or 10 years from now, I’ll be happy to have my degree,” he said.
Though his pro baseball career is on hold temporarily, Hackimer did have the opportunity this past summer to play in one of the most prestigious college baseball leagues in the country: the Cape Cod League. His team, the Brewster Whitecaps, is gearing up for a playoff appearance, and Hackimer will surely factor into the team’s postseason success as the closer.
“I’m having a great time up here,” he said. “I’ve been pitching pretty well and feel good.”
At this time next year, the likelihood that Hackimer will be pitching in the minor-league organization of one of the 30 MLB teams is quite high. But the difference between this summer and next summer is that he will have his degree.
The good Lord only opens the window to those who are blessed enough to play professional baseball for a finite period of time. So it’s essential to have a backup plan.
Looking at the big picture, Hackimer has made the right decision, albeit one that took plenty of thought against the lure of playing pro ball.
But then again, Hackimer has been making the right decisions for the entirety of his young life.
Would you expect anything less from a physics major after all?
Contact Jim Mancari via email at jmmanc@gmail.com.