Former Boston Red Sox Alex Hassan signs with Dodgers

Boston Red Sox alumni are now surfacing on other teams and leagues. Former Red Sox Alex Hassan was born in Quincy, Ma and now is a Dodger.

This is the time of year where old friends of the Boston Red Sox surface elsewhere. Some may be former coaches such as Arnie Beyler – dismissed by the Red Sox – and now hired on as a manager of the Miami Marlins Triple-A affiliate. Players also move about on the baseball chess board such as Alejandro De Aza signing with the Mets and Allen Webster who now (hopefully) toils on the mound for the Samsung Lions in Korea.

Many others drift about attempting to latch on to baseball employment somewhere and one of note recently popped up – Alex Hassan signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The usual focus is on the star players being signed or the various trials and tribulations among those firmly entrenched on the 40-Man Roster, but another side of baseball life exists and Hassan personifies it.

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My first notice of Hassan was when he played for the Orleans Firebirds in the fast paced Cape Cod League. This was in 2009 and I saw Hassan in a game against the Wareham Gatemen. Hassan also was an East Division reserve All-Star that season in a game played at Fenway Park. What caught my attention was he was local having been born in Quincy, Massachusetts.

Hassan attended Duke University or “The Harvard of the South” and, to be fair and reasonable at Durham they refer to Harvard as “The Duke of the North.” Hassan had some ability as a pitcher at Duke and was a two-way player, but the Red Sox took a chance and drafted Hassan in the 20th round in 2009. Hassan, Quincy born, was signed by scout Quincy Boyd. Enough Quincy for me.

The Red Sox put the kibosh on pitching and Hassan became a full-time outfielder who moved up the developmental chain. An All-Star in the Eastern League in 2011 and his baseball calling card was OBP and was recognized as one of the most proficient players in the organization at utilizing the strike zone.

The pathway slowed, in 2012 and it was injuries. I saw Hassan in a few games with Pawtucket that season and what impressed was his fielding. Hassan was not in the rarefied atmosphere of Jackie Bradley, but he was an above-average fly hawk with a strong and accurate arm.

In 2014, Hassan had his finest season in professional baseball and it was with the PawSox. Hassan finished with a slash of .287/.378/.426 in 114 games and 474 plate appearances. The performance resulted in two career changing events: The first was a brief visit to Boston for his lone MLB hit in eight at-bats and the second was his release from the organization.