Shocker pitcher, is coordinator of
advance scouting on the Chicago
Cubs’ staff.
Former Shocker pitcher extraordinaire Tommy Hottovy ’04, who pitched for the KC Royals among other MLB teams during his pro playing days, has joined the rare few Wichita State players who have been part of World Series Championship teams.
And he’s undoubtedly the only one to have helped his team’s efforts while serving as coordinator of advance scouting.
Hottovy, who earned a bachelor’s degree in finance at Wichita State, is a numbers and analytics guy on the Cubs’ staff. “In 2014,” he says, “I was a player in spring training with the Cubs, but after an injury, some continued education, and a conversation with Theo Epstein, I was able to stay in the game and combine my baseball and analytics backgrounds in a new and exciting role in the organization.”
And he did it at the most exciting time – since 1908’s World Series- winning season, anyway – in the Cubs’ long and storied history.
“Honestly,” Hottovy says, “it’s pretty hard to put into words. It was pretty emotional, to be honest with you. You work hard all year, all teams do, but only one team gets to win the last game. Only one team gets to hold the trophy at the end. All the nights you stay late and grind on teams, all of the hours spent with the staff and players game planning, all of the time traveling and away from my family, all for one goal – and I was lucky enough to be part of something that hadn’t happened in 108 years in this game. Still feels like a dream.
“The best part of this journey was seeing and feeling the city of Chicago ride the entire wave with us. The fans were behind us every step of the way. It was amazing to get to celebrate the win with 5-plus million people.”
