Slugger Sweeney wins Hutch Award

Mike Sweeney will no doubt receive numerous tributes today at Safeco Field as he accepts the Hutch Award for his numerous charitable and humanitarian contributions.

But Sweeney, the longtime Kansas City Royals star, will be hard-pressed to match the praise he received Tuesday during an emotional visit to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. And it came from a source traditionally deemed to be a tough audience: his father in-law.

That would be Jim Nettles, who himself played six seasons in the major leagues for three teams. He is the brother of former Yankees star Graig Nettles.

Jim Nettles, 60, settled in Tacoma, where he played in the minors while in the Twins organization. He later served as a bullpen catcher and batting-practice pitcher for the Royals, which is how his daughter, Shara, came to meet Sweeney.

"It's not every father that can say, 'My daughter married the finest person I ever met,' " said Nettles during an idle moment at the Hutchinson Research Center, where the Sweeneys, Nettles and past Hutch Award winner Andre Dawson were given a crash course in stem-cell and DNA technology by Dr. Beverly Torok-Storb and her staff.

Even more poignantly, Nettles himself is a recent cancer patient, having undergone successful surgery last October for prostate cancer. He said that his brother, Graig, has since been diagnosed with prostate cancer and is deciding when to undergo a similar procedure.

The brushes with cancer by the Nettles just added to the wonder that Sweeney repeatedly expressed as he listened intently to Dr. Torok-Storb, a transplantation biologist.

"The research being done right here is keeping our loved ones alive," Sweeney said.

The Sweeneys said the award just adds to the kinship they feel toward the Puget Sound area. They have a cabin in Gig Harbor. Shara was a college volleyball player at Pacific Lutheran University.

Mike hit his first home run at the Kingdome off Jamie Moyer in 1996.

Still unsigned as a free agent after 13 years with the Royals, Mike admitted to being intrigued by the idea of playing for the Mariners. But he says it's not going to happen — at least not this season.

"As much as I'd love to come play for the Mariners, they have a great first baseman in Richie [Sexson]. Jose Vidro did a great job as DH, and maybe Raul [Ibanez], who are both great friends of mine," he said.

"I don't know where I'll be playing this year, but whenever I come to Seattle and play at Safeco, it will be fun to come back to the Hutch and see my extended family, and also come back and visit the kids. I never realized that one of the most cutting-edge medical facilities in the country, maybe in the world, is right here in Seattle."

Dawson, who won the Hutch Award in 1994, can attest to the significance of the honor, which he ranked as one of the most meaningful of his career. Dawson was to deliver the keynote speech at today's Hutch Award luncheon.

"I cherish the Hutch Award, because of what it stood for," Dawson said. "How remarkable it is for the center to be one of the leading in the world, and how much progress is being made, and to be linked to that."

The Hutch Award goes to the player who "best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire" of Fred Hutchinson. Hutchinson, a former major-league pitcher and manager from Seattle, died of cancer in 1964. His brother, Dr. Bill Hutchinson, founded the Hutchinson Center.

Sweeney, 34, a five-time All-Star, has been active, along with Shara, in Kansas City's Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities program, and also started the Sweeney Family Foundation.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com

The information in this story, originally published January 23, 2008, was corrected January 27, 2008. Fred Hutchinson, a former major-league baseball pitcher and manager, died in 1964. A previous version of the story reported incorrectly he died in 1945.