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This 21-year MLB Vet Graduated College This Month at Age 52

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Eric W. Bolin | Last updated May 21, 2025 11:13 AM ET

LaTroy Hawkins' times in Major League Baseball was so long that a human being could have been born when Hawkins started his career and could have graduated college when Hawkins retired.

For 21 years, the right-handed reliever carved out an indelible role in bullpens across the Bigs. He played for 11 different franchises - longest with the Minnesota Twins and most successfull with the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros - over those 21 seasons, finishing his time in 2015 with 127 saves, a 75-94 record and 4.31 earned-run average.

After retirement, Hawkins joined the Twins front office and broadcast booth. But when his mother died in 2020, the Texas native decided to pull the trigger on something that he had considered since stepping off the field.

Now, five years later, after years of online courses - and while maintaining his post-playing baseball career, Hawkins is a college graduate.

"Greatness doesn’t retire — it evolves,” Hawkins told The Athletic. “Growth doesn’t have an expiration date because dreams don’t come with a pitch clock. And because it’s never too late to show the next generation what follow-through looks like.”

Hawkins took part in graduation ceremonies from Southern New Hampshire University on May 4. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in sociology. He was just as nervous that day as any of the countless days and nights over those 21 seasons before.

“Being a pitcher or a professional athlete, eyes are always on you,” Hawkins told The Athletic. “It comes with the territory. But once you fade into the low lighting that comes on when the movie ends, or (when you’re) playing outside and it starts to get dark, I’ve faded back to that part now. Being back in the limelight, it was a little nerve-wracking.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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