by Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting impacts of unemployment and forced social distancing, most people would agree that the 2020 calendar year has been less than ideal. However, 
Fighting Illini baseball and football alumnus Kyle Hudson would beg to differ a bit, particularly when it concerns his current employer, the Cleveland Indians.
Since receiving a life-changing call on Valentine's Day from Indians President Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff that offered him the opportunity to become a Major League coaching assistant, Hudson has played a major role in helping Cleveland secure a spot in the playoffs. His team won nine of its last 11 games during the regular season and finished just one game behind American League Central Division champ Minnesota.
The Indians will open baseball's 16-team playoffs on Tuesday (Sept. 29), hosting the New York Yankees in a best-of-three A.L. Wild Card Series at Progressive Field.
Wearing Indians jersey No. 97, the former bench coach at Class-A Lynchburg ('17), Class-A Lake County (2018) and Triple-A Columbus (2019) now assists Cleveland bench coach Brad Mills with the Tribe's outfielders, directing a rotation of Delino DeShields, Jordan Luplow, Oscar Mercado, Tyler Naquin, Josh Naylor and Franmil Reyes with defensive positioning.
And with manager Terry Francona being sidelined with an illness for most of the season, the former Mattoon Green Wave star's job description has been expanded even beyond his additional role as an advance scout.
"The role of a bench coach in the Major Leagues is similar to a second manager, so you've got a lot on your plate," Hudson said. "Millsy is trying to position the outfielders and focus on all of the in-game situational stuff as well. They just wanted to ease some of that pressure off him pregame and in-game. What a great opportunity it is for me to learn from the outstanding staff that we have here … a Hall of Fame manager and all the experience with Millsy, Sandy Alomar Jr., Carl Willis, and everyone else. I'm so blessed to be in this position."
Though Francona has been largely absent in 2020, Hudson has taken advantage of the few personal opportunities he's had with his manager.
"Early in the season, 'Tito' typically came out to the dugout about 30-to-45 minutes prior to the game," Hudson said. "Because we're so separated (due to the team's enforced social distancing), seeing him in the dugout was often the first time I would have seen him all day. I just want to pick that guy's brain. I want to know everything he knows. I want to hear his stories, I want to hear his experiences, I want to hear everything he says about the game. His ability to develop a culture within a team and an organization is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The players love playing for him."
Hudson learned many tricks of the coaching trade during his time as an Illini football player (2005-07) under then head coach Ron Zook and in baseball (2006-08) under Dan Hartleb.
"Coach Zook pushed you hard," Hudson said. "You really didn't want to disappoint him, so you tried your best and worked your hardest in the weight room and on the practice field. We practiced one way and that was hard all the time. He helped develop me as a person."
Hudson is particularly indebted to Hartleb.
"Coach Hartleb has not only been a mentor to me, he's now one of my very good friends," Hudson said. "We continue to talk to this day. In 2015, he gave me an opportunity to come back and start my coaching career. That was just an unbelievable opportunity. I don't know that you can have a better face of a program than Coach Hartleb because of the way he's done it. I have so much respect for the way he's run that program and what he does for the university and in the community. When I left, I told him 'I want to be like you.' He's definitely been a huge part of where I'm at now."
Hudson, who had a 14-game big league career with the Baltimore Orioles in 2011, feels as though he has a unique bond with Illini Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau, a hero with the Indians in the 1930s, '40s and '50s.
"He's a legend at Illinois, he's a legend in our organization, and he's a legend in baseball," Hudson said. "It's kind of a running joke with me and one of my good friends in the organization (Kevin Howard, Indians hitting coordinator). I always talk about Lou Boudreau and how he's an Illini. Kevin doesn't know much about Lou because it was a long time ago. On my walk from my apartment to the stadium, I pass by his statue. Maybe the first or second day I walked by it, I snapped a picture and sent it to Coach Hartleb. My message said 'What a small world it is that I get to walk by this statue every single day.' It's a cool thing to be a part of. Every time I walk out into the stadium, I see his name plastered on the upper deck. It's pretty neat."
With the football season now just a few weeks away from beginning, Hudson is anxious to check out Coach Lovie Smith's 2020 Fighting Illini.
"On Saturday mornings when I flip on the TV to ESPN and College GameDay, I still get some butterflies like I used to back when I played," he said. "I've been a season ticket holder at Illinois ever since I left, so it's going to be fun to follow them through this crazy time."
Hudson also has a keen interest in Illinois's recently announced plans to enhance its baseball facilities.
"It's well overdue, to be honest," he said. "That indoor facility is something that we really need. A lot of recruiting is based off the facilities. That's what kids and parents are looking at. What the current coaching staff has done for the baseball team without those facilities is an amazing thing. That speaks volumes to what that staff has done. I'm excited for them to get the kind of facility that they deserve."
When the baseball season ends, hopefully not too soon, Hudson will be eager to rejoin his wife, Shaela, and their 18-month-old daughter, Hadley, at their home in Peoria.
"I hate being away from them, but that's the life we're in right now," he says.
