Tim was asked to pitch in his junior years mainly because "we didn't have anybody else." He figured out enough to go 12-1 (1.78 ERA) in his final seasons, but at just 145 pounds and playing in the state's smallest classification, he received no Division I scholarship offers.

Hudson wound up at Chattahoochee Valley Community College, primarily, he says, because he went to high school with B.R. Johnson's daughter. B.R. was CVCC's coach, who thought he was getting a quick-to-smile kid from down the road. What developed over the next two seasons was the best player in the college's history, a third baseman/DH who pitched when he had time.

Tim is pretty skinny. Scouts put the rap on him that he was too scrawny (6-feet, 160 pounds when he signed his first pro contract) to survive the rigors of a Major League season. But he embarked on a an intense weight-training and dietary campaign in the offseason. He was up to 185 pounds. But he still needs to gain weight.

HIGHLY MOTIVATED 

Tim took the mound for the first time at age 9, on a Little League field in Phenix City, Alabama. His mother, Sue, recalled that first trip to the hill.

"In one game, we were losing anyway," Sue Hudson recalled. "The coach came over to me and said, 'Mrs. Hudson, I'm going to give Tim the ball. But Timmy's not a pitcher.' He went out there and he was walking everybody. But he was so happy. We just laughed, because he was having such a ball.

"I remember him coming up to me after and saying, 'Mama, didn't I do good out there on that mound?' I told him, 'Yeah, you did real good. But I think you're a better first baseman.' I never dreamed that he would wind up pitching all these years."

When others thought Tim should quit because he was too small, he simply competed harder.

"I think it has to do with how I was raised and having two older brothers," Hudson said. "You have that sense of competitiveness. You want to try to play with them."

And Tim's dad wouldn't let his son use his small stature as an excuse. "Everybody talked about his size, because he was so little," Ronnie Hudson said. "I always told him to keep a positive attitude. I told him, 'Timmy, the pros don't care how big you are if you can get them out.'"

In 1993, Hudson was not drafted out of Glenwood High School even though he had a 12-1 record with a 1.78 ERA.

But in 1994, Hudson was drafted by the A's #35 out of Chattahoochee Valley Community College. He chose Auburn instead.

There, he was a pitcher/center fielder for the Tigers, going 15-2, 2.97 from the mound and hitting .396-18-95. Hudson was an All American utilityman at Auburn.

Tim is a fine model for all of the A's pitching prospects. He has a lead-by-example style.

HOME LIFE

Tim and Kim met at Auburn, where he was an All-SEC outfielder and pitcher. "We sat beside each other in a class—World History 101. She's really smart, made straight A's. She was the note-taker while I was busy goofing off," Hudson recalled.

Kim passed the bar exam in Alabama. "She's my sub-agent. I have my agent, and she checks my agent out, makes sure he's on top of things. I hope our kids get her brains and my athletic ability."

After the 2000 season, they moved to Auburn, Alabama. A couple years later, they moved their winter home to the Tampa, Florida area. But they moved back to Auburn before 2005 spring training.

Tim's wife, Kim Bruner, is an honest-to-goodness farm girl from Walter, Indiana, who had just transferred from Purdue and was assigned to be Hudson's tutor. While the history progress was start-and-stop—"Let's just say it's a good thing God blessed him with an arm," Kim said—the two began dating within a couple of months and were soon inseparable.

"When they say opposites attract, that's true," Kim said. "He and I are opposite in a few ways—academics was definitely an opposite. But it was inevitable, I guess."

In December 2005, Tim and his wife, Kim, bought 780 acres that includes rolling hills, pastures, hard wood and pine forests, a lake, a pond, and one very old trailer that only a man's man could love. It is in Auburn, Alabama.

Their other home is just 40 minutes south of Turner Field in Peachtree City, and the farm, as it is usually called, is approximately 100 miles west. It is so conveneient that Tim has left the ballpark after day games and driven straight to the Alabama property to enjoy a night of solitude and a morning of fishing before returning to the ballpark the next afternoon for a night game.

The Hudsons named their home "Kenteska Plantation," a combination of the names of their children, daughters Kennedie and Tesa and son Kade. They have farm dogs, including a high-strung Dalmatian named Turner, adopted in Atlanta during a Braves pet calendar photo shoot. And they have several roosters and chickens, a donkey and her colt, two horses, a bull, and a cow. The lake is stocked with bass, and the property is a great place to hunt deer and wild turkey. (Patty Rasmussen-ChopTalk-February 2008)

Reports during the 2003 American League Division Series between the A's and Red Sox had it that Hudson got into a brawl two days before Game 4, leading to injury. But most witnesses contacted by a variety of media outlets said there was little to the matter.

"I'm not denying that something happened," Hudson said. "There was definitely a confrontation, but it was nothing like a lot of people were making it out to be. No punches were thrown. And it had nothing to do with my injury."

When he was with the A's, Tim, always prone to prank, pulled one on teammate Adam Piatt,  just before the A's were going to fly back to Oakland from Tampa. With the help of a clubhouse attendant, Hudson had a hot balm rubbed throughout the legs of Piatt's suit pants and on his socks. Word is the former A's outfielder was en fuego throughout the five-hour flight.

February 2006: Hudson chose not to participate in the World Baseball Classic because of concerns about rushing his throwing program. He spent a month on the D.L. in 2005 with a muscle strain in his left side.

September 6, 2006: Active in children's charities, Hudson was nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award.

During the offseason before 2007 spring training, Tim went through three months of rededicated winter conditioning. It was similar to the rigorous offseason weightlifting program he used in Oakland. He said the look on his teammates faces inspired the intense winter workout regime.

"For the first time in my career, I could look around and see my teammates didn't have confidence in me," Hudson said. "I've dedicated myself to not letting that happen again. In years past, you could see teammates body language and tell they were thinking, 'These poor guys on the other team don't have a chance.'"

September 14, 2007: Hudson and a few other Braves met President Bush in the Oval Office. With the team in town to play the Nationals, the President asked to see some of the players, spending about 30 minutes talking baseball.

September 5, 2009: Hudson, the masterful pitcher, became an unexpected hitter. Tim went deep with his first Major League home run, a two-run shot in the Braves' 7-6 win over the Cardinals. Hudson homered for the first time since playing against Lance Berkman and the Rice Owls during the 1997 College World Series.

Tim has a fading flame tattoo on the inside of his left arm and photos of his kids at Disney World in his locker.

Hudson's favorite home-cooked meal: Pot roast made with Worcestershire sauce and a Coke.

For TV, Tim likes Discovery of the History Channel.

Music: Dave Matthews Band.

January 26, 2011: Hudson was honored with the 46th annual Hutch Award for oustanding community service. Tim received the national award at a fundraising luncheon at Safeco Field for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and said he was humbled to be associated with an honor previously earned by the likes of Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, Carl Yastrzemski, Pete Rose, Joe Torre, Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell, Lou Brock, George Brett and Johnny Bench.

Hudson and his wife, Kim, launched the Hudson Family Foundation in 2009 to help kids with special physical, emotional or financial needs.

The Hudsons have been active with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia and Alabama, as well as Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. They recently joined forces with the Jamie Moyer Foundation to support "Camp Erin," a bereavement camp for children who have experienced the death of a parent or loved one, establishing "Camp Erin Atlanta," which opened in 2009.

With three school-aged children under the age of 11 in 2012, Hudson has found himself attending various events. His oldest daughter, Kennedie, has participated in gymnastics, and recently shown a greater appreciation for softball.

"She's starting to play on some travel teams, and I think she's realizing she's better than she gave herself credit for and that she doesn't have to be embarrassed if she messes up," Hudson said. "I think she's starting to see, 'I'm pretty good at this, and I don't have to go out there with people looking at me like I'm not very good.'"

Hudson's younger daughter, Tess, might be the child most likely to explore activities that do not include bats, gloves and bases.

"She's kind of a free spirit," Hudson said. "She loves a lot of things. Her passion is probably going to be in the gymnastics, cheerleading arena."

Still at the coach-pitch level, Hudson's son, Kade, has started to show some of the same appreciation for baseball that his father had at a similar age.

"He's really starting to like it," Hudson said. "Hopefully he'll fall in love with the game. Around his age, I really started falling in love with the game of baseball. As a parent, I think it's vital to find something your kid is passionate in, whether it's baseball, music or whatever."

Tim says he will never push his children to participate in any specific activities.

"I want them to do whatever they love because they excel at it and love it," Hudson said. "If it's baseball or softball, that's cool. But if it's music, football or lacrosse or whatever, I don't know much about any of that. But if they love it, I'll support it."  (Mark Bowman-MLB.com-4/15/12)

Reliable, consistent, trustworthy, efficient, modest, and an outstanding role model for the rest of the group. That's basically an Eagle Scout, but it's also Tim Hudson.

Hudson's 2014 season, as of June 1, 2014, amounts to this: He has made the outstanding into the routine. The Giants have come to depend upon Hudson. Catcher Buster Posey is, understandably, a big supporter.

"He works quick, he keeps the ball down, changes speed so well," Posey said of Hudson. "You feel really good every time he's out there."

Manager Bruce Bochy also fully appreciates the quality of Hudson's work. "Great job, great job, and he got better as he went," Bochy said of a 2014 performance by Hudson. "Early, at times, he had trouble getting it where he wanted it. But he's been so good. He adjusted and he got in a good groove. I thought he did a great job. Against this club, seven shutout innings, you're doing something."

Hudson, typically, was unassuming regarding his performance. He credits his offense for getting four first-inning runs and giving him breathing room. "That's something a starting pitcher always welcomes is early runs," he said. "You can try to pound the strike zone, and you don't have to pitch to the corners so much. A four-run lead is more than anybody could ever ask. It was a nice day for us all the way around."

But Hudson is modest. Asked what had allowed him to be so successful, he responded: "That's hard to say. Just missing barrels. Putting balls in play and I'm able to stay out of the middle of the plate. You've got to try to be aggressive and try to make the other team earn whatever it gets. It's nice to be aggressive and let those guys make some plays behind me."

Tim Hudson has been everything the Giants could have hoped, and maybe even more. (Bauman - mlb.com - 6/1/14)

Hudson spent most of a 2014 off-day disturbed by an article in USA Today that portrayed him as bitter about the Braves not making a stronger push to re-sign him the previous winter. "It just kind of made me feel sick most of yesterday, because that is not the way I felt after the whole process played out," Hudson said.

Hudson grew up a Braves fan and became an integral part of the organization as a member of the rotation from 2005-13. When he and his San Francisco teammates visited Atlanta in May, he had a lot of complimentary things to say about the Braves organization, adding that he is looking forward to his post-retirement days, when he will take his kids to Turner Field for games.

With this in mind, it is easier to understand why Hudson was bothered by the article, in which he was quoted as saying, "It was made pretty clear to me the Braves didn't want me back. After what I had done for them, it was kind of a slap in the face."

Though Hudson did say these words during a portion of the interview with Bob Nightengale, he is bothered by the fact that the quotes alone provide just an indication of what he felt during the earliest stages of the free-agent process.

When the Braves made an initial offer of one year and $2 million, Hudson had reason to be upset given all that he had provided on the mound and to the Atlanta community over the previous 10 seasons. But in the weeks before Hudson signed a two-year, $23 million contract with the Giants, he repeatedly credited Braves general manager Frank Wren for the increased interest he was showed through enhanced financial offers.

"After the initial offer and all of that, it ended up not being a slap in the face," Hudson said. "But initially, it looked like we were not going to go anywhere."

Thoughts of Hudson returning to Atlanta seemingly ended when he indicated that he would not even counter the initial offer. But as his market value started to take shape over the next couple of weeks, he had multiple conversations with Wren and even welcomed him into his home just a few days before his deal with the Giants was completed.

"The Braves made a push, but we were just too far down the line with the Giants," Hudson said. "I still keep up with the Braves, like I have my whole life," Hudson said. "I still have a lot of great friends in that clubhouse. I can't say I don't still pull for them, because I do, except for when we're playing them."  (Bowman - mlb.com - 6/3/14)

Hudson's overall performance prior to the 2014 All-Star game was praised by Juan Marichal, a distinguished guest. Asked whether Hudson's pitching style reminded him of his own, Hall of Famer Marichal responded emphatically, repeating, "Yes."

Marichal was present to participate in various All-Star Game-related festivities. But when he's at home in the Dominican Republic, he said he watches nearly every Giants game via satellite broadcasts. This has enabled him to scrutinize Hudson this year.

"I like to watch him pitch because he's around the plate very often and gets a lot of guys out with pitches off the plate," Marichal said.

Marichal's remarks prompted a smile from Hudson. "To say I remind him of himself is truly an honor," Hudson said. "That's a tremendous compliment. He's obviously one of the best pitchers ever to take the mound and one of the best in Giants history. So that's very humbling."  (Haft - mlb.com - 7/15/14)

Hudson has started the two longest games in baseball postseason history.

September 8, 2015:  Hudson became the first 40-year-old pitcher to hit a home run since 2007.

With 222 wins, four All-Star appearances and one World Series championship under his belt, Tim threw the final pitch of his 17-year career in the third inning of the Giants' loss to the Dodgers on October 1st at AT&T Park.

After Hudson allowed two Dodgers to reach base in his last frame, Giants manager Bruce Bochy came out to the mound to pull the starter from the game. But before the skipper took the ball, he wrapped his arms around his pitcher and embraced him as the sellout home crowd roared in applause.

"It was a little emotional," Bochy said. "It's a special moment. I just wanted him to take it all in and enjoy it."  (Maclin - mlb.com - 10/1/15)

TRANSACTIONS

June 13, 1997: Tim was drafted by the Oakland A's in the 6th round, out of Auburn University. 

December 16, 2004: The Braves sent pitchers Dan Meyer and Juan Cruz and OF Charles Thomas to the A's, acquiring Hudson.

In a touch of irony, the Christmas before, in December 2003, Tim's wife, Kim, gave her husband  a set of billiard balls bearing logos of the Oakland Athletics and Atlanta Braves. "He's always been a Braves fan," she said. "And I didn't want to give him Yankee balls because I didn't want to look at them."

March 1, 2005: Hudson signed a four-year, $47 million contract extension with the Braves. The deal calls for a $10 million signing bonus, payable when the contract is approved by the commissioner's office, and salaries of $4 million in 2006, $6 million in 2007, and $13 million each in 2008 and 2009.

Hudson's extention contains a $12 million mutual option for 2010 with a $1 million buyout. If the option is excercised, the deal would be worth $58 million over 5 years.

November 12, 2009: The Braves and Hudson agreed to a three-year contract with a team option for the 2013 season. It was for approximately $9 million per season.

October 30, 2012: The Braves exercised Tim's $9 million option for the 2013 season.

Nobvember 18, 2013: Hudson and the S.F. Giants agreed on a two-year, $23 million contract for 2014 and 2015.

Tim has an 88-92 mph, down-moving FASTBALL. That two-seam fastball has exceptionally good sink and darting movment. It has been labeled: "Supersink." He also has a four-seamer. And he has a devastating SPLIT-FINGER (forkball) pitch that gets lots of strikeouts and ground-outs, a SLIDER that needs work, a CURVEBALL (he doesn't use much anymore) and an excellent CHANGEUP.

He changes speeds on that splitter. He didn't use it in 2003 and 2004, but revived it during 2005 spring training. And he began getting more action and deception with that splitter and his changeup when he raised his arm slot beginning in 2010.

And, starting in 2002, he worked on developing a CUT FASTBALL. It has less velocity than his fastball, but significant bite. "For me with the cutter, it's a tough pitch to grasp a hold of because everything I throw naturally sinks,'' Hudson said. "But I think I can get it. I want to see how my other stuff is. And if I feel like everything is on track and I have some time to venture, I might try a cutter. It would probably be a little later in spring."

Tim's changeup can only be described as a cross between a circle change and a straight change. The straight change is thrown straight on from deep in the palm of the hand, while the circle change is thrown with the thumb and index finger making a circle.

"I have my two iddle fingers between the seams," Hudson explained. "And I don't turn it over like you would with a normal circle change. It's just a grip I made up when I came into pro ball." (Chris Gigley-ChopTalk-June 2006)

In 1998, Tim and then-A's minor league pitching coach Rick Peterson got together and improved Hudson's delivery. He now stays back and has a nice arm angle, and a better balance point and arm slot. He pitches at a high three-quarters arm angle, giving him good leverage.

Tim trusted Peterson, who has cutting-edge ideas. Peterson would submit his prospects to biomechanical analysis, a computer breakdown of 35 facets of the delivery. He preached balance foremost. To foster the commitment to each pitch, pitchers were ordered to throw blind.

"I don't how many times I threw bullpens with my eyes closed," Hudson said. "Peterson was a big believer in visualization and making your mind and body become one. The catchers weren't too happy about it."

Hudson can be almost unhittable and, in the eyes of former Braves third base coach Fredi Gonzalez, sometimes uncatchable. Gonzalez, who was a catcher in the Minor Leagues, had printed up and handed out T-shirts that read, "I rode Bodacious for nine" to catchers that catch Hudson complete game.

"Watching him the last couple of years, [Hudson's] fastball cuts and sails and sinks," said Gonzalez. "Being a former catcher, I can understand how hard it is for anybody to catch him. I was watching the Discovery Channel or the Rodeo Channel late one night and they were talking about the great bull, Bodacious, that only a few people ever rode. The owner had to retire him because he thought he was going to kill somebody.

"The cowboys were going, 'He's a tough ride. He bucks and turns.' I'm thinking 'That sounds like Hudson,'" he added with a laugh. "With his approval, I came up with this. It's fun." 

The T-shirt became a huge hit—even a badge of honor.   

Tim is a three time All-Star and 2010 National League Comeback Player of the Year Award, when he went 17-9 with a 2.83 ERA after Tommy John surgery.

April 30, 2013: Hudson became the 110th pitcher in Major League history to record 200 wins.

Huddy on his pitching style in 2013: "In my younger days, I was a power sinker guy. I threw a sinker that was 91 to 94 [mph], and it had some really good action on it," Hudson explained. "That's a pitch for me that, early in my career, if I was locating it down in the zone and I was staying behind it and having good action on it ... out of 100 pitches, I could throw it maybe 85 times. 'Here it is, hit it.' And if you hit it, it's probably going to be on the ground.

"Now, I don't have that 94, 95 anymore—I'm 89 to 92 mph. So I'm locating it more to corners. I still try to pitch down in the zone, but I know that I have to throw more cutters, more sliders and more splits nowadays. Now I throw my fastball probably 60-65 percent of the time, and I have to mix in a lot of other things with it. Instead of throwing a 1-0 or 2-0 sinker, I might throw a 2-0 cutter or a 1-0 slider, because it's all about disrupting the hitter's timing and their balance at the plate.

"Now at this point—this is my 15th season—I pretty much throw every pitch known to man, except for a knuckleball," Hudson laughed.  (Meggie Zahneis-6/17/13)

August 27, 2014: Hudson notched his 2,000th MLB strikeout.

As of the start of the 2016 season, Hudson, who retired at the end of 2015, had a career record of 222-133 with a 3.49 ERA. Tim had allowed only 248 home runs and 2,957 hits in 3,126.2 innings.

He won his first World Series ring in October, 2015, and winds up having thrown 46,631 pitches against 13,005 batters.

August 8, 2008: Hudson underwent season ending Tommy John ligament replacement surgery.

After a year-long recovery and rehab, Tim hopes to again pitch for the Braves in 2009.

2009: Hudson spent most of the season on the D.L. while rehabbing from the Tommy John surgery.

He was reactivated on September 1, 2009.

July 24, 2013: Tim suffered a broken right ankle and underwent surgery, going on the D.L., with his season over. He fractured his right ankle during the 8th inning of a July 23 game vs. the Mets when Eric Young's grounder bounced off Freddie Freeman's chest. After receiving Freeman's feed in time to record the out, Hudson kept his right foot in the middle of the bag long enough for Young to crush his ankle in a gruesome scene.

Surgery was required after the swelling subsided.

It was clearly an accident and Young was visibly distraught after injuring Hudson, but it would have been perfectly acceptable for the Hudsons to have some irrational thoughts after such a traumatic event.

That’s not the way Kim Hudson rolls. She wrote the kindest tweet to Young, absolving him of blame and accepting his prayers for Tim.

January 2, 2015: Hudson underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from his right ankle. Expected recovery time: eight weeks.

June 27-July 20, 2015: Tim was on the D.L. with a strained right shoulder.

July 27-Sept. 1, 2015: Hudson was back on the D.L. with more shoulder problems.