Ken Hayward Reflects on Opportunities Baseball Granted Him After Induction Into State of Michigan Baseball Hall of Fame
Jake Newby
| 5 min read
Many of the doors Ken Hayward has walked through in life were opened by baseball.
Hayward, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s (BCBSM) vice president and special assistant to the president for community relations, was inducted into the State of Michigan’s Baseball Hall of Fame on July 20. During his speech he thanked baseball for the connections, relationships, and opportunities his favorite sport fostered.
“Baseball – and being good at baseball, thankfully – opened the door to go to the University of Michigan. It opened the door for me to get a degree. I met my wife at Michigan, she has two degrees from there. My daughter went to graduate school there. My son went to school there. We became true blue people,” Hayward said. “Baseball opened those doors for me and then it opened the door for me with my degree to have a professional career.”
Long before Hayward directed BCBSM’s social mission and community affairs efforts, he was competing for Big Ten batting titles as one of the best pure left-handed hitters in Division I baseball. Hayward shared the Big Ten batting title with teammate Jim Paciorek in 1982 when he registered a .462 average as a freshman.
“I was a first baseman and I hit cleanup. I would be described as probably a contact hitter,” Hayward said. “I did certainly hit for power, too. I didn’t strike out much. I got on base a lot. But basically, I was guy who would do everything to win.”
Hayward did it all while donning the Maize and Blue between 1982 and 1985, a period that saw Michigan win two Big Ten Titles and make two trips to the College World Series. He fielded his position exceptionally well, one year logging a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage at first base. When injuries hit the Wolverine pitching staff in 1984, he even stepped in and became the team’s closing pitcher.
During his tenure at U-M Hayward received the Big Ten Medal of Honor for his outstanding work both on the field and in the classroom. This marked one of his proudest accomplishments.
“Looking back, the only thing that can compare to the Big Ten championships and playing for National championships twice is probably (the Big Ten Medal of Honor) and now the recognition of my career to go in the hall of fame,” Hayward said. “It’s pretty special because it helps me reflect really on how much baseball opened up the world for me.”
Hayward’s induction in Lansing came with his wife and two children present. He received a special tribute from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II. He also got to share the moment with his father, Bud, who turned him onto the sport.
“I hit left-handed and threw right-handed, which was a little odd,” Hayward said. There was a reason why that was the case, and basically, I had no choice. My dad was a huge fan of Ted Williams, of the Boston Red Sox. He was thought to have probably the greatest swing of all time. So, when I was a kid, I didn’t have a choice. I was going to hit left-handed.”
Hayward will never forget singing Michigan’s famous fight song, “The Victors” with teammates after clinching College World Series berths in 1983 and 1984. But his favorite on-field memory came when he played at Fenway Park in Boston as a Cape Cod summer league all-star. That day marked a true full-circle moment, as Hayward got to compete in the same left-handed batter’s box as his dad’s all-time favorite pro, Ted Williams.
“Thankfully, I think I walked the first time I was up. But mentally, I don’t think my head was in the right place to compete in that at-bat,” he admitted. “Having my parents there seeing me hit in that batter’s box, after my dad taught me to hit left-handed because of Ted Williams, was probably the most emotional moment I ever had in my baseball career.”
How baseball equipped Hayward with the skills needed to succeed beyond the diamond
Even the best hitters in baseball fail more than they succeed. Hitting for an average of between .300 and .400 is considered elite, meaning hitters of that caliber still fail between 60% to 70% of the time. Wrinkles within the game like these prepared Hayward for life after baseball.
“The attitude you have to have to keep coming back and keep competing and keep grinding, I think sports teaches you a lot of lessons that are invaluable in life,” Hayward said. “Sometimes they’re inherent and you don’t even realize it, so you just soak them in, and they become part of who you are.”
Before coming to BCBSM in 2021, Hayward represented the iconic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island for more than 35 years, where he worked all the way up from sales representative to executive vice president and managing director. Between Hayward’s time in hospitality and the work he’s done to help BCBSM improve health equity across Michigan communities, Hayward has always thrived and accomplished goals within team environments. The standard of excellence he helped set for U-M baseball in the 1980s was just the beginning of that lifelong habit.
“Being able to represent a company like Blue Cross in the ways that I do – in communities, connecting with people – I think the attitude I developed as an athlete helped prepare me for that,” he said. “The stick-to-itiveness, the work ethic, being able to build a team and work together as a team, to work with others. And quite honestly, what I learned in the hospitality business for so long. How to treat people, how to take care of people. It’s invaluable. It’s all because of baseball and the opportunities baseball gave to me.”
Photo credit: Ken Hayward
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