Good Sports: Hudson recalls playing days that included Scherzer, Freese

Seth Hudson, a 2014 inductee into the Cape Girardeau Central Athletics Hall of Fame, in his office at Hudson Chiropractic in Cape Girardeau.

Jeff Long ~ jlong@semoball.com

Good Sports is a weekly Thursday feature that appears in the Southeast Missourian, as well as online at Semoball.com. It profiles the life of a person connected to sports and allows our readers the opportunity to know the people who are impacting athletics throughout Southeast Missouri in a deeper way.

Today: Seth Hudson, 34, is a 2014 inductee into the Cape Girardeau Central High School Athletics Hall of Fame. In baseball, he holds Central's all-time career stolen base record and shares the record for most all-time career hits. He was a Class 4 all-state infield selection. At Murray State University, Hudson started all four years (2004-2007) for the then-Thoroughbreds (now Racers). At the end of his college career, he was second all-time in hits and triples. He also led the team in batting average and hits for three seasons. In football, he was Cape Central's team captain as a senior and held all-conference and all-region honors as a wide receiver. His Tigers teammates voted Hudson the team's most inspirational player. A graduate of Logan College of Chiropractic, Hudson leads his own chiropractic practice in his hometown.

You played with Max Scherzer, the Cy Young Award winner who just pitched Game 7 of the World Series for the Washington Nationals.

He's from St. Louis and went to Parkway Central. We graduated high school the same year, 2003, and ended up on the same all-state baseball team together. The very next year, my Murray State team played Mizzou and Scherzer was pitching for the Tigers. He started the game and somehow we won. (CORRECTION: Scherzer was on the Mizzou team but he did not play in the Murray State game as referenced by Dr. Hudson.)

What do you recall about him?

Very intense competitor. Played with a chip on his shoulder. Humble guy despite his success. Tall and lanky with two different colored eyes. It's amazing what hard work and dedication can accomplish. To me, he's a first-ballot hall of famer.

Scherzer hurt his neck earlier in the Series and he was scratched from Game 5 because of it. You're a chiropractor. What advice would you have offered him?

I'd tell him to trust the doctors. Do exactly what they say. It appears the steroid injection and other therapies must have worked because (Scherzer) said last weekend he couldn't even move his arm. I almost guarantee the Nationals have a chiropractor working with the medical team. Most professional teams have chiropractors now.

You also played against David Freese, a hero of the 2011 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals, who just retired.

Yes, both in high school and college. Freese, like Scherzer, was a St. Louis boy. Freese went to Lafayette High, who beat us in a state quarterfinal game that Central hosted. In college, Freese played for South Alabama and I remember laying down a perfect bunt for the Thoroughbreds. I was good at bunting and fast. Freese threw me out at first. Turns out (Freese) was pretty good.

You're known for baseball. Did you play other sports?

Yes, football and basketball. I was a guard in basketball, was good on defense and played hard but knew (hoops) was not my sport.

You seem to remember your time in football quite fondly.

Football is the most fun sport I've played. I was a wide receiver and believe I'm still third in all-time receiving touchdowns in a single season for Cape Central. I remember a game in 2001 when the coaches asked me to play outside linebacker. It was a quarterfinal game against Eureka that we lost. Had never played the position before. Our starter had gone down with a gruesome injury. The fact that (the coaches) had faith in me to do this is a welcome memory. I had an interception in that game.

If you loved football that much, why didn't you play in college?

I did get some recruiting interest but my skill set ran more to baseball. I was 5-foot-8, 175 pounds. That's not quite big enough to play in Division I. If I'd been bigger, I would have gone to the football route.

You've had some significant injuries.

Yes, at age 17, I was facemasked in football while returning a punt against Poplar Bluff. My helmet turned sideways on my head and broke my nose. I stayed in the game, there was no such thing (yet) as concussion protocol. I tightened up but kept playing. Four years later, while diving for a baseball playing infield for Murray State against Eastern Kentucky, my arm went numb. Turns out that the neck tightness I'd shrugged off in high school had damaged a disc. Unlike Max Scherzer, I didn't listen to the docs and was out for a couple of weeks.

You had another injury, though, that changed the course of your life.

As a junior at Murray State, I broke my hand -- broke the same bone Tim Tebow broke last year. I missed about half the games but still was named Second Team All-Ohio Valley Conference. The problem is your junior year is when you get noticed by scouts and when you can really make your mark. I was playing for a mid-major school and being hurt lost me some interest with the pros. I had some interest from the Miami Marlins and got a pre-draft workout with the Cardinals but as you can see, I'm in health care now.

You wear a white coat today rather than a uniform. How did the transition happen?

It was hard for me to move on from competing. I suppose you can say my experience with injury got me into chiropractic. I received good care for my neck. The rehab and physical therapy at Murray State was excellent and it dawned on me this could be a career. Once I actually got into Logan (Chiropractic School), it was easier for me to put sports aside.

But not entirely.

No, I'm a marathoner now and I weigh about 20 pounds less than my Murray State years.

How have sports prepared you for being a chiropractor?

Sports help you with time management, with how to work with a team, and how to take criticism. I'm not always right and my staff has the freedom to tell me when I'm wrong. Also, in sports you are always trying to improve, and the same thing is true now. Also, I got real good with my hands playing sports. This is a must in chiropractic work, of course.

Who was a significant coaching influence for you?

Rob McDonald, the Murray State coach, helped me to get good at hitting the ball into the gap. As a left-handed batter, I had a jump on getting to first. Since I was fast, getting on base was job one since I batted leadoff so often. One of the things McDonald used to tell me was if I ever hit a home run during batting practice, I had to run a mile. He didn't want me swinging for the fences. Power hitters strike out a lot. And before you ask, yes, I did have to run that penalty mile a couple of times.

Please say a word about your family.

My dad, Roger Hudson, is Cape County treasurer and won a state football championship with Perryville in 1969. My mom is Bettie and my younger brother Zac is an emergency room physician with Southeast Health. Zac was a good athlete, too. My wife Christa and I have a 21-month old son, Ellis.

Do you want Ellis to follow your footsteps and play sports?

It depends. I would really second-guess allowing him to play football, especially, if he was my size. If he was bigger than me and mentally prepared, I'd say okay. But I'd tell him all the things that have happened to me first.