Tasha Stevenson was displaced, worried about her two young daughters. For a few minutes at the Radisson Hotel in Dallas, just days after she fled Hurricane Katrina, she spoke with Anita Hawkins. Beyond Stevenson’s words was the stark testimony of her face.
“She looked like she was 16 years old even though she was 24 or 25. She had lost everything,” Rockies pitcher LaTroy Hawkins said. “My wife (Anita) took to her, and we knew we wanted to do something to help.”
When Hawkins arrives in Tucson on Thursday for his first spring with the Rockies, he will be watched closely as the primary setup man to closer Brian Fuentes. But baseball, Stevenson can attest, is only what Hawkins does. It’s not who he is.
“He and his wife are down-to-earth. They made me feel so welcome,” Stevenson said Tuesday. “I am grateful for what they did.”
LaTroy Hawkins watched the 2005 Katrina news coverage from a San Francisco apartment, moved by the human loss and devastation. He immediately informed officials at the players association that he wanted to be personally involved with the relief effort.
With Stevenson, Hawkins and his wife struck up a friendship and welcomed her into their home. Partnering with their church, they bought her a Chevrolet Cavalier and secured an apartment. Stevenson lived in Dallas for 10 months before recently returning to New Orleans with 22-month-old Kerri and 5-year-old Monae.
“It was hard to leave, but I needed to go back home,” Stevenson said. “The kids are doing fine.”
Hawkins was scheduled to be in New Orleans on Monday when the MLB Players Trust donated $1 million to help create 1,000 affordable apartment units. He missed the news conference because of a family illness, but his presence was felt. Hawkins has been among the most active big-leaguers in the aftermath of Katrina.
He visited Mobile, Ala., just weeks after the hurricane, working with Volunteers of America. Along with former Minnesota Twins teammate J.C. Romero, Hawkins donated money for a school’s lost baseball equipment, purchased and handed out $2,000 in household necessities and helped with the construction of a house.
“It takes 20 seconds to write a check. These people need our time, need to know we care,” Hawkins said. “As an athlete, I don’t want people to ever think I am on any pedestal. Baseball has blessed me. What’s wrong with blessing others?”
Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com.
