Bio

Having led Cowley to its first baseball national championship in school history, former Cowley College great, Travis Hafner, was inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame.

Hafner, who has gone on to become one of the best Major League baseball players in the game, had two stellar seasons at Cowley. As a freshman, Hafner helped lead the 1996 Tiger baseball team to the program’s first trip to the NJCAA College World Series and a record of 51-13. He followed up the success of his freshman season by leading the Tiger baseball team to the first of back-to-back national championships in 1997.

Hafner, who was named a Third-Team All-American, drove in a school-record 82 runs and helped Cowley to a record of 53-11. Hafner still holds the school-record for runs batted in in a season (82), runs batted in in a career (161), doubles in a season (21), and doubles in a career (36).

“He practiced every day like it was the seventh game of the World Series and that is why he was so successful for us,” Cowley had coach Dave Burroughs said. “He is a very genuine, honest, hard working person.”

While in high school in North Dakota, Hafner attended an Atlanta Braves tryout camp. He impressed the scouts enough to be offered a small free agent bonus, but thought he was not quite ready to join a major league organization. As a result, a scout for the Braves gave Hafner a list of five junior colleges to contact about playing for. One of which, was Cowley.

“I called all of them and Cowley had the best record of the schools and I was told was the toughest place to play,” Hafner said. “They were also the only school that did not offer me a starting position, they told me I would have to earn it. There was something about having to prove myself that I found attractive.”

Hafner not only excelled in baseball in high school, he was also good enough in basketball to receive a scholarship offer to play basketball at North Dakota State. However, he is glad he made the decision to come to Cowley and play baseball for Tiger coaches Dave and Darren Burroughs.

“Probably the most fun I have had in my life was playing baseball in college,” Hafner said. “Dave (Burroughs) and Lefty (Darren Burroughs) are like uncles to me. With their knowledge of the game I probably learned more about baseball in those two years than I ever have.”

He went on to get drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 31st round of the 1996 amateur draft and signed with the Rangers on June 2, 1997.

Hafner recalls the first time he got to put on a major league uniform. He got the call in June 2002 to fly to Chicago and play for the Rangers that night. However, when he checked into his hotel he was told to hang out until the team decided if either of the two players on the roster that were injured would need to go on the disabled list. After hanging out in the hotel for three days, he was told to rejoin his minor league team in Triple A. He made it back to play in one game for his Triple A club and was looking forward to going back to his hotel room to relax when he got the call to fly to Detroit to play that night. This time he made his major league debut as he pinch hit for the Texas Rangers against Detroit and then was in the team’s starting lineup the following night.

“It was like a dream come true to get to play in the big leagues,” Hafner said.

He has stuck in the major leagues ever since and has become one of the most feared hitters in the game. His incredible power is complimented by his uncanny ability to reach base. After one season with the Rangers, Hafner was traded to the Cleveland Indians. In four seasons with the Indians, Hafner has belted 117 home runs, and driven in 374 runs. This past season, Hafner batted .308 with a career-high 42 home runs and 117 runs batted in, while being limited to 129 games due to injury. This marked the third straight season Hafner surpassed the 100 RBI mark. Despite missing the final month of the season with a broken right hand, Hafner finished first in the American League in slugging percentage (.659). He also finished second in on base percentage (.439), third in home runs (42), fourth in walks (100), and sixth in runs batted in (117).

“Dave and Lefty gave me my approach to hitting,” Hafner said. “So much of my basic fundamentals come from them.”

When Hafner was playing baseball in the minor leagues he would fly back to Arkansas City in the winter to have Dave and Lefty fine-tune his stroke.

“We just pointed him in the right direction, he did all the work,” Dave Burroughs said.

Hafner credits a lot of his success to his hard work and his time at Cowley.

“From a work ethic standpoint I can trace it back to my time at Cowley,” Hafner said. “They set the tone for our teams with the tough workouts they put us through.”

Hafner is fully recovered from his broken hand and is excited about the upcoming season. Especially since the Indians added some key free agents including second baseman Josh Barfield, outfielders David Dellucci and Trot Nixon, and relief pitchers Joe Borowski, Keith Foulke, Aaron Fultz and Roberto Hernandez.

“We added some experience to the bullpen and to the outfield, which should help us” Hafner said.

Hafner, nicknamed the Pronk, has become one of the most well known baseball players in the game, he has thousands of fans in Cleveland, and even has his own candy bar named after him, the Pronk Bar.

However, he has not forgotten his time at Cowley, and is looking forward to coming back for the Hall of Fame ceremony. “It’s always great to get back and see the people at Cowley,” Hafner said.