Photos: Billy Butler receives Hutch Award in Seattle

On Wednesday, Royals slugger Billy Butler was honored as the 47th winner of the Hutch Award.  Billy and his wife Katie took part in a luncheon at Seattle’s Safeco Field.  They also visited cancer research labs at the Hutchinson Center as well as the Hutch School, a unique K – 12 accredited education program that serves young cancer patients and school-age family members of patients. 

The award is given each year to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the honor, courage and dedication of baseball great Fred Hutchinson, both on and off the field.  Butler joins an impressive list of winners, including Royals George Brett (1980), Dennis Leonard (1986) and Mike Sweeney (2007).  Former Royal Mark Teahen won the award following the 2009 season but was a member of the Chicago White Sox at the time of his award acceptance.

In 2008, Billy and Katie started the Hit-It-A-Ton program to help feed disadvantaged families in the Kansas City area.  Through the program, $250 is donated for each home run Butler hits with an additional $125 for each double.  Hit-It-A-Ton has raised in excess of $250,000, providing more than 1,000 tons of food through two food banks and a community kitchen run by Kansas City’s Bishop Sullivan Center. 

Thank you to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for sending us photos of Wednesday’s events!