Former Vol and current San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley will be honored during the first quarter of Saturday's men's basketball game against Mississippi State which starts at 4 p.m. at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Headley is coming off a breakout season in which he finished fifth in the National League MVP voting and earned both the National League Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards for third basemen.
The Fountain, Colo., native established himself as one of the top all-around players in the National League this season, finishing with a .286 batting average, 31 home runs and 115 RBIs, which led the Senior Circuit. Headley also reached safely in 146 games this season, which tied for the sixth-most for any NL player since 1962, and was tabbed the NL Player of the Month in both August and September.
Headley played at Tennessee from 2004-05, helping lead the Vols to the College World Series in his final year at Rocky Top. At UT, he hit .357 with 16 home runs and 88 RBIs in 110 career games. As a junior, he earned third-team All-America honors after winning the SEC batting title by hitting .387. He also led the league in walks (63), runs scored (82) and on-base percentage (.530). His work in the classroom did not go unnoticed either as he became just the fifth Tennessee baseball player to earn first-team Academic All-America accolades.
