Photo credit: Dean Forbes, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

The Hutch Award Luncheon was held Wednesday at Safeco Field, but before the festivities took place the award winner Tim Hudson and keynote speaker Joe Morgan made a visit to the Hutch School, where they met with students there for just over an hour.

Affiliated with Seattle Public Schools, the Hutch School provides education for pediatric cancer patients and young family members of patients receiving treatment through the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. The children welcomed their visitors with handmade posters and were ready with questions for both Hudson and Morgan. When the question and answer session was finished the students got into lines and received autographs and one-on-one time with the two.

Both appreciated the opportunity to spend time with the kids as well as tour the Hutch yesterday. For Hudson, who along with his wife runs the Hudson Family Foundation, the opportunity to help children and their families is one of the the things that drove him to pursue baseball.

"I knew early on it is what I wanted to do," said the Atlanta Braves pitcher. "When I had a chance to get involved with Make A Wish in 2000, ever since then seeing how great those kids were and their families and how great they were dealing with the worst news they could possibly get as a parent, dealing with such a positive manner, it was eye opening for me. You realize what is important. It is not winning 20 games or a World Series or an All Star team. It's making a difference in this world and I saw an opportunity to get involved with children and things that are very near and dear to mine and my wife's heart."

Morgan was impressed with the research center and said it was a tribute not only to Fred Hutchinson, but his brother William, the surgeon who founded the center after Fred's death at the age of 45.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "Legacies are only as important as the people who carry them on. William carried on Freddie's legacy here."

Morgan, who recently left the ESPN broadcast booth, is now employed by the Cincinnati Reds as a Special Advisor to Baseball Operations. When asked if he would miss broadcasting games he answered:

"From the time I was 18 I never had a summer off. I am definitely going to miss some parts but most I will not because I am still going to be close to the game. I am going to St. Andrews this summer, going to some of the golf meccas of the world. I guess deep down inside it was probably time to look for something else and get involved with something else."

For Hudson, the 2010 Comeback Player of the Year Award winner, it is back to baseball. He will take with him the memory of the Hutch and the work that is going on there.

"It is really encouraging to see what they are doing," he said of the tour. "How passionate the doctors and scientists are and it is great to know that people want to make a difference. I am really honored to have my name associated with it."