Charlie Hayes understands his son Pittsburgh Pirates’ third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes’ job expectations.
At any time, as a father, the elder Hayes can tell you how his son is doing, on the field and when up at bat. However, there’s no escaping his own success in the American and National Leagues decades ago.
The former 14-year MLB pro, when coming over from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a trade to the New York Yankees on Aug. 30, 1996, made key contributions to his new club and went on to win the World Series in six games over the Atlanta Braves.
In Game 6, with two outs in the top of the 9th inning, Charlie Hayes was playing third base when he caught a pop fly hit by Braves’ Mark Lemke to end the game.
At that moment, while celebrating with his Yankees teammates, Charlie Hayes proudly displayed the ball for all the fans watching on TV and in the Bronx, N.Y. It became one of the most famous catches in club history. One of the most asked questions to the fourth-round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants in 1983 over the years was, “Where’s the World Series ball?”
“I gave it away,” Charlie Hayes told The Epoch Times while spending time with his son at a Pirates’ home game in Florida during the final week of spring training. “The ball went to a woman, who put it in an auction for a cancer hospital.”
Charlie Hayes, at 59, can physically pass as an older brother to Ke‘Bryan Hayes. As any parent who watches their child succeed in their chosen occupation, the elder Hayes makes it clear that he is taking an interest in how his son is progressing. Like father, like son, when it comes to talking baseball. The proud dad of three boys, Charlie Hayes’ youngest son is Ke’Bryan Hayes. His older brother Tyree Hayes, who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006, has played seven seasons in the minor leagues.
However, despite all the success Charlie Hayes experienced in his career up until mid-way through the 2001 season when he retired as a Houston Astro, instructing Ke'Bryan Hayes on how he can approach his game is off-limits.
“It was difficult for Ke'Bryan to separate the coach from dad. I just let him be. But I give advice when asked. Giving him his space so my son could be his own person is most important to me,” said Charlie Hayes as he waited for his son to take the field for the first inning.
Giving space seems to be working well for the Hayes father and son duo. After making his MLB debut for Pittsburgh in 2020, Ke'Bryan Hayes won a Rawlings Gold Glove in 2023 as the National League’s top defensive third baseman. As the Pirates’ first-round draft pick in 2015, aside from working through injuries, the son’s getting results on the field and at-bat, just as his father had always envisioned.
Charlie Hayes is proud of his son. The smile on his face when reciting some of his accomplishments is obvious. The elder Hayes knows his son’s up-to-the-minute statistics.
On St. Patrick’s Day, the Pirates are playing a split-squad schedule—one group from the roster is entertaining the Minnesota Twins at LECOM Park, and another is on the road in Lakeland, Fla. visiting the Detroit Tigers. With Ke'Bryan Hayes in Buccos’ skipper Derek Shelton’s lineup as the starting third baseman in Bradenton, Charlie Hayes is on hand to see his son play—but at a distance.
“Being around my son keeps me young. I love the game. I take in 60–70 of Ke'Bryan’s games a season,” Charlie Hayes says.
Along with seeing Ke'Bryan Hayes at work, Charlie Hayes operates Big League Baseball Academy in Tomball, Texas. When not on the road, the elder Hayes offers private lessons, and holds camps and clinics for kids for whatever part of a ballplayers’ game they are looking to improve on. Keeping his approach to introducing the fundamentals of baseball to his audiences as simple as “catch the ball, throw the ball, and hit the ball,” Charlie Hayes said he believes his best work is done in a relaxed atmosphere.
Growing up in Brooklyn, Mississippi, near Hattiesburg, while attending Southern Forest Agricultural County High School in a community of less than 3,000 residents, Charlie Hayes understands the advantages of a one-on-one tutoring relationship with students. But, when it comes to his son following his dad in the major leagues, Charlie Hayes knows comparisons will always be made of his style of play, and how Ke'Bryan Hayes performs on any given day as a Pirate.
“Having to follow dad can be a negative or a positive,” Charlie Hayes said. “It’s the details in how you approach the game that makes it easier or harder for you. I’ve never wanted to put added pressure on Ke'Bryan’s learning. There’s no room for nit-picking my son’s play. No discipline from me. It is hard at times saying nothing when I would like to.”
When the 9th inning concluded of the St. Patrick Day Pirates-Twins Grapefruit League game, Ke'Bryan Hayes was productive at the plate: three at-bats registered one hit, one run scored, and two RBIs for Pittsburgh’s third baseman. The 4–2 Pirates win is the club’s 13th on the exhibition schedule, with a half dozen games to go before the MLB regular season begins.
Already looking to be in mid-season playing form, Ke'Bryan Hayes is anxious for his 6th MLB season to be underway. Standing near the right field bleachers of LECOM Park, in perfect view of the field, as the Pirates offer congratulations to each other coming off the field, Charlie Hayes, too, is ready to start hitting that 60–70 game schedule he’s promised himself.
Separated as coach, but as father and son, Charlie and Ke'Bryan Hayes are always on the same page.
