CBS Sports: Hannahan’s Indians Teammates Have His Back

Classy:

So even while Hannahan was at bat in the game, Speed booked the first flight in the morning . . . back to Cleveland, even knowing that would likely be too late. His next step was calling about private planes. They were available, but they cost $35,000 . . .  seven percent of his annual salary—that’s a lot of money on a gamble that it would be the night Jenny gave birth.

At some point after the game, teammate Justin Masterson asked Hannahan what was happening and as soon as Hannahan told him, Masterson told him get the private jet.

“Book it,” Masterson told Hannahan, according to Charley Walters of the Pioneer Press. When Hannahan balked, Masterson insisted.

At that point, Masterson passed around a hat, getting donations from teammates. And pretty quickly, they had the $35,000 covered—call it a baby shower gift from his teammates.

Hannahan booked the plane and once it landed in Cleveland, there was a limo waiting for him at the airport to take him to the hospital. Hannahan finally got to his wife at 3 a.m. and just 15 minutes later, John Joseph Hannahan V was born.