Texas Tech Baseball Special Assistant Ray Hayward has progressed well since receiving heart and kidney transplants on May 25 and 26 of this year. Hayward’s family has described his journey as follows, “We were praying for a base hit but feel like he hit a home run. Ray is recovering and improving with each day.”
After receiving the life-saving transplants, Hayward rehabbed well in the hospital he’d called home since March 21 after entering for a heart valve procedure. Hayward exited ICU around June 12 and continued to progress quickly walking often around the halls of the facility as he regained his strength.
Hayward underwent multiple biopsies to assess acceptance of the new organs by his body and all results were positive and indicated exceptional function.
He has now moved to an inpatient rehab facility and has entered into an intense physical therapy regimen intended to strengthen his body after a long and tumultuous period of hospitalization and physical strain.
Hayward is expected to spend at least a month in the rehab facility as he looks toward the next recovery milestone of returning to his home in Lubbock.
For those who wish to contribute financially to assist the Hayward family with medical expenses, there is an opportunity to do so here.
Hayward joined the inaugural staff of the Tim Tadlock era in 2013 and is in his 10th year in the Texas Tech program. Hayward served as the pitching coach for five years and moved into the special assistant role after the 2017 season.
After Hayward’s surgery, Texas Tech Head Coach Tim Tadlock spoke about his friend and staff member after the Red Raiders faced California Baptist on March 22.
“His family is in our prayers, we talked about it before the game today, he’s one of my best friends,” said Tadlock feeling the emotions of the situation. “You think of what he’s going through, we kind of think of all surgeries nowadays as being standard procedures, and it was kind of standard until about 5:00 yesterday [Monday, March 21] afternoon.
What he means to our program, there’s a lot of wisdom there, he’s seen a lot of baseball. You could go across the United States and talk to baseball people, he’s one of the most respected baseball men in the world, not to mention just college baseball. He brings a steady hand to our organization and our program, just having a guy like that around to let young guys bounce things off of him, he’s so steady in what he does and how he goes about things.
As far as his and my relationship, it has developed over the last 10 years, we’ve known each other probably since the mid-90s. We know he’ll come through it, but obviously the more prayers for him we can get, the better.”
A native of Enid, Oklahoma, Hayward played four years for the University of Oklahoma, distinguishing himself as arguably the best all-around player in Oklahoma history. A left-handed pitcher, Hayward won 26 games in his career with the Sooners and graduated with a .381 career batting average and 30 home runs, leading the team in batting his freshman and senior seasons. A two-time All-American, Hayward was also the first player in Big Eight Conference history to garner All-Big Eight selections as a pitcher and position player in the same year, something he did in both 1981 and 1983.
Hayward was taken 10th overall by the San Diego Padres in the 1983 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut on September 20, 1986, and continued with the Padres through the 1987 season. Hayward went on to pitch for the Texas Rangers in 1988 and retired from professional baseball as part of the Rangers system in 1991. He went on to serve as a scout for six years with the Detroit Tigers and then returned to his alma mater as Oklahoma’s pitching coach for five years. Hayward went back to the professional baseball ranks to serve as the Midwest Scouting Supervisor for the Miami Marlins for eight years before joining Tadlock at Texas Tech in 2013.
“I think Texas Tech hit a home run with the hiring of Ray Hayward. Ray is one of the most respected pitching coaches in the Big 12 when he was (in the Big 12) before,
said Hall of Fame Head Coach Larry Hays on Hayward’s TexasTech.com biography page. “His contacts in the game of baseball, he has them at every level. Plus, he is just a really good person.”
Ray Hayward Successfully Receives New Heart | Updated May 26
Hayward Officially Added to Transplant List
Ray Hayward Preparing for Heart Transplant
Ray Hayward Continues to Improve Following Transplants
Family of Ray Hayward Requests Prayers
