Hanson made his Major League Baseball debut with the Braves in 2009 and remained with the team through the 2012 season.
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Hanson died late Monday after suffering catastrophic organ failure at Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital, triggering an outpouring of emotion from the baseball community, especially former teammates on the Braves.
Coweta County sheriffs officials described the Sunday emergency situation in a report released Wednesday. The details surrounding the 29-year-old’s death are still unclear, but an overdose is possible according to Zach Klein of WSB-TV. He was 45-32 with a 3.61 ERA in 108 starts for the Braves, with at least 10 wins in each of his four seasons with them. He pitched for the Angels in 2013 before signing minor league contracts with the White Sox in 2014 and the Giants in 2015.
Klein reported Hanson’s death through social media before 1 a.m. on Tuesday, about two hours after Schafer posted “This breaks my heart”.
Hanson, who was drafted in 2005 and worked his way up the ranks at the Braves before moving to the Angels, had just become a free agent before he was rushed to hospital over the weekend.
“I’m at a loss for words”, former Braves teammate Freddie Freeman said.
Upon learning of Hanson’s untimely demise, friends and colleagues expressed deep sorrow with his passing. “We ALL will miss him”. Hanson last pitched in the majors for the Angels in 2013.
Former Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, now with the Padres, called Hanson “a great person”. It was a pleasure for us to watch him, just as it was a pleasure for him to pitch for us. “He was a favorite in our clubhouse and with our staff and he will truly be missed by everyone in Braves country. My prayers and thoughts are with the Hanson family”.
Hanson was the MVP of the 2008 Arizona Fall League.
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On his Macon area radio show Tuesday afternoon, broadcast locally on 1400AM in Newnan, host Bill Shanks’ voice broke several times when talking about Hanson.
