Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame: J.A. Happ’s boyhood dreams come true

J.A. Happ always wanted to be a professional athlete growing up in Peru.

Basketball or baseball, it didn’t matter. He just wanted to play professionally.

“When some one said, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I said, ‘athlete,’” Happ said. “I just liked being outside with my buddies when you’re trying to find something to do like ‘baserunners’ or whatever it is.”

He lived out that dreaming, pitching for eight Major League Baseball teams over parts of 15 seasons.

Happ was a member of two Philadelphia Phillies’ World Series teams in his first two seasons, winning the first in 2008. Along the way, the southpaw won 133 big league games, had 1,661 strikeouts, earned a save in the 2017 All-Star Game for the American League, and hit one home run.

For all of his accomplishments, Happ is the final inductee in the Class of 2025 for the Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame.

“You kind of going back over your career starting with grade school and high school and getting a little bit older and having kids of my own now. It gives you an appreciation of people that have helped you along and keep you on the track,” he said, noting parents, teachers, coaches and sportswriters.

“To be able to go on to do something that maybe isn’t so common, but totally a dream, you kind of pinch yourself at times. I feel like it’s two different lives. Being a dad now and occasionally it’ll come up and we get to tell some fun stories at the dinner table to the kids when they’re asking about it and drawing pictures at the games when they were going and stuff.”

There were a lot of moments that stand out in his career, he said, like pitching in the World Series and the All-Star game.

“Life is so much you never know and you’ve got to keep pressing forward and giving it your best,” he said. “To make an All-Star team, I think was 35 It’s always a dream. Just sort of a surreal moment and then randomly getting to pitch in extra innings and get a save is kind of a crazy thing. To be able to fulfill that dream as sort of an older player, you never know what you’re capable of when your hearts in it and you keep grinding away and a never too late of thing kind or thing.”

He was drafted by the Phillies in third round of the amateur baseball draft in 2004 out of Northwestern University. He spent parts of four seasons with the Phillies, including his rookie year in 2008 when they won the Fall Classic, and again in 2009 when they returned.

He was part of the July 29, 2010 trade when the Phillies sent him to Houston to acquire veteran pitcher Roy Oswalt.

From there, Happ spent time with the Blue Jays (2012-14), Mariners (2015), Pirates (2015), back with the Blue Jays (2016-18), the Yankees (2018-20), the Twins (2021) and the Cardinals (2021).

He even a home run in the big leagues, a solo shot off Arizona rookie Josh Collmenter on May 29, 2011, at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Happ said of all the teams he played for, the one most identifies with would be the Blue Jays because that’s where he “learned the kind of pitcher he was” and had his most success, going 20-4 in 2016 and being named to the all-star team.

He has so many boxes and travel bags of all his team gear that he’s still in the process of sorting through, he said, though has his memorabilia from his All-Star appearance and 100th victory on display.

The veteran left-hander won his last game with the Cardinals on Sept. 30, 2021, with a 4-3 decision over the Brewers after being acquired at the deadline from the Twins, going 5-2 with a 4.00 ERA in 11 starts with St. Louis.

When asked if he could help out this reporter’s struggling Cardinals this year, he laughed, with a little sparkle in his voice.

“I just saw (45-year-old Royals pitcher) Rich Hill start against the Cubs. Pretty incredible. Spent some time in Triple A to try to tune up and did pretty good,” he said. “It’s funny. People ask me about that, and oh man. The thought of it, my shoulder starts aching. At the same time, I sort of kind of welcome the chance of competitiveness of it again and see if there’s a chance I can get back.

“But it’s fun to watch from the other side, too. I think I’m good where I’m at.”

The father of three is happily in retirement and dad mode in Brentwood, Tennessee, about 20 minutes south of Nashville, with his wife, Morgan (nee Cawley), and children- son J.J. (9) and daughters Bella (7) and Sloan (5).

“We’ve been in Tennessee now coming up five years and enjoying it, meeting a lot of people, getting settled in with our school and community,” he said. It’s been an enjoyable change but I’m definitely keeping an eye what’s going on (in baseball). I’ve got a couple friends still doing it so I like to pay attention to them.”

Happ has been helping out with his son’s baseball team.

“He loves the team aspects and that’s what I love about sports,” Happ said. “He loves being around his friends and going to practices and games. I remember this, too. I certainly loved playing a ton, but I also loved the 50 cents or a dollar at the concessions you’d get after the game. That part’s fun.”

Happ had his hometown field at Washington Park in Peru named after him in 2023. He was inducted into the Northwestern University Hall of Fame in 2024 and was an inaugural inductee into the Shaw Media Illinois Valley Hall of Fame in 2019.

The 2001 BCR Athlete of the Year, was set the all-time scoring record for the St. Bede basketball team with 1,459 career points until he was passed by Paul Hart in 2022.