Tommy Hutton -- a baseball lifer and enjoying every minute of it

Fifty years ago Tommy Lasorda, then a scout, signed a teenager to the hometown Los Angeles Dodgers.

His name? Tommy Hutton.

Two years later when Hutton became a September call-up, he played one inning behind Sandy Koufax. His first full season in the big leagues, he shared the same field as Roberto Clemente. Willie Mays was at the tail end of his career. Mike Schmidt and Gary Carter would become teammates.

With six decades in the game of baseball, Hutton can rattle off remarkable names and stories he has been associated with as a member of the Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos.

"It's been my whole life," Hutton said. "All my analogies to my two sons growing up -- even now as grown men -- are always baseball analogies, which they laugh at. I've been blessed with a great family, with a wife who's hung in there with all the travel and more stuff than I would ever think of doing at home and raising the kids when I was traveling. It's meant everything. It's been my life."

One of those names, Hall of Famer Andre Dawson, was a teammate of his with the Montreal Expos from 1978-1981.

During that time, Hutton was in the final stage of his 12-year playing career. He was mainly used as a pinch-hitter and a spot starter at first base. Dawson was in the first third of his 21 seasons, poised to reach the All-Star Game for the first of eight times in 1981.

"When he came in, it was early in my career," Dawson said. "He was instrumental in developing the bus squad and that was the players who had to make all the trips in spring training. The starters got to stay back on certain trips. He was just another veteran presence in the clubhouse."

As Hutton saw his playing time coming to an end in 1981, he knew he wanted to stay in the game but needed another outlet. He would finish with a .248 clip, 22 homers and 186 RBI in 952 games.

His experience during the offseason talking to little leaguers in the Philadelphia community in the 1970s made him realize he should pursue a career in broadcasting.

"I always enjoyed that and then the last year I was playing I sent out letters to every club to different people in the organization telling them my career was winding down and I was interested in broadcasting," Hutton said. "I heard back from six or seven, but the Expos, who I was playing with, gave me the opportunity a couple days after I got released."

From 1982-86, he teamed up with current Marlins radio broadcaster Dave Van Horne in the radio booth. Hutton then spent three seasons as a member of the New York Yankees radio broadcasting team from 1987-89 before seven seasons (1990-96) as a color commentator with the Blue Jays organization. At that time, he also did weekly telecasts for ESPN.

"For me it's like an extension of continuing to play because I'm still around players, coaches, managers -- everybody that's in the game," Hutton said. "I don't know what I would've done if I wasn't because I enjoy being around it."

Although their baseball lives took different courses, both Dawson and Hutton wound up with the Marlins organization.

"I guess how everything has manifested itself," Dawson said. "I was here then he came onboard. This is like a second career for him. He's done real well with it. I think I kidded him one day and told him he has to stick around long enough so he can get in the Hall of Fame."

Over the years, Hutton has covered teams that have captured four World Series titles -- a pair each for the Blue Jays (1992-93) and Marlins (1997, 2003).

Montreal is where Tommy Hutton ended his playing career and began his broadcasting career.

He has seen the game change. They have gotten longer. There are more pitching changes. Batters take more pitches.

So has the television aspect. Hutton, who once had to be taught how to text, now partakes in social media with a Twitter account (@THUT14).

"I think for the 10 years we've worked together one of the things I've enjoyed most about him is he's willing to try anything," said Rich Waltz, FOX Sports Florida's play-by-play announcer.

"If there's a trademark of our broadcast it's that we're fun without sacrificing baseball knowledge or the game. To Tommy's credit he's not only rolled with that but also contributed in a creative way whether it's the '10-run Reel' or 'Late Night with the Fish' or 'Twitter Tuesday.' He's totally wired in now. The fact he is game for anything, he adapts and instead of running the other way."

Waltz remembers their first meeting in 2002 when he was a finalist for the play-by-play job. Len Kasper would get it, but when FOX called three years later and Waltz accepted the position, it was almost like he had known Hutton for years.

Both are Californians. Hutton grew up in the same town and went to the same high school as Waltz's father. They happened to share the same sense of humor and wish to mix baseball knowledge with fun.

Not every former player translates into a good analyst. Waltz, who has worked with a variety of players, coaches and analysts between football, basketball and baseball, knows this firsthand.

"The one thing that is impressive about him -- and this is year 50 -- is he's very current with the sport," Waltz said. "He's not a guy who sits there and says, 'When I played this happened' or 'I remember when I faced this guy.' He knows who's in the San Diego Padres bullpen, that Chase Utley hit two homers last night, that Bernie Brewer and the racing sausages are fun in Milwaukee. He's not a guy who relies on being Tommy Hutton. He's a guy who does his homework, stays current, talks to managers and players, and that's important."

Carl Pavano, a right-hander for the Marlins from 2002-04, appreciated what Hutton brought to the booth even from his spot in the dugout or on the mound. Pavano acknowledges that Hutton and his generation of players helped not only him but also the sport as a whole.

"He's a role model for all of us," Pavano said. "A student of the game, 50 years in baseball, very enthusiastic and his passion. It's very contagious. He's fun to be around and just a professional."

Pavano began his current position as an on-air analyst for FOX Sports Florida this season after 14 seasons in the big leagues. He was a member of the 2003 Marlins team that won the World Series.

Like many fans, what Pavano loves most about Hutton's style is the fact he tells it like it is. His rants have made him a favorite over the years.

"He says it real," Pavano said. "He's a realist, and I love that about him. He's not going to sugarcoat things and he's taught me a tremendous amount about pride in your job and being a professional. That's why people love him because he's such a lovable guy."

As season 50 reaches its final month, it doesn't often feel that long for Hutton. During a no TV day in Anaheim, he got to play a round of golf and enjoy a cookout with 15 high school friends. Guys he stays in touch with but doesn't get to see often.

"It goes quicker as you get older," Hutton said. "Really it doesn't seem like it. When people remind me of it I go, 'Wow.' It doesn't seem that long but when I start thinking about people I played with in the minor leagues coming up and every once in awhile I'll run into someone. They've followed what I've done over the years."

You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.