Chapman to honor friend on Players' Weekend

CHICAGO -- A's third baseman Matt Chapman’s college teammate, Nick Hurtado, lost a long battle with cancer in 2013. Hurtado’s dream of playing in the Majors was cut short, but Chapman is going to make sure his friend’s last name makes it onto an Oakland A’s uniform.

For MLB’s Players’ Weekend from Aug. 23-25, which allows players to use nicknames on the back of their uniforms along with other personal customization of their equipment, Chapman will have “Hurtado” on the back of his jersey.

? List of Players' Weekend nicknames

“I know it was his dream, like a lot of our friends, to play in the Major Leagues,” Chapman said. “He never got that opportunity, so I figured it would be the best way to represent him, to be able to get his last name on a big league jersey and play a game in the big leagues.”

A 2010 graduate of Corona Santiago High School in Corona, Calif., Hurtado was set to join the Cal State Fullerton baseball program. But after he was struck in the knee by a ball during a preseason game during his senior year of high school, osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, was discovered in the knee.

Hurtado had part of his knee removed, but he battled back and was on track to return to baseball. Cancer returned a second time and spread to his lungs, and he again fought it and beat it. Once it returned a third time, Hurtado chose not to go on with chemotherapy and died in 2013.

But through the years of dealing with the terrible disease, Chapman said Hurtado remained positive.

“Even though he was handed a pretty tough set of cards, he was always happy and brought good energy,” Chapman said. “He loved to have fun and laugh. He was a hard worker and really dedicated to coming back and being able to play baseball. He was always positive. I would say you wouldn’t hear a bad thing about him. He was so nice and such a good person, very caring and thoughtful. He motivated our team in so many different ways.

“For me to be able to go out there and represent him is the least I can do. I think we’re all better people because of him.”

Chapman had not yet talked to Hurtado’s family as of Tuesday afternoon before the A’s took on the Cubs at Wrigley Field, but he figured his friend’s parents are “going to be pretty happy about it.”

“If there’s a heaven, that guy is in it, for sure,” Chapman said. “I’m just proud to call him my friend.”

For Players' Weekend, clubs will wear either all-white or all-black uniforms, with the home team selecting which color they’d rather wear. Authentic team hats and jerseys are on sale at MLBShop.com, while game-worn Players’ Weekend jerseys and helmets will be auctioned off, with all proceeds donated to the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, which aims to improve the caliber and availability of amateur baseball and softball programs across the U.S. and Canada.

Luzardo update

Left-hander Jesus Luzardo, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the A’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 19 prospect overall, looked sharp in an outing with the club’s rookie-level Arizona League team on Monday night by tossing two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with five strikeouts. He will be pushed to three innings and get a start for Class A Advanced Stockton on Saturday, a source told MLB.com.

Luzardo, 21, is rehabbing from a lat strain and could be an option to join the A’s at some point in the final two months of the season.