Tonight the South Bend Cubs community will come together to help Mark Haley, a man who they say wouldn’t think twice before helping others.
Haley, known as “Hales” to his friends, was an assistant coach with the first South Bend White Sox team in 1991, and in 2005 he returned as manager of the South Bend Silver Hawks, after they’d become an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate.
Haley won a Midwest League title in that first season with the Silver Hawks, and was voted league Manager of the Year three times before stepping down in 2014. Since then he’s focused on growing youth baseball locally with the South Bend Cubs Foundation.
Along the way Haley’s taught a lot of people about baseball. He’s worked with over 120 players who made it to the majors.
But now Haley needs help. Nearly a year ago, on March 5, he suffered a brain hemorrhage that’s left him with a fight harder than any he ever faced on the field. Tonight at 6 p.m. the South Bend Cubs will hold a fundraiser at their 1st Bank Performance Center to help his family with his care.
The fundraiser has sold out all 300 tickets. Team owner Andrew Berlin will speak, a comedian will perform, followed by a prime rib dinner, a D.J. and dancing, and an auction that also offers online bidding until 11 p.m. tonight.
Haley’s wife Ann says it’s been wonderful to see the community rally around him.
"So supportive, and texting him and calling him," Ann says. "He's had some difficulties with the phone initially but we're getting better at that so we're starting to make some phone calls back to people."
In late February 2024 Haley had a surgery in Indianapolis to repair a cerebral spinal fluid leak near his right ear. Then a week later, on March 5, the couple were home when Mark started having trouble with his balance.
"He came in and he was kind of staggering and I got him over to the table and that's when you kind of collapsed, and at that point he was just hemorrhaging from his incision site so I had to call 911."
He spent three months at a rehabilitation facility in Chicago, another three months in Iowa, and he's back home now and receiving outpatient therapy.
"It's definitely life changing," she says. "The kids are back in the house. We have a 25- and a 24-year-old, J.R. and Kelli. The good thing is we've all kind of came together as a family to make sure that Mark was taken care of."
Kelli came back home and put her grad school on hold to help, and J.R. also needs to get back to work.
Ann says he might not be able to shout from the dugout right now but they’re working on that.
"The speech is already there, we're working on making it louder," Ann says. "And Mark has a loud voice to begin with. He's a screamer so we'll get there, I guess, won't we?"
"Yeah," Mark says. "This has been a minor setback. I'll be back. I'll be back again so be ready."
A minor setback? That drew a chuckle from Ann.
"Well for me it's minor," Mark says. "My family has been there for me and I really appreciate it. It really means a lot. We know there's a lot more to go and we need to get it done."
Ann says Mark will be coming, of course.
"This will be his debut so hopefully I'm getting him ready and he can stay up late."
Haley says he’s looking forward to seeing so many people who’ve shared his love of baseball in South Bend.
"I'll tell you what, it's really exciting to have this type of event," Mark says. "I don't know why they want to do it for me but what the heck? I'll take it. But it's going to be a lot of fun and a lot of good memories, lot of good people coming around."
South Bend Cubs staff Amanda Alwine and Mark Tingle have put together the fundraiser event, and they say they’ve been more than happy to do it.
Tingle, the team’s events coordinator, says Haley would be the first person rallying people to help someone else.
"Mark Haley is probably one of the toughest guys that I know on the exterior, the years that he's managed, just the way he carries himself, but to get to know Mark Haley, he has the biggest heart in the world," Tingle says.
Alwine is the Cubs’ Mind, Body, Athlete Development Specialist at the Performance Center. She says when she entered the baseball field about 10 years ago, Haley immediately became her first mentor.
"There is nothing Mark would not do for anybody," Alwine says. "He created a family culture here and we owe all that this Performance Center gives, all of our awards, started with him."
