Photo by Brandon Sullivan

Professional baseball player

One former Arizona Diamondbacks player is trading the ball field for a pasture – one full of rescued animals.

In 2007, Shea Hillenbrand and his wife, Jessica, started Marley Farms. The 38-acre farm is part of the couple’s nonprofit organization, Against All Odds, and houses more than 150 rescued and rehabilitated animals ranging from emus to a zonkey (a zebra-donkey mix).

Hillenbrand, a Mesa native, is a two-time All-Star who played for the Diamondbacks from 2003 to 2004. But for now, he’s concentrating on the animals, and he has plenty to choose from. In addition to the animals at Marley Farms, the Hillenbrands have more than 50 critters at their own house, including kangaroos and miniature cows.

What is the status of your baseball career?
I’m still in the air. We might continue it, we might not. We’ll see. It’s not 100 percent definite what’s going on. I might go put myself in a position to get looked at to play. I can play at least another five or six years, because I’m in the prime of my career. All it is is the opportunity. The market is nuts, the economy is nuts. There are a lot of free agents in my position; I’m not the only one. Fortunately I’m in a position in my lifestyle to pursue our passion, whereas other players are wondering what the heck they’re doing with their lives. A lot of times, baseball’s their whole life.

How do you differ from those players?
Baseball is just a small part of my life, and this is what my wife and I love to do. When you love to do something like this, it engulfs and takes up so much of your life and so much time that you and your spouse have to be on the same page or it won’t work. We’re out here Christmas Day in the rain taking care of animals. We’ll be out here Easter Sunday. When everyone’s at church, or at school, rainy days, hot days – we’re out here. It’s a 365-day job. You have to have a passion, and that’s what we have. It’s a huge part of our life, and it’s a huge part of our heart.

Why did you and Jessica start Marley Farms?
We just started accumulating a lot of animals at our house, and when we bought the facility, Jessica and I thought that maybe we should build a barn for our rescue animals. And once we were building that, we thought, ‘Why don’t we have the kids’ groups out here – child crisis, disabled and inner-city kids [groups] – to come out and interact?’

Do the kids and the animals mutually benefit from the interaction?
The thing that’s really unique and cool is that as much as the animals do for the kids, the kids do just as much for our animals. Our animals have been abandoned and abused and neglected, and they deserve that attention and love. They can feel it.... These guys have similar stories to the kids we bring out here. They have a great connection, and the unconditional love they give each other is something you can’t duplicate.

How has the economy affected animals?
It’s really tough. Everybody’s losing jobs, everybody’s losing homes. A lot of the people who lose a home – where are they going? They’re going to relatives’ houses, to friends’ houses, to hotels, or they’re downsizing to apartments. A lot of those places don’t accommodate the animals that they had before they lost their homes.

Is working on Marley Farms a welcome change?
It’s really cool because it’s a job where I’m around my kids. I’ve been gone the last 12 years of my life playing baseball. My whole marriage I’ve been gone; I’ve been married for 11 years. It’s nice to be around, it’s nice to be here living my dream and our passion and being with the kids. There’s nothing better for me than being with my family and my kids. And then allowing them the opportunity to be around this.

How much does it cost to maintain the farm?
I don’t want to know. We put about a million dollars into the project. The biggest thing is veterinary care.

What motivates you to continue helping the animals?
We’re doing something that makes us happy. We’re not just doing it to do it. We think it’s our calling. We think God has put us in this position. It comes from inside. At times it’s very emotional, at times it’s happy, at times it sucks, just like anything else. There are times we wonder, ‘Why the hell are we doing this?’ It’s straining on our life, it’s straining on our pocketbook, it’s straining on time. But once you see the glints in their eyes, it just changes everything; it makes it all worth it. Our animals are everything; they come first. We’re doing this to help the animals. We’re doing this to help the kids.