Ian Happ Brother Chris Happ Is A Former Baseball Player At Duquesne University

Ian Happ brother Chris Happ is a graduate of Duquesne University. Chris played Division I Baseball in college.

Ian and Chris have an age gap of six years, with Chris being the older one. Born in 1988, Chris is 34 years old, while Ian is 28 years old as he joined the family on August 12, 1994.

The Happ siblings went to Mount Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they started playing baseball competitively. Pat McCloskey, Chris and Ian’s high school baseball coach, recalls Chris being the best player he ever coached until Ian came along. 

After graduating high school, the elder Happ enrolled at Duquesne University and joined the collegiate baseball team as an infielder. At college, Chris showed promise with respectable bats per homerun of 134. 

At Duquesne, he pursued a bachelor of science in business administration. His main area of interest was finance and investment management. He graduated in 2010. 

Who Is Chris Happ?

Chris Happ is a personal financial and business advisor to multiple athletes across the MLB and the NFL.

Based out of Chicago, he is also an advisor to many small businesses in Chicago. 

After his undergraduate studies, Chris joined the University of Notre Dame for his Master of Business Administration. He completed the 2-year degree in 2012 and started his first job as a currency trader at Gelber Group LLC. 

Today, Chris has over a decade of experience in the financial market. Before becoming a partner at Capital Creek, he also was a founding partner at One Day Capital LLC from 2016 to 2021. 

Chris has kept his personal life completely private. He is not an active social media user but does sometimes pop up on his brother’s Instagram feed. Both Chris and Ian are avid golf enthusiasts, a legacy passed down by their dad. 

Ian and Chris Happ dad Keith Happ was a USGA agronomist and a golfer. Keith passed away in 2015. 

Keith’s influence over his sons is very strong, even today. He assisted and advised golf courses on the maintenance of their grass. More importantly, he co-organized the 2003 U.S. Amateur, 2007 U.S. Open, and 2010 Women’s Open with Inverness Club superintendent John Zimmers. 

Ian and Chris often joined their dad when he visited courses for his work. Today, both of them are hobby golfers, thanks to Keith. Ian visits the golf courses where his dad used to work whenever his busy Chicago Cubs life allows him. When the old staffers sometimes recognize him, it brings him a lot of joy. 

“Those things to me are super special because without a true impact and a really generous heart, it’s not worth it for that person to come up and say hello,” Ian said in an interview with Maddie Lee with NBC Sports. 

In 2015, Keith Happ passed away after battling brain cancer for 18 months. “We didn’t want him to be remembered just for brain cancer. We wanted him to be remembered for the impact that he had on so many people and so many individuals.”, Ian said. That is why Ian, Chris, and their mom, Mary Beth Happ, founded the Happ Family Charitable Fund. 

The fund supports Bring Change to Mind‘s aim to “end the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness.” Through fundraising, the Happs also support First Tee Greater Chicago’s efforts to empower kids and teens through golf.

Keith was Ian and Chris’ first baseball coach. During their teen years, their approach to success was beating themselves up for not performing well. Their dad was the one to teach them the power of self-assurance and positive self-talk. 

Today, the Happ brothers are successful, Ian on the baseball field and Chris on the financial markets. They have not forgotten their dad’s role in that success and continue his legacy through their charitable work toward mental health awareness.