Hillenbrand's life away from baseball is wild with animals

But baseball is just his job.

"This," he says, pointing to the 38-acre farm and stables he and his wife, Jessica, opened two months ago in the shadow of the San Tan Mountains, "this is our passion. This is what we want to do."

Passion? More like obsession, because the Hillenbrands collect animals the way other couples collect fine art. Between the farm and their nearby home, they have more than 90 animals, many of them rare and exotic, ranging from a Galapagos tortoise, an Australian wallaby and several miniature horses to three llamas, a zebu and a few head of cattle adopted just hours before they were to be shipped to a slaughterhouse.

Oh, and did we mention the three children, ages 1 1/2 to 3? They were adopted too, and seem to blend into the menagerie.

The youngest child's name: Noah, naturally.

"I don't have a favorite," Shea says, referring to the animals and, presumably, the children. "I love them all."

Next month, the Hillenbrands will turn a huge swath of the farm into a petting zoo for inner-city kids and children with disabilities or special needs. There are also plans to make the farm a refuge for abandoned or abused animals.

And those are just the latest in a series of projects the couple has undertaken to help both animals and children, with much of the work funneled through their nonprofit foundation Against All Odds.

"We just have a passion for animals and we're in a position where we can share it with other people," Shea Hillenbrand says. "It's all about the kids, to come out and experience it. There's no place around here that will be able to compare with what we'll be able to offer these kids."

Monday night, the group held its annual fund-raiser at the farm, inviting more than 200 guests to ring in the new year. Each year the party, which includes music, jugglers and other performers, is built around a theme. Guests are asked not for money, but for a gift consistent with the theme. Monday night's event was made to look like a giant tailgate party and the price of admission was sporting goods equipment for children.