Joe Cowley's column.

[YASNY]

Path to pitching mound a hard, emotional fight

 

 

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

 

 

 

 

By Joe Cowley

Staff writer

 

 

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It seemed like a simple request at the time.

The sports editor wanted me to write a column about throwing out the ceremonial first pitch for the White Sox's annual Cancer Survivors Night on Tuesday.

 

Then it's time to actually sit down and write. Sit down and actually think about the emotions you went through the past nine months. The emotions your family and friends went through with you — and on their own. And just like that, you're stuck.

 

Where do you really start with something like that?

 

Do you start with before Tuesday's night's game against Minnesota? Walking through the clubhouse and hearing, "Hey, Joe, just don't throw it in the dirt."

 

Then you look and see the smirking face of catcher A.J. Pierzynski.

 

Do you go back to the cold November day in Minnesota when you were first diagnosed with a Stage IV, Grade 3 follicular lymphoma that had already gotten into your bone marrow?

 

There are the nights in the hospital, after surgery, nights I prayed to make it to April 27. To see my son, Aidan, turn 4.

 

Do you write about the doctors and nurses in whom you put your complete faith? The same doctors and nurses who were thrilled to tell you that you were in full remission after four chemotherapy sessions, then hugged you goodbye after you were done with your sixth one. Not because they had to, but because they really did care.

 

Do you simply thank all the people who sent you e-mails and get-well cards? People you knew. Perfect strangers. Some who made you laugh on days it was really hard to laugh, and some who filled you with so much emotion you couldn't get through them on the first read.

 

Then there's my wife, Molle. Do you write about how strong she was when they told you that you had a 50 percent chance of making it, and how strong she kept you?

 

"You're a very strong woman, you're very strong," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said to her on the field just minutes before the first-pitch ceremony. "I just want to tell you that."

 

Guillen would be a good starting point. This is the same man who gets a rap from his critics because he is supposedly insensitive in some of his remarks. This also is the same man who had known me for only one season, but yet was too emotional to complete a phone call to me last winter because, for once, he was at a loss for words.

 

"I called your number like three times, and I would get tears in my eyes," he told me.

 

That's because Guillen is well aware of the battle against cancer. He's trying to get a special residency built in Venezuela where parents can stay while their children are treated for cancer.

 

So when he was asked to catch the first pitch for me, there wasn't a second of hesitation in his voice.

 

Maybe it's just better to write about the parents who were so heartbroken with the news they may have to bury one of their children, that on many nights their house in Cleveland was dark and quiet hours before it should have been.

 

Or the in-laws who took you in while you recovered, treating you like you were their own son.

 

Do you write about the five kids you met in the dugout before Tuesday's game, kids who embody the definition of strength? See, Cancer Survivors Night is not just about the survivors. It's about awareness. Awareness that cancer doesn't discriminate. It doesn't care about color, religion or age. It doesn't care if you have a small child or if you are a small child.

 

As far as I'm concerned, I just beat cancer. The true heroes are the kids who have been dragged into a fight they had no say in. The kids who should be running around and laughing, not sitting in a hospital for hours and hours, with tubes in them.

 

Minutes before I threw the ball to Guillen, the second-year skipper said to me, "Why don't you bring your son out there with you?"

 

(He also told me he wasn't wearing a cup so I had better not throw anything in the dirt.)

 

Do I write about that? How special it was for you to walk out to the mound with your son next to you?

 

It was a simple request from the sports editor. He just wanted me to give a first-person account about throwing out that first pitch and an update on how I was doing.

 

Sorry, I can't fully oblige him.

 

As far as the throw, it was a bit high and to the right, from what I was told. I really wasn't paying attention.

 

Because when it was all said and done, Tuesday night was never really about the pitch.

 

Joe Cowley can be reached at [email protected]

[YASNY]

I'm going to try and say this without demeaning any of the columnists that have been critical of Ozzie's comments in NYC. This shows another side of the man than what they portrayed. Ozzie having the sensitivity to recognize Mrs. Cowley's strength completely belies the image of the insensitive oaf that surfaced in NYC.

Edited August 17, 2005 by YASNY

[southsider2k5]

Wow, that was incredible. What an awesome write up and a major thank you for showing Ozzie for who he really is. Once again, hate, blood, and death may sell, but this is the stuff that is missing from the news- the human element.

 

Thank You Joe Cowley.

[S720]

Wow, that was incredible.  What an awesome write up and a major thank you for showing Ozzie for who he really is.  Once again, hate, blood, and death may sell, but this is the stuff that is missing from the news- the human element.

 

Thank You Joe Cowley.

 

Thank you so much Joe Cowley for sharing with all of us your incredible journey in beating cancer. I myself have had a friend who had passed away from lymphoma at the age of 44 and another who also died from lung cancer at the age of 46. I am a former heavy smoker. I quitted about 5 months ago, and reading this wonderful article just really inspires me to continue on my journey. Who would have thought quitting smoking is THAT difficult!

 

And thank you Ozzie for your genuine caring for those who are not as lucky as we are. It feels so great to know that your foul-mouth manager has a heart of a Santa Claus. Thank you again...

[retro1983hat]

I was honestly touched by reading that.

I live in the NW suburbs so I do not get the Southtown, but I have a feeling I will be seeing Cowley's work in a larger paper soon.

Good writing, great story.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Thanks Yaz for sharing that article. I am a big baby at heart and was quite touched by Cowley's writing. Articles of this nature that show human compassion are way too few and far between. Now back to the backstabbing ,venom filled, know-it-alls.

[Queen Prawn]

I was tearing up reading that. My aunt is currently fighting cancer. One day at a time and so far, so good.

 

I remember reading the first column where he talked about being diagnosed - it is wonderful to read that he has fully recovered.

[Texsox]

I'm going to try and say this without demeaning any of the columnists that have been critical of Ozzie's comments in NYC. This shows another side of the man than what they portrayed.  Ozzie having the sensitivity to recognize Mrs. Cowley's strength completely belies the image of the insensitive oaf that surfaced in NYC.

 

People are complex creatures. I have never met someone who I couldn't find some good in. I'm not surprised that Ozzie is intelligent, thoughtful, caring, and a whole bunch of other good things.

 

Is Ozzie Mother Theresa, Albert Schweitzer, and Gandhi all rolled into one? No. Neither is he Hitler, Rocker, and Hussein.

 

He still could use a lesson in PR.