Take some time to read about Royals right-hander Chris Young, whose father, Charles Young, died in September from complications and consequences of having multiple myeloma, a cancer of blood plasma. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star hit the right notes in his feature, published Tuesday night after the Royals thumped the Blue Jays 14-2 in Game 4 of the ALCS. Young started the game, allowing two runs over 4 2/3 innings -- in a pitching performance as important as any Kansas City has gotten in the postseason.
Young surely thought of his father -- before, during and after.
"He's with me," Young said. "He's enjoying this as much as I am."
More at peace as time passes, Young had been burdened with thoughts of his father, who was ailing for about three years, and needed the assistance of Young's two sisters, who moved to Dallas in order to care for him. Young couldn't do that, being a Major League Baseball player with a prohibitive work schedule. And when his father was rushed to the hospital Sept. 26 because an infection that had led to pneumonia, Young had another decision to make: Leave immediately for the hospital, or start the next day, as planned, and fly home after the game, which was to be his first start in nearly two months.
He chose to pitch.
Young huddled with manager Ned Yost and general manager Dayton Moore after the game. He informed them his father’s situation was dire, but he still felt he could start the next afternoon. The Royals duo told Young they would support his decision either way. Young told them he planned to pitch and then fly home.
His phone rang soon after he left the ballpark. It was his sister. "Dad's in heaven," she said.
"I just couldn’t believe it," Young said. "I just felt like they were going to be able to stabilize him at some point. I felt like there was going to be a chance for me to get home and say goodbye. I just couldn’t believe it. It hit me like a ton of bricks."
Young thought through the night and decided he still wanted to pitch. He described the outing as "the most peaceful game I've ever had," listening to his father in his ear all the way. After the fifth, despite not yet allowing a hit to the Twins, he informed Yost and pitching coach Dave Eiland he could go no further.
Once he reached the clubhouse, Young broke down into sobs. A stream of players and coaches found him. Young sat facing his locker, crying into his hands. Mike Moustakas, who lost his mother earlier that summer, approached him from behind and hugged him. "He didn’t say a word," Young said.
In ways small and large, Young and his teammates being there for each other fits somehow into the Royals story for 2015. The harshness of real life has a way of making ballplayers come together in times of "crisis" during play that are, by comparison, quite mild.
