Appreciation for life

Life has a way of throwing curveballs sometimes. For former major league left-handed pitcher Rob Ramsay, his came in a baseball-sized cancerous brain tumor.

Ramsay had just been picked up by the San Diego Padres after being released by the Seattle Mariners in late 2001 when he found himself in a battle for his life.

He had been bird hunting with a friend when he came down with a severe headache and felt nauseous. The headaches got progressively worse. The only way he found some relief was to lie on the couch.

“I’d be on the couch for 11 to 12 hours at a time,” Ramsay said.

Ramsay’s wife, Samantha, figured her husband was wrestling with something more than headaches. At her urging, Rob went to the doctor.

The doctor ordered an MRI. Not long after Ramsay had gone home that day, he got the call that would change his life.

“He said ‘We found a mass in your brain,’ ” Ramsay said.

Ramsay, who had been spending his off-seasons in Pullman where he had played at Washington State University, was sent to a neurologist in Spokane. That doctor suggested Ramsay have surgery within a week to remove the tumor.

The Ramsays immediately started doing their homework, trying to find out as much about the tumor and seeking advice on which surgeon they should have perform the operation. They met with former major league pitcher Ken Brett, who had moved to Spokane and was battling a similar brain tumor. Brett died 1 1/2 years later.

Brett recommended a surgeon in San Francisco who was considered tops in his field on the West Coast.

So the Ramsays flew to San Francisco to meet with the surgeon. He agreed that Rob needed to have surgery as soon as possible, but the doctor was booked for next two weeks. Finally, the surgeon was able to perform the operation, which turned out to be a 10 1/2-hour procedure.

The follow-up biopsy confirmed the Ramsays’ worst fears. It was a grade IV tumor, the worst possible.

“We prayed every night – a couple of times a night,” Ramsay said.

• • •

Ramsay recovered and played for the Padres’ Class A team in California in 2003. But he was released the next year and signed with Baltimore in January 2004.

He couldn’t regain the velocity on his fastball that he had with Seattle. He went from throwing in the low 90 mph range to the low 80s.

Ramsay began having seizures during spring training in 2004. It was following an episode in a motel room in Sarasota, Fla. – after a trip by ambulance to the hospital – that Sam helped Rob realize it was time to retire from pro baseball.

Today, Ramsay, 32, finds himself in Coeur d’Alene, where he just finished work toward his teaching credential. He’s substitute teaching and in his second year as pitching coach at Coeur d’Alene High School. Rob and his wife – the former Sam Spink, a volleyball and basketball standout at CdA who went on to play two years at Penn State and WSU – bought a home in CdA in 2004.

Rob Ramsay misses pro baseball, but not as much as he loves life. He wakes up every day, counting his blessings and knowing he’s a living miracle.

“We’re happy, we have a great marriage. I don’t think you can put a price tag on things like that,” Rob said Tuesday during a prep period from a weeklong substitute assignment at Woodland Middle School.

“I wake up every morning thankful I’m waking up next to my wife,” Ramsay added. “My Christian faith has gotten stronger. I’m thankful I’m living.”

• • •

The faith that Rob Ramsay would have to cling to during his darkest hours took root in 1998 while he was playing for the Boston Red Sox’s Double-A team in Trenton, N.J.

“I started going to baseball chapel every Sunday,” Ramsay said. “I remember I was overtaken by what the Lord has done for everyone.”

Ramsay looks back on his major league career and has no regrets.

“I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish,” he said. “I made it to the major leagues and I pitched in two playoff games (for Seattle).

“It’s tough to get there,” the Vancouver, Wash., native said of the major league level. “And it’s even harder to stay there.”

His major league debut was what many boys dream about. Ramsay’s came in, of all places, Yankee Stadium.

He put his name in the record book. In the 2000 season, he led all American League relievers by allowing only 14.7 percent of inherited runners (5 of 34) to score.

The 6-foot-5 Ramsay said there’s been just one negative affect from the tumor.

“I can’t throw a 90 mph fastball anymore,” he said, smiling.

As for the tumor, Ramsay undergoes an MRI every six months. He’s had a clean bill of health since undergoing a second surgery to remove a blood clot.

The only medication he takes related to the tumor is the anti-seizure medicine.

Ramsay firmly believes that God has had his hand on his life. But there’s another person who’s had an enormous influence.

“I still say I probably wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for (Sam),” he said. “She was my strength.”

• • •

The Ramsays have experienced a second miracle since the brain tumor. It was the birth of their first child 10 months ago – Ryan Matthew, who is 31 inches long with big hands.

“His growth has been off the charts,” Rob said.

The Ramsays had a scare three months into the pregnancy. They were returning home from the holidays on New Year’s Day when their Jeep Cherokee hit black ice and rolled three to four times just north of the Tri-Cities.

The vehicle bounded across the median, throwing off the sun roof and landing on its wheels on the shoulder of the highway facing southbound traffic.

Rob’s first inclination was to jump out and make sure Sam was OK. She was and as they both got their bearings Sam screamed, ‘Where’s Sadie?’ Sadie was their chocolate lab, who was sleeping in the back of the Jeep when the accident occurred.

All of a sudden they saw Sadie bounding across the grassy median area.

“All we could figure is that somehow she must have flown out of the Jeep through the sun roof,” Rob said.

The Jeep was totaled, but the Ramsays – including still-to-be born Ryan and Sadie – were unscathed.

“God had his hand on us,” Rob said.

Rob is beginning to apply for teaching positions. He hopes he doesn’t have to wander too far from CdA, but he knows he’ll have to go wherever he’s hired.

CdA coach Brian Holgate hopes Ramsay stays in the area so he can continue coaching for the Vikings.

“To see someone go through something like he has and get a second chance in life, it’s amazing,” Holgate said. “You feel sorry that he lost his career, but he’s got a second life teaching and coaching. And he has a baby. That’s his second life.”

Holgate has enjoyed watching Ramsay pass on his expertise.

“With his background, he realizes that every kid has a chance,” Holgate said. “He’s able to tell them that there’s more past baseball – that there’s more to life other than this game or school. He has a lot to offer kids with what he’s gone through in life.”