Behind the plate, it's Jed Morris' job to catch everything.
And he was once lucky enough to catch something before it was too late.
"Even when I found out what it was," he said, "it was one of those things like, 'All right, let's do what we have to do to take care of it and move on."
A promising prospect for the Oakland A's, Morris was a product of the A's famed
Moneyball draft: he was a 36th round selection in 2002 from the University of Nebraska. Jed showed he could hit for both power and average during his minor league career.
But three years ago, while playing for the Midland RockHounds of the Texas League, Jed wasn't feeling right. There were some obvious signs, as well. "Bloody noses started, for like two days in a row," Morris remembered. "Basically, I was playing and putting (blood) on my jersey and stuff like that.
Finally, a doctor had a diagnosis.
The letter "C" always represented his spot on the field. Now it stood for cancer.
"As mysterious as it is to know where (cancer) comes from, it was just as mysterious as how we were going to fix it," said Morris.
Lloyd Turner, an infielder for the Barnstormers, has been teammates with Jed before. Turner was also picked in the 2002 draft and was a member of the Midland squad when Jed discovered what was wrong. "At the end of the day, no matter how good you are, or how bad you are, you haven't had to go through what he has had (to)," said Turner.
"You haven't had to fight the fight he's had to fight."
And the fight was long. But the fight was necessary - to treat acute lymphocytic leukemia, a form of blood cancer. Jed had a large growth inside his chest and he endured six chemo cycles from August 2006 to December. He lost his hair. He also caught pneumonia.
But Jed never thought cancer would beat him; though doctors and nurses tried to prepare him for a life without baseball - the game that doesn't stop for anyone.
"I
played with him in A ball; played with him in Double-A that year," said Lancaster pitcher Ben Fritz, a first-round pick by Oakland in 2002. "And then to hear (about cancer), you just don't know what the end result is."
And we still don't. On August 18, however, Jed was cancer-free for three years. Had it not been for leukemia, he may be playing in the major leagues right now.
"(You) just have to play hard, and not worry about it or think about it that way," Morris remarked to CBS 21 News Sports Director Jason Bristol.
The Midland RockHounds and Oakland A's were also instrumental in his recovery. The two clubs established a Jed Morris Victory Fund and were able to raise over $20,000 for Morris. He later taped a video thank-you and it still can be seen on YouTube.
Morris has a degree in community health education. He now has a focus - helping others deal with cancer. He's starting his own foundation; possibly in Lancaster County.
And he is also happy to be back behind the plate; trying to catch everything. Jed Morris is back to calling his own game.
