© Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
While the tale that is told in the box scores determines who wins and loses, it’s the human stories that connect us all to the teams we love, and forge bonds greater than simply what happens inside the lines. For the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, hitting coach Alonzo Powell showed his team that some things are just bigger than baseball.
On Thursday, coach Powell informed the team that he had completed his 40th and final chemotherapy session in his fight against prostate cancer, a mere seconds later, the locker-room erupted, according to multiple reports from those on the scene. It didn’t matter who they were playing, what their record was, or who was pitching that night. For a brief moment in the desert, a team came together to celebrate a coach who defeated the greatest opponent of them all.
Since the beginning of spring, Powell has been receiving treatment five times a week in Peoria, after which he would make the long drive to Scottsdale to work with his players and try to make the Giants a better ball-club, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports. The commitment and bravery Powell showed is not lost on manager Bruce Bochy.
“He’s been through a lot,” Bochy said of his newly appointed hitting coach. “He said, ‘Hey, I’m going to beat this’ and he’s had such a positive attitude. You guys know Zo, it really is amazing that he kept up his energy through this.”
A few weeks after being selected to be the Giants hitting coach, Powell was diagnosed in January, and instead of making it known to the world, he showed up every day, ready to work, showing no signs of dealing with an illness. Bruce Bochy went as far to say that Powell never even talked to him about what he was going through every day, but just got to work instead.
“It’s a lesson we all could learn,” Bochy said of Powell’s work ethic.
Some things are simply bigger than baseball, and coach Alonzo Powell is a terrific reminder of that.