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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 36th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > September > 27 > Entry
From near-death to back on the mound
When Adam Pettyjohn faces The Great Pujols today in Busch Stadium, he won’t melt into a perspiration puddle. He’ll close his eyes briefly and think back to 2002.
He’ll think back to when he lost 65 pounds in three months. He’ll think back to when doctors told him he came within days of his body functions shutting down. He’ll think about near-death.
There is a line in his biography in the Cincinnati Reds media guide next to 2002 that says, “Did Not Pitch.” It almost could have said, “Did Not Live.”
So when the 30-year-old Pettyjohn makes his first major-league start since 2001 today against Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals, he knows there are things more difficult than locating fastballs and holding runners on base.
The lefthanded Pettyjohn was a No. 2 draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in 1998 and steadily moved up the system until he reached the majors in 2001. He was 1-5 with a 5.82 ERA in six games, nine starts and seven relief appearances.
But something was wrong.
On Saturday, a day before his first major-league start in seven years, Pettyjohn smiles broadly and says, “I’ve been through it a little bit.”
He said it matter-of-factly, as if what he went through was nothing more than a long line at the grocery store checkout counter.
“I had ulcerated colitis right after my rookie year with the Tigers,” he said. “They took my entire colon out.”
Usually, Pettyjohn is a solid 200 pounds, but during his illness his weight dropped to 135 in a span of seven to eight weeks.
Pettyjohn paused to think about it, thinking about getting married after his rookie season and what it eventually entailed.
“It was diagnosed in the spring of 2001,” he said. That was the year of his major-league debut. “They diagnosed it and did the colonoscopy and all the proper tests.
“When they gave me the medications, there was about a two-month supply,” he added. “Right when the medication ran out was when I got called up (from Class AAA Toledo to Detroit).”
That’s when things turned ugly.
“I didn’t go back to get my medication,” he said. “I had a million things going on at the time.”
So Pettyjohn pitched without the medication and said sheepishly, “When the season was over, we just went home. A couple of the colonoscopies I had early were so brutal — there was no sedation, they couldn’t put me under — that I was hoping my body would heal itself.”
That wasn’t Dr. Pettyjohn talking, that was youth and stubbornness.
“Being young and strong, I thought that might happen,” he said. “Obviously, that didn’t happen and when the symptoms began coming back in October and November of 2001 (after his rookie) season I just basically hid it, hoping it would heal itself.”
That, as it turned out, was a terrible decision — like throwing Pujols a belt-high fastball right down the middle.
Pettyjohn and his wife went on their honeymoon and when they returned Pettyjohn decided it was time to see a doctor.
“They gave me all the same type of medication as I took before,” he said. “It was too far gone then and they didn’t realize it until mid-March.”
How bad was it?
“I couldn’t walk on my own,” he said. “I was walking with the aid of a walker for the last two weeks before I had surgery in March.” This isn’t good for a 22-year-old pitcher.
“I couldn’t use my voice because it was too sapping of my strength and energy,” he said. This isn’t good for a 22-year-old newlywed.
“I got married on January 12 and I still weighed 195,” Pettyjohn said. “By March 17 I was down to 135 pounds and it had nothing to do with my wife’s cooking.
“It hit fast and it hit hard and was a very tough thing to go through,” he added. “But I’m definitely better for it.”
That’s a positive way to look at near-death, which doctors told him was very close.
“When all this happened, I really didn’t care if I ever played another game of baseball,” he said. “The doctors told me after I had surgery in that when they opened me up I was literally days from my organs shutting down. I was so malnourished and nutritionally depleted. I was lucky to get the surgery when I did.
“What that disease does is spit out anything that’s in your intestines,” he said. “I was going to the bathroom 20 to 25 times a day. I was losing all my nutrients. All my blood. I was anemic, too. I had about half the blood count of a normal person.”
Pettyjohn, though, wouldn’t quit.
“A lot of hard work,” he said about the process of returning to the game. “When I started I couldn’t lift more than 10 pounds. For a year, my body didn’t do anything. Heck, I had a colostomy bag for six months.
“I didn’t have any choice over what I went through, but it definitely gives you a new and good perspective,” he said. “It gives you an appreciation for having your health and being able to go out and play this game.”
It wasn’t easy coming back.
He played briefly at Erie, Detroit’s Class AA affiliate, at the end of 2003, but was released. The San Francisco Giants signed him for the 2004 season and he pitched at Class AAA Fresno before he was sold to Oakland in mid-season and pitched at Class AAA Sacramento.
To stay in baseball, he had to sign with Long Beach of the Golden Independent League for 2005. When he went 10-2 with a 3.92 ERA in 16 starts, Seattle signed him to a minor-league contract for 2006. By June 21, he was released.
So it was back to Long Beach and the independents for just two starts before Oakland signed him again on July 14 of 2006.
Milwaukee signed him to a minor-league contract for 2007 and he won 16 games at Class AA Huntsville and Class AAA Nashville.
The Reds signed him last December as a minor-league free agent and he won 16 games for Class AAA Louisville and was rewarded with a promotion to the Reds on September 12, even though he was not on the 40-man roster.
And now, this afternoon in Busch Stadium, all the packing and moving and perseverance pays off. Albert Pujols? Who’s he?
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Comments
By z in chicago
September 28, 2008 2:59 PM | Link to this
Hal this story hits close to home..i just recently college and had my baseball career cut short due to the same exact illness and similar surgery..to go through something like that at the major league level is beyond belief..just found my new favorite red!!By Cait
September 28, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this
I always root for the Reds, but I’ll be cheering a little harder today for Mr. Pettyjohn. Thanks, Hal, for reminding us that this is only baseball and there are bigger things in life.By Y-City Jim
September 27, 2008 10:55 PM | Link to this
Good luck and god speed, Adam Pettyjohn.By Deaner
September 27, 2008 9:49 PM | Link to this
Superb piece of writing Hal! Although I will be sad to see the Reds’ season come to an end, I am looking forward to seeing Pettyjohn pitch tomorrow.