`LIKE AN ANGEL' GALARRAGA'S RETURN IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ONE FORGET ROCKER.

Byline: Karen Crouse

Lymphoma rolls benignly off the tongue. Lymphoma doesn't sound like a death sentence when you say it.

So that's how Andres Galarraga referred to his illness.

It wasn't cancer that chased him out of baseball in 1999, it wasn't cancer that left him too weak to stand, it wasn't cancer that made him ache for the days when the scariest thing he faced was another man's 97 mph fastball.

It was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, not cancer.

Semantics became Galarraga's survival mechanism.

``When my doctors said to me, `You have cancer,' I told my family `I have lymphoma,' '' the Atlanta Braves first baseman said. ``The word `cancer' was too scary. So I never used it. Always it was lymphoma. That didn't sound like such a big thing.''

In fact, it was a harrowing thing to be 37 years old and have a wife, three daughters and a kind of cancer in his lower back that the American Cancer Society estimates will kill roughly 26,000 people in this country this year.

After being diagnosed with the disease in February of 1999, Galarraga spent six months undergoing cyclic chemotherapy and radiation treatments and another six months retrieving all the strength that the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma had fleeced.

These days, Galarraga, long known as The Cat, feels more like The Cat Burglar stealing a second, sumptuous life.

``It's like a second opportunity,'' Galarraga said.

Most players Galarraga's age are out of baseball, victims of nothing more traumatic than the natural aging process. That the 6-feet-3 infielder turned back Father Time and mutant cell growth on his spine, too, is the nearest thing to a miracle that has been spotted in Georgia since the Virgin Mary sightings in Conyers the 13th of every month ceased.

Galarraga, who averaged 41 home runs and 129 RBI in the four seasons prior to being sidelined by cancer, hit a National league-leading 10 home runs in April. He entered the Braves' game Wednesday against the Dodgers batting .291 with 24 RBI in 24 games.

Galarraga's comeback has been the perfect antidote for teammate John Rocker's coarseness.

Indeed, the Venezuela native is a color print to Rocker's negative. Rocker you're bound to remember because of his mouth; Galarraga because of his heart. For sure, it's a few sizes too large for his Braves jersey.

Asked if there's a cerebral - as opposed to celestial - explanation for Galarraga's amazing start, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox tapped his chest and said, ``It's all right here.''

Understand: Galarraga was a decorated warrior before he waged the fight of his life.

Cancer didn't change him. It had more of an effect on his teammates, who no longer take Galarraga's swing or the smile he wears like a tattoo for granted.

``Just to see him smiling day in and day out tells the whole story,'' said Braves outfielder Brian Jordan. ``He has a great personality and it rubs off on people in this room. Having him back, it's like an angel's around.''

The first few days of spring training, Galarraga said, his teammates treated him as though he were as delicate as an angel's wings. The way they tiptoed around him you would have thought they were afraid of disturbing the Fates, lest they reconsider their handling of Galarraga's life.

``I think everybody was watching him carefully and trying to walk softly around him,'' Jordan said, ``because nobody really knew what to expect.''

Finally, one day, Galarraga told his teammates, ``Look. Just treat me like a normal player, not a little kid.''

After that, they did. Galarraga made it a lot easier, of course, batting .381 for the spring, spraying to all fields everybody's anxieties.

His own fears were long gone by then. At first, when he had to go in for his routine three-month checkups, Galarraga admitted, ``I felt a little nervous. I'd be waiting to hear something positive.''

Now, he just trusts the news is good. His faith helped Galarraga get his groove back. So did his family and friends.

``I'm not nervous anymore. I'm not afraid,'' he said.

Galarraga then lowered his voice as though he were going to reveal a secret. But what he said was written all over his face.

``I'm enjoying life and the game more,'' he said. ``Mentally I feel stronger than ever. In all ways I just feel better than before.''

The cancer has evacuated his body. The last CT scan Galarraga took, three weeks ago, showed no traces of it. That's not to say the cancer didn't leave behind a few reminders.

Galarraga can't bear to smell his wife Eneyda's perfume because it triggers memories of his chemotherapy and radiation sessions and makes him nauseated all over again.

For much the same reason, the area around Galarraga's locker cubicle is a cologne-free zone. And the player hopes never again to wake up and smell the coffee; that aroma is slightly sickening to him now.

The cancer treatments also left Galarraga hypersensitive to loud noises. But it was worth any headache to hear Turner Field erupt for him on Opening Day when he made a sparkling defensive play, then hit the home run that delivered the victory to the Braves.

``The first game was unbelievable,'' Galarraga said. ``It was like a movie.''

On it goes, a season that could be mistaken for a Frank Capra script. Everywhere he goes, including Monday in his first at-bat at Dodger Stadium, Galarraga gets ovations ``that make you feel like something special.''

He shook his head as he said that, his body language clearly communicating his bafflement.

Apparently, Galarraga hasn't been paying attention to his reviews.

``It's flat-out amazing the way he's performing,'' said Braves pitcher Terry Mulholland.

``It's phenomenal,'' said Cox.

It's enough to make you forget all about Rocker, and for that, all of baseball ought to join in the chorus.

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Photo: (color) Andres Galarraga, back from cancer, tips his hat to cheering fans before his first at-bat against the Baltimore Orioles in an exhibition game at Atlanta's Turner Field.

John Bazemore/Associated Press