CAREW BACK AT WORK, TRIES TO DEAL WITH LOSS.Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer More than four hours before the Angels' game Friday night, Rod Carew He was born to a Panamanian mother on a train in the town of Gatun, which at that time was in the Panama Canal walked out to the mound at Anaheim Stadium, blinked in the sun that glinted off the empty seats, and dipped his hand into a basket of batting-practice balls. He was back to work. Back to instructing young and/or struggling hitters in a mid-afternoon tutorial. Back to thinking about something other than the wrenching reality of his youngest daughter slipping away to leukemia leukemia (l  kē`mēə), cancerous disorder of the blood-forming tissues (bone marrow, lymphatics, liver, spleen) characterized by excessive production of immature or mature .
An element of his personal therapy had begun. ``I was looking forward to coming back to work,'' Carew, the Hall of Famer who serves as the Angels' hitting instructor, said after sweating through a 45-minute session. ``This is my life. This is what I enjoy - teaching and trying to make these guys better. It was nice walking in here, looking up at the lights, at the grass.'' Carew put on the uniform for the first time since Michelle, his 18-year-old daughter, died of leukemia on April 17. He chatted with reporters. He smiled and joked with Angels players. He immersed im·merse tr.v. im·mersed, im·mers·ing, im·mers·es 1. To cover completely in a liquid; submerge. 2. To baptize by submerging in water. 3. himself in the business of the night's game. And he presented a philosophical perspective on the events of the past seven months, during which Children's Hospital A children's hospital is a hospital which offers its services exclusively to children. The number of children's hospitals proliferated in the 20th century, as pediatric medical and surgical specialties separated from internal medicine and adult surgical specialties. of Orange County, amid news reports on the Carew case, was inundated in·un·date tr.v. in·un·dat·ed, in·un·dat·ing, in·un·dates 1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters. 2. with pledges from blood-marrow donors on behalf of young leukemia victims. ``I know that whatever happened with my daughter, Michelle, I think her life had a purpose,'' Carew said. ``Some of the children who didn't have a chance to get (blood-marrow transplants) now have a chance to keep on living. Carew said his tragedy ``is going to help me, it's going to helpme as far as keeping my head straight and not sitting around moping about things.'' A new outlook is already evident in his public persona persona /per·so·na/ (per-so´nah) [L.] in jungian psychology, the personality mask or facade presented by a person to the outside world, as opposed to the anima, the inner being. per·so·na n. . Throughout much of his playing and coaching career, Carew has been a sullen sul·len adj. sul·len·er, sul·len·est 1. Showing a brooding ill humor or silent resentment; morose or sulky. 2. Gloomy or somber in tone, color, or portent: sullen, gray skies. , sometimes openly hostile character. That hasn't been the case in recent months. ``I had a tough time with the media. I'm not going to say I didn't,'' he said. ``But, hopefully, that's water under the bridge. And I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart, because you didn't allow the problems I put you through to stop you from trying to help us.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Angels coach Rod Carew watches batting practice on hi s first night back. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. |
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