That Chad Cordero did not fare that well against the Phillies in his first big league appearance of the spring ? one run, two hits, one wild pitch, one hit batter over six faced, his line read ? was not the main story in Florida on Tuesday.
That the Toronto Blue Jays reliever has been able to summon the courage to attempt a comeback after an immense personal tragedy last December qualifies as a much bigger headline.
Not only for this week, but for all of spring.
As some of you might have already learned through Barry Svrluga's must-read feature in Tuesday's Washington Post ? or from Shi Davidi's article in the Canadian Press last month ? Cordero and his wife Jamie lost their 11-week-old baby daughter Tehya to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome on Dec. 3.
Now, less than four months after his family's unspeakable loss, Cordero has been trying to win his first regular job in the majors since his career was derailed by a torn labrum in his right shoulder in 2008.
And in doing so, he's using Tehya's memory both as motivation for his bid to make the Jays and as a way to raise awareness of SIDS, which is responsible for approximately 2,500 unexplained infant deaths in the United States each year.
"I'm just using her as motivation, trying to find strength," Cordero said, "because I know, now, she'll always be with me, no matter what."
Everyone who has heard about the Corderos' story or read the single most devastating line in Davidi's story ? "Every night Cordero and his wife cry after putting only one little girl (older daughter Riley) to bed, instead of two" ? has had the same reaction.
It will be impossible not to pull for the former Washington Nationals closer any time he takes the mound this season.
Whether or not the righthander will get that chance remains to be seen. Cordero recorded a 6.52 ERA over nine appearances with the Seattle Marines last season and Svrluga reports that Cordero is still building arm strength after he stopped his offseason workouts while dealing with Tehya's death. He'll likely start the season with Toronto's Triple-A team in Las Vegas, which will luckily allow him to be about a four-hour drive from his family's home and Tehya's grave in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Cordero's shoulder injury will probably never allow him to reach the heights of the 47 games he saved for the Nats in 2005. But it goes without saying that any fraction of that success will be just as impressive.
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