Our beloved Oakland A's pulled off a huge trade on Friday, landing two top-tier starting pitchers for the elite price of two top prospects and a pitcher who has started for the A's this year, but, by most accounts, was falling out of favor. Why give up these top two prospects, though - one of whom is considered top-10 in all of Major League Baseball? Because the time to win is now.
Next question: what does this have to do with Parkinson's Disease and the Boys of Summer? The time for my dad to maximize his health is now, too. We're running parallel in that regard with our favorite team. Their are windows of opportunity in life that one has to accomplish certain goals. Those windows do not remain open forever. There are costs for passing through them. It can be painful, expensive and frightening as what's on the other side is not guaranteed. But neither is what's on the other side. Change is a constant.
The A's have had a great run over the last three years, winning the AL West in dramatic and exciting fashion. They have the best club in baseball, via their record, coming into the All-Star Break. It doesn't matter, as the prize is the ring in October. My dad has, by most accounts we have seen, stayed ahead of the curve in regard to managing his PD. He's done lots of interesting and out-of-the box treatments during his 13 years of being diagnosed -- but never something this intensive. Why now? Because he was falling behind and we knew it.
There was a man named John Trudeau we met in Detroit during our 2004 Boys of Summer journey. He was incredibly kind to us, offering us a place to stay and allowing us to interview him for the film, despite his body being racked with pain from Parkinson's and Lymphadema. One of the most striking things he said to my dad, he said when the cameras stopped rolling: "Don't let the disease eat you." My dad has taken that to heart and we've talked about that quite a bit. This year, he felt the disease was starting to eat him. So he's gone all in with this treatment with Dr. DeMartino. He's made significant changes in his diet, added lots of specific supplements and had four treatments a week over the last two months, living in Las Vegas for six weeks straight now. Why all this effort and sacrifice for something that is as unknown as what he's doing (and know that "a cure" has been taken off the table - the World Series ring here is pain reduction and a boost in quality of life)? Because my dad has decided he wants to live - and what he was sliding into back in the spring was feeling less and less like any kind of life he wanted.
So go A's - go all in, Billy Beane (Oakland A's General Manager). This is our year. Thankfully, you're not fool enough to think the A's will just keep winning and giving themselves a chance. Change is much too constant a bitch. We're all in, too, and we'll be measuring our success alongside our beloved Green and Gold.
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