Cancer claims life of Orioles prospect
Posted: Thursday October 01, 1998 02:44 PM
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Stephens was 22 years old AP |
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Joel Stephens, a third-year player in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system, died after a 10-month battle with colon cancer. He was 22.
Stephens died Wednesday at his home in Tioga, Pennsylvania.
A 220-pound All-American at Elmira Notre Dame High School in Elmira, New York, Stephens turned down numerous college offers to sign with the Orioles. A ninth-round selection in the 1995 draft, the outfielder spent three years in the minors, hitting .224 for the Class A Delmarva Shorebirds in 1997.
After his cancer was discovered in November, he underwent two operations and six months of chemotherapy treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
In March, buoyed by the support of his fans and the community of Tioga, population 600, Stephens threw out the first pitch before an Orioles exhibition game. He sat in the stands during the game, munching popcorn with his fiancee, Erin Wood.
Determined to fight his way back into shape, Stephens lifted weights and played basketball with a 4-pound pump dispensing medication into his veins. In July, he began working out with the Class A Frederick Keys, an Orioles affiliate.
Deeply religious, Stephens seemed to accept his illness and the months of surgery and chemotherapy.
"The tough times are worth it because I'm getting closer to the Lord," he said last month. "I know he has a set time when we're to go to heaven. No matter what happens to my body, it cannot affect my spirit."
His goal was to swing the bat one more time in a professional game, but Stephens' health declined in August, forcing him to return home to his family's 100-acre farm. Until his death, he spoke out for cancer research and answered hundreds of letters from well-wishers who followed his plight.
"Joel was a unique and very special young man, one that we admired a great deal," Orioles general manager Pat Gillick said. "Joel's tremendous faith and courage were a lesson for all of us. He will be sorely missed."
Stephens' illness was unusual for a person so young, according to his oncologist Dr. Ross Donehower. In the past year, Donehower has treated two other Orioles for colon cancer -- outfielder Eric Davis, 35, and former slugger Boog Powell, 57. Both have recovered.
Stephens is survived by his parents, Ron and Joyce Stephens, of Tioga, Pennsylvania; two brothers, Aaron Stephens, of Chesapeake, Virginia, and David Beatty, of Pamplin, Virginia; and a sister, Lindsay, of Tioga.
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