Mom’s battle inspires Stults

For a pitcher, whose life — whose livelihood — is entirely about control, that hurts.

51s pitcher Eric Stults remembers when his mother told him about her breast cancer diagnosis two years ago.

He remembers the pain and the fight and the feeling of helplessness.

Turns out, a good curveball can’t always get you out of trouble.

“You have a lot of control in baseball, and when things are out of your control, it’s hard to stay focused on baseball and on life,” Stults said Saturday before donning a pink jersey for the 51s’ 9-8 10-inning win over Sacramento on Game for the Cure Night at Cashman Field. “You think, ‘Why does my mom have to go through that?’ But there’s only one way to look at it, and that’s to stay positive like she did.”

Just more than two years later, Kathy Stults’ breast cancer is in remission after radiation, chemotherapy and a mastectomy. Eric Stults said his mother never doubted her prospects, never let cancer break her spirits.

But the road to recovery was paved with tough phone calls. Eric in Las Vegas with the 51s or in Los Angeles with the Dodgers, Kathy back home in Argos, Ind.

Stults longed just to sit with his mom and wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be fine.

“There were times where I just wanted to — as a son — just take care of her,” Stults said.

But he couldn’t. He had a career to cultivate, a shot at the major leagues that couldn’t be put on hold.

That doesn’t mean he wasn’t thinking about her with every game, every start, every pitch.

“It was on my mind, but it was also a driving force,” Stults said. “That was the year I had my best in Triple A. In the back of my head, I wanted to play harder, to pitch better, just in case something did happen and she wasn’t able to see me pitch again.”

Then it happened — Stults got his first call to the major leagues. His first game would be in Milwaukee, a four-hour drive from Argos.

It was a great day for the Stults family. A chance to celebrate Eric’s long journey to the majors, a chance to ignore the pain, a chance to be normal.

But for Stults, that joy doesn’t touch the feeling of learning that his mother’s cancer was in remission.

“No matter how much success I have here in Las Vegas or in L.A., none of that matters when it comes down to life,” Stults said. “This could be one of the great victories in my life.”