Cancer sneaked up on twice — first in November, when a tumor appeared he could not explain, then again in February, when blood cells he could not see threatened his life. Baseball never vanished. He just looked in the other direction.
By Monday morning, he could no longer ignore the onrush of his first game since last September. The thought of pitching again knocked him in the face.
“It crept in when I woke up,” Bettis said, his eyes swelling. “Just thinking about everything that happened, everything my family went through. I was holding back tears until the game started.”
BOX SCORE:
His time arrived Monday night at as the Rockies started a vital four-game series against the with a 3-0 victory. The Rockies’ veteran right-hander, the senior member of a pitching rotation with its sights set on the postseason, returned to pitch for the first time this season, and with flair, throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing just six hits.
Bettis got a no-decision for his efforts, departing a 0-0 game, but Colorado finally got on the board in the eighth, thanks to ‘s leadoff triple. A single by scored Blackmon, and a two-run single by gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead that held as final.
The game, though, belonged to Bettis. After surgery to remove testicular cancer in December and nine weeks of chemotherapy in the spring while Colorado started its season on a tear, as his hair fell out and medicine racked his body and exhausted his strength, Bettis was back on a pitching mound as though he had never left.
“What he went through is way more important than baseball. But he loves the game. That’s why he’s back,” Rockies all-star third baseman said. “To go through that and now he’s here to help us with a playoff run, it’s a big deal.”
When Bettis walked in from the bullpen toward the Rockies dugout before his first pitch, a wave of applause from fans in the stands followed him down the right-field line. This is the man who led the Rockies in victories (14) and innings pitched (186) last season, the veteran member of a staff that otherwise averages a green age of 24 years, with three rookies. He is the pitcher who guided 24-year-old right-hander through his first professional slump late in spring training, the sage who helped teach to throw a curveball.
And after beating cancer, Coors Field and its acres of outfield suddenly felt smaller with Bettis on the mound.
His team seemed especially amped. Ender Inciarte’s line drive to lead off the game skipped past Gerardo Parra in left field, but Parra tag-teamed a relay throw with shortstop to throw out the runner trying to stretch an inside-the-park home run.
“I went from incredibly high to ‘oh, no,’” Bettis said. “But Parra ended up making a spectacular play. To see guys give their 100 percent effort for me is all I can ask for.”
Their defense extended around Coors Field. slid on his knees to snare Danny Santana’s hot shot toward right field in the fourth and threw him out to end the inning and save a run.
In the fifth, Bettis kept Dansby Swanson at second base after a one-out double. In the sixth, Bettis caught Nick Markakis looking at an 84 mph changeup to end a three-up, three-down inning with a strikeout.
“Man, this day feels like it went by so fast, but so slow,” Bettis said. “I don’t think I was really in tune with what was going on until the fifth. Just so many emotions and I was trying to get them under control, but it was taking longer than I expected.”
Bettis’ comeback was watched by players and fans throughout the majors. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon underwent surgery to remove testicular cancer on May 8, while Bettis was recovering from chemotherapy, and the Rockies pitcher sent Taillon a text message of encouragement.
Taillon later heard Bettis was attempting to pitch again this season — considered a longshot when he left spring training — but Taillon never blanched at the idea and he promised to tune in.
“A lot of people saw that and thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool. He wants to come back. That’s inspirational, but no chance,’ ” said Taillon, who watched on an off-day from Milwaukee. “It gave me chills. I texted him. I was like, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you on a mound this year. Not if or when or I hope it happens, I’m looking forward to the day you pitch this season, 2017.’ ”
Bettis gave up a leadoff double to Kurt Suzuki in a crucial seventh inning. Then he dug for more. Suzuki scampered to third on a sacrifice bunt. With the go-ahead run 90 feet away, Bettis forced Ozzie Albies and Swanson to fly out to Charlie Blackmon in center. Suzuki never threatened.
“I don’t think I could have pitched much better,” Bettis said.
Colorado manager Bud Black sat next to Bettis on the bench before the bottom half of the seventh. They shared few words, but one solid handshake and a pat on the head. Bettis then navigated a line of hugs through the dugout.
“I wanted him to enjoy what was going on in the moment,” Black said. “Just two guys looking at each other. And I expressed how well he threw.”
