ATLANTA (AP) -Rick Sutcliffe might be more antsy for this game than he was starting the opener of the 1984 NL playoffs for the Chicago Cubs.
Sutcliffe returns to the broadcast booth Wednesday for the Atlanta Braves-New York Mets game, his first as an ESPN analyst since being diagnosed with colon cancer during spring training.
“I’ll be honest,” the former pitcher said Tuesday after stopping by Turner Field, his first visit to a ballpark since his diagnosis. “I’m going to be a little nervous.”
The 51-year-old Sutcliffe is on the road to recovery. He was strong enough to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments at the same time, speeding up the process, and is hopeful of getting a clean bill of health after surgery on June 16.
“I set a lot of goals, and most of them I didn’t make or wasn’t able to do,” he said. “But one of my goals was to come back and broadcast the game on the 21st of May. I have about a month before my surgery. I think out of all of them, this goal might have meant the most to me.”
No wonder. When Sutcliffe stopped by the Braves clubhouse after they defeated the Mets 6-1 in the opener of a doubleheader, he was greeted with warm hugs by everyone from manager Bobby Cox to players Chipper Jones, John Smoltz and Jeff Francoeur.
“It’s amazing how far that goes toward healing,” Sutcliffe said.
He went 171-139 in parts of 18 seasons, retiring in 1994 after pitching for the Dodgers, Indians, Cubs, Orioles and Cardinals. Sutcliffe won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1979 for Los Angeles and the NL Cy Young Award in 1984, helping the Cubs reach the postseason for the first time in 39 years.
He pitched Game 1 of the NL championship series against San Diego.
“I was probably a little bit more nervous for this than I was for that,” Sutcliffe said. “It’s easier to pitch than it is to broadcast. There’s so much homework to do.”
He joined ESPN in 1999 and has been an analyst during game telecasts since 2002. He had been scheduled to travel to Japan for the season-opening games between Boston and Oakland in late March, but was replaced by Steve Phillips.
Sutcliffe was diagnosed with cancer after taking a routine test during a physical.
“ESPN has been unbelievable,” he said. “They told me all along, ‘When you’re ready to come back, your job will be there.’ They meant it.”
Sutcliffe hopes to broadcast games each Wednesday night until his surgery. He’s bounced back strong from his cancer treatments, noting that he walked four miles on Monday. He tries to go running two out of every three days, and he’s also back lifting weights.
“A lot of people have been saying I actually look better than I did before,” Sutcliffe said with a chuckle. “I don’t know what they mean by that, but I’m going with it.”
He got two bits of advice that helped him cope with his diagnosis. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter told Sutcliffe to stay positive, and his agent, Barry Axelrod, was the one who advised him to set as many goals as possible, even if he didn’t fulfill them all.
Sutcliffe isn’t concerned about being a little uptight for Wednesday’s game. In fact, he considers that a good sign.
“When I was playing and would get those feelings, that meant I was about to do something important,” he said. “And there’s no question this one means more to me than the first one I did nine years ago with ESPN.”
He’s got only one complaint: Cancer survivor Jon Lester pitched a no-hitter on Monday, two days ahead of Sutcliffe’s return to the booth.
“I thought this was going to be such a big deal,” Sutcliffe joked. “Jon Lester took some of my thunder away.”
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