Ex-Eagle Pete Frates won’t let ALS dim his passion for BC baseball
Steve Buckley Thursday, June 09, 2016
Credit: John Wilcox
TRAIN ROLLING ALONG: Pete Frates, along with wife Julie and daughter Lucy, are joined by members of the Boston College baseball team during his jersey retirement ceremony last month. Frates’ Eagles will travel to Miami tomorrow for the NCAA Super Regionals.
It’s been a long time since Pete Frates has been able to sit at the computer and fire off long, flowing missives to his many friends and supporters.
Thanks for that, Lou Gehrig’s disease.
It’s been even longer since he’s been able to speak.
Yeah, thanks Lou Gehrig’s disease.
But know this about Pete: The fire still burns. There’s passion. He has interests, concerns, rants . . . all that.
Case in point: The Boston College baseball program, which tomorrow begins a best-of-three Super Regional series against the University of Miami that’ll catapult the winner to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Thanks to a laser apparatus that allows Pete to use his retina to transmit thoughts to a computer, the former BC baseball captain is making it known that the Eagles — his Eagles — are on his mind. I messaged him the other day to get his thoughts on the Eagles’ showdown against the Hurricanes in Coral Gables, Fla., posing a series of questions. He didn’t need much time to respond.
Me: “What did you honestly think of this team coming into the season?”
Pete: “mike took over this program with a plan in place for success,” he replied, referring to BC coach Mike Gambino.
Me: “When did you change or alter your take on this team?”
Pete: “coming in to this year, I knew we would have a chance in the acc tourney, but these boys have totally bought in and are playing great with a ton of confidence . . . ahead of schedule but I’m not surprised at all.”
Me: “Why?”
Pete: “The culture cultivated by mike and the staff has prepared these boys for this level of play. we don’t whine, complain, or worry about external factors.”
His words were . . . are . . . breathtaking to read, to behold. It’s not so much the message but that there is a message at all, that a young man held prisoner in his own body — one that was already failing him months before the doctor’s sobering diagnosis was delivered a little more than four years ago.
It was shortly after that diagnosis, and as Pete was beginning a series of treatments and rehabilitation, that we sat down for a chat one afternoon in a conference room at Mass. General. Yesterday, Pete’s dad, John Frates, reminded me of something his son said that day: “What an opportunity we’ve been given to change the world.”
That’s how Pete has always viewed his battle against Lou Gehrig’s disease, otherwise known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: An opportunity to change the world. That very quote is going to be affixed to a mural at a dorm being named in Pete’s honor at Endicott College in his hometown, Beverly. He has used this . . . this opportunity . . . to raise millions of dollars to help find a cure for ALS. He has used it to raise awareness, to raise hope. But let’s put the cause on hold for a few days because one of Pete’s other causes is that baseball team that’s taking on Miami tomorrow.
“Pete has two families,” John Frates said. “He has his family here at home, and he has that baseball team. It means that much to him.”
Ready for a shock? If the Eagles get past Miami this weekend and advance to Omaha, Pete has every intention of going with them. Those of us on the outside can only imagine how hard that would be for a man in Pete’s condition, but oh, wait: This is Pete Frates we’re talking about, right?
I guess this is the part where it’s important to roll out the disclaimer that, yes, this is the Boston College athletics program we’re talking about. And the Boston College athletics program is always fair game for anyone around here not in possession of a maroon-and-gold hoodie. And if at any other time of year hatin’ on the Eagles is your thing, you go right ahead. I have your back. Especially if my beloved UMass is involved.
But this isn’t football.
This isn’t basketball.
This is baseball.
This also is New England, and the simple fact is that our cold, wet, muddy springs are not conducive to building college programs and then sending them to the national stage, which is the College World Series in Omaha.
With all this in mind, this might be a good time for us to put our tribal differences aside and root for the Eagles. You can watch the games on ESPNU or listen to them on 90.3 WZBC-FM.
Two victories and the Eagles go to Omaha.
Two victories and Pete is going with them.
Two victories.
Go Eagles.
.
Steve Buckley Thursday, June 09, 2016
Credit: John Wilcox
TRAIN ROLLING ALONG: Pete Frates, along with wife Julie and daughter Lucy, are joined by members of the Boston College baseball team during his jersey retirement ceremony last month. Frates’ Eagles will travel to Miami tomorrow for the NCAA Super Regionals.
It’s been a long time since Pete Frates has been able to sit at the computer and fire off long, flowing missives to his many friends and supporters.
Thanks for that, Lou Gehrig’s disease.
It’s been even longer since he’s been able to speak.
Yeah, thanks Lou Gehrig’s disease.
But know this about Pete: The fire still burns. There’s passion. He has interests, concerns, rants . . . all that.
Case in point: The Boston College baseball program, which tomorrow begins a best-of-three Super Regional series against the University of Miami that’ll catapult the winner to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Thanks to a laser apparatus that allows Pete to use his retina to transmit thoughts to a computer, the former BC baseball captain is making it known that the Eagles — his Eagles — are on his mind. I messaged him the other day to get his thoughts on the Eagles’ showdown against the Hurricanes in Coral Gables, Fla., posing a series of questions. He didn’t need much time to respond.
Me: “What did you honestly think of this team coming into the season?”
Pete: “mike took over this program with a plan in place for success,” he replied, referring to BC coach Mike Gambino.
Me: “When did you change or alter your take on this team?”
Pete: “coming in to this year, I knew we would have a chance in the acc tourney, but these boys have totally bought in and are playing great with a ton of confidence . . . ahead of schedule but I’m not surprised at all.”
Me: “Why?”
Pete: “The culture cultivated by mike and the staff has prepared these boys for this level of play. we don’t whine, complain, or worry about external factors.”
His words were . . . are . . . breathtaking to read, to behold. It’s not so much the message but that there is a message at all, that a young man held prisoner in his own body — one that was already failing him months before the doctor’s sobering diagnosis was delivered a little more than four years ago.
It was shortly after that diagnosis, and as Pete was beginning a series of treatments and rehabilitation, that we sat down for a chat one afternoon in a conference room at Mass. General. Yesterday, Pete’s dad, John Frates, reminded me of something his son said that day: “What an opportunity we’ve been given to change the world.”
That’s how Pete has always viewed his battle against Lou Gehrig’s disease, otherwise known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: An opportunity to change the world. That very quote is going to be affixed to a mural at a dorm being named in Pete’s honor at Endicott College in his hometown, Beverly. He has used this . . . this opportunity . . . to raise millions of dollars to help find a cure for ALS. He has used it to raise awareness, to raise hope. But let’s put the cause on hold for a few days because one of Pete’s other causes is that baseball team that’s taking on Miami tomorrow.
“Pete has two families,” John Frates said. “He has his family here at home, and he has that baseball team. It means that much to him.”
Ready for a shock? If the Eagles get past Miami this weekend and advance to Omaha, Pete has every intention of going with them. Those of us on the outside can only imagine how hard that would be for a man in Pete’s condition, but oh, wait: This is Pete Frates we’re talking about, right?
I guess this is the part where it’s important to roll out the disclaimer that, yes, this is the Boston College athletics program we’re talking about. And the Boston College athletics program is always fair game for anyone around here not in possession of a maroon-and-gold hoodie. And if at any other time of year hatin’ on the Eagles is your thing, you go right ahead. I have your back. Especially if my beloved UMass is involved.
But this isn’t football.
This isn’t basketball.
This is baseball.
This also is New England, and the simple fact is that our cold, wet, muddy springs are not conducive to building college programs and then sending them to the national stage, which is the College World Series in Omaha.
With all this in mind, this might be a good time for us to put our tribal differences aside and root for the Eagles. You can watch the games on ESPNU or listen to them on 90.3 WZBC-FM.
Two victories and the Eagles go to Omaha.
Two victories and Pete is going with them.
Two victories.
Go Eagles.
.
