Petrick shows perseverance in battle vs. Parkinson's

HILLSBORO, Ore. -- Ben Petrick is talking about a career highlight. It happened just the other morning.

Petrick, the onetime Major League catcher whose bright future in baseball was erased by Parkinson's disease, was in his house, watching his 5-year-old daughter, Makena, while his soon-to-be-1-year-old, Madison, napped, and his wife, Kellie, was out teaching third graders. Petrick hadn't taken his medication, and when he's "off," things can get dicey.

Petrick's walk from one end of the kitchen to the other became a dizzied stagger. The rigidity of his plagued body took over and he lost his balance. He fell to his knees and stayed in the position for a moment, collecting himself to try to get back up.

Then he felt little arms around his shoulders.

"Daddy, are you OK?" Makena said.

"Yeah, sweetie," he said. "I'm OK."

***

A look at Ben Petrick's player page doesn't reveal anything out of the ordinary, even for a guy who had become one of the top prospects in his sport by the time he debuted for the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 1, 1999, at the age of 22.

It's pretty common for even a blue-chipper to never quite figure it out at the Major League level and head back home in search of a civilian job after a few torturous go-arounds in the world's best baseball league. And although Petrick finished off that 1999 season with a great month (.323 average, four homers, 12 RBIs) and cruised into 2000 (.322 average, .401 on-base percentage, 20 RBIs in 146 at-bats) as a huge piece of the Rockies' present and future, things evened out in 2001. He hit .238 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs in 244 at-bats that season, which would end up being his biggest taste of the Majors.

Petrick got only 95 big league at-bats in 2002 and hit .211. In the middle of 2003, he was traded to Detroit for a pitcher named Adam Bernero, who was 1-12 with a 6.08 ERA for one of the worst teams in baseball history. Petrick finished that year with a combined .225 average over 120 at-bats. After one more short stint in Triple-A, he was done for good.

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Petrick shows perseverance in battle vs. Parkinson's