Mlb.com story
Wow. This really puts things in perspective for people. Baseball is just a game. Cancer is real life. Hopefully he can pull a Jon Lester and be one of the great stories in major league baseball. Interesting decision to keep pitching him until he has surgery. I don't know if I would necessarily want to keep pitching if I were Davis, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about my situation. However, if it's what he loves doing, that's sometimes the best thing for someone to do. Best of luck to him.The D-backs' excitement about the 2008 season opener was tempered on Friday when they learned that left-hander Doug Davis had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The details have not yet been released and the club was planning a press conference later on Friday.
Davis is expected to make his scheduled exhibition start Friday night and probably will make a couple of regular season starts before undergoing surgery.
Davis, 32, is one of the more popular players in the Arizona clubhouse. His teammates appreciate the hard work he puts into his between starts program, including extensive video and statistical scouting.
Davis was acquired by the D-backs from the Brewers in November 2006 and the Phoenix-area resident promptly signed a three-year, $22 million extension that runs through 2009.
A durable pitcher, Davis was 13-12 with a 4.25 ERA in 33 starts in 2007. It was the fourth straight season in which he had posted double-digit wins and pitched 192 or more innings.