By Steve LaMontia, Director of
Communications
OK, let’s address the elephant in the
room. Long time North Texas Amateur
Baseball League dynamic architect, manager and compatriot Joe Daniels has ALS. Yes, Lou Gehrig Disease. Last September Joe started losing muscle in
his left hand and can no longer use his left arm. Joe’s throat is becoming more constricted and
his legs are failing him. "I walk like
Frankenstein and I hug the wall because I am scared to death of falling,” explain Daniels. "If I fell I wouldn’t be able
to catch myself. I can peck a little on the keyboard and
move the mouse with my right hand but I don’t have the muscle to catch a
falling body. I can’t even feed myself.”
Joe has been to multiple doctors and
therapists and is actively pursuing stem cell treatment
to try to find something
that may turn the corner for him, both in pain and his ability to
function. Stem Cell treatment, however, is not covered by insurance. I asked Joe the obvious
question when we were discussing his walking scenario: what about a wheel chair
or motorized vehicle of some sort? His
response was a true ‘spit in your eye’ rebuttal. "That’s giving up! I haven’t given up and will continue to try
everything I can to fight this off. Maybe we can find a cure some day. I’ll just have to keep trying but I will never give up.”
When Joe and I started this
discussion I ensured him that this isn’t a ‘woe is me’ article and that we are
going to focus on his MSBL achievements throughout the years, which is why MSBL
Founder and President Steve Sigler has inducted Joe into the 2017 class of the MSBL National Hall of Fame.
"It is not
very often you can read of a man's strength which is not determined by the
amount of "reps" he can do,” explained Steve Sigler. "It is the
strength to face each day with a positive attitude, knowing a disease is
actively at work inside you. Safes/outs/errors etc. mean much less.
I applaud you, Joe Daniels, and say thank you for the many years of support and
contribution to North Texas MSBL. You will leave a legacy!”
So from here forward in this small slice
of Joe’s life you will not hear anything more about the 2017 Joe. Let me switch gears and explain why Joe has been
inducted.
Joe and his wife Connie live in Rockwall, Texas and have been married for 28 years. They have a daughter, Ashley who has been instrumental
in coordinating a normal life for dad as well as his biggest cheerleader and
fund raiser. Joe is 60 years old and has
been working for the same tech company for 21 years and continues to work from
home by utilizing a voice activated computer. So what about his baseball roots and how did he become involved with MSBL?
"I was usually a bench warmer as a
player so I saw that my strength was in spotting and recruiting good talent and
managing players. I started that process
in 1975 in a rival league and then became involved in Dallas with MSBL in 1989,
thanks to Sam Kayea. MSBL became so
dominant that the other league folded shortly thereafter.”
This managerial commitment continued
until 1998 and then Joe took a year off. In 2000 he
attended a tryout for the MSBL's North Texas League along with
MSBL pal Sam Kayea. They saw some pretty
good talent out there and thought about starting a team together. "Sam and I gave it a shot in 2000 solely from
guys from the tryouts and we had a ball doing it. That was my last year managing on the
field. I got kicked ‘upstairs’ in the
league and helped in the administrative side.”
Former North Texas league president Gerry Mecca had this to say about Joe’s contribution: "Joe moved the league out of the dark ages of
paper forms, clumsy schedules and bounced checks and into the digital world,
long before websites and ecommerce were cool. He laid the foundation
of what is now arguably the most technologically innovative and digitally
operated leagues in the nation. He pushed for digital conversion for the
league so that everything could be handled on line: payments, notifications,
stats, etc. He did this in the 90’s
before anyone was thinking about it. It
was a tremendous breakthrough for the league.”
Mecca continued,
"After establishing the leagues web presence he went on to formulate the
leagues financial and budgeting model and of course, accept credit cards.
Joe also helped foster the philanthropic vein of the league, holding the first Texas Scottish Rite Hospital 
for Children charity golf outing awards on his
home course and awards banquet at this home. The TSRHC relationship has
endured for over 15 years. Though
retired in 2010, Joe embodies the entirety of the MSBL journey from player to
manager, from manager to league officer and from officer to board service.”
Joe was
inducted into the MSBL Hall of Fame on July 30th at Dr. Pepper
Ballpark in Dallas, home of the Rangers AA team. The announcement was during their annual All-Star game festivities, so Joe thought it was just another day at the
ballpark until he saw family and old friends hovering nearby. "I knew something was up but I didn’t know it
was me. Then they read a letter that Steve Sigler sent for me and I got very emotional. It was a wonderful surprise and honor.”
Just this past
weekend the actual MSBL Hall of Fame trophy arrived and good buddy Sam Kayea was
there to present it to Joe and the family during another fund raiser to help
with Joe’s mounting medical expenses. "You
do everything for the league while you are active, you don’t go through all of
that just to be recognized. Your goal is to make the league
better. Day to day recognition doesn’t cross your
mind, so to be recognized was a great honor and a wonderful feeling. Many old teammates showed up from the league
in years past. It was overwhelming. My heartfelt thanks go out to Sam Kayea,
Gerry Mecca and Steve Sigler and MSBL for making this award so special.”
So many
times we rightfully recognize the players who have excelled on the field or
those who have organized busloads of teams to participate in our national
tournaments. To honor Joe as a league
mechanic and data specialist is a testament to his love of the game and the
league without driving in a single run. Congratulations, Joe.
Daughter Ashley set up a page where you can buy an official 'Joe Strikes Out ALS' t-shirt that she designed for dad. All proceeds after the cost of the shirt help fight Joe’s medical expenses. Here is the link: http://www.customink.com/fundraising/joestrikesoutals