Hamilton -
Baseball is not just a sport to Matt Cook. It’s a passion, a passion that was almost taken away from him less than two months ago.
Yet there he was last Thursday, the Hamilton resident and baseball pitcher, passionate as ever about the game he loves and ready to shine. After a trying month and a half, Matt made it to the show. At age 15, the freshman Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School varsity pitcher, took the mound at the mecca of all baseball parks, Fenway, like a seasoned professional.
Mastering the mound
“He threw a strike. He threw a strike,” proclaimed his proud nana, Emily Cook, of Hamilton, as she watched from the warning track as her grandson throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Red Sox versus Detriot Tigers game last Thursday. Nana’s observations were further confirmed when Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo said, “Nice throw,” as Matt walked off the field.
Adorned with a Fenway logo and the words, “Matt Cook, Ceremonial First Pitch, May 17, 2007,” he got to keep the official Major League baseball he threw out.
His adventure to the Fenway mound was a nice reward for a very complex journey.
Throwing out the first pitch was an item at a recent charity auction and the anonymous winning bidder donated it to Children’s Hospital, instructing them to donate it to somebody worthy of the honor. A representative from public affairs at Children’s Hospital called Ann Connors-Cook, Matt’s mother, and said, “There’s no one more worthy of this honor than your son.”
See, since late March, Matt has been an unwitting participant in a life altering experience.
“Matt suffered a blow to the left side of his head from a line drive hit back at him while he was pitching batting practice (for the high school team) on March 30,” said Ann. “Matt suffered expressive aphasia, which is the loss of a previously held ability to speak spoken or written language, due to disease or injury of the brain. He also lost sensation on his entire right side. In the ER that evening at Children’s Hospital, we were told that it would only get worse before it got better because the brain continues to swell for the first 72 hours, causing a great deal of pain. He was sensitive to light and noise so he spent the first several days in a dimly lit, quiet room. He was on strong pain medicines, but as they were wearing off, it was so heartbreaking to see him in excruciating pain. It’s a parent’s nightmare. Day by day, this all got a little better.”
Matt spent a week at Children’s Hospital in Boston following the injury and then was sent to Spaulding Rehab for three and a half weeks where he had physical, occupational and speech therapy.
His neurosurgeon said that he has “made a remarkable recovery” and his mom says that he is speaking now with very little hesitation. He returned to school, Friday, May 11, and is continuing his therapies on an outpatient basis at Shaughnessy-Kaplan Rehab Hospital in Salem.
“Every doctor and therapist has described Matt as a ‘very determined and motivated kid’ and that’s one of the key reasons that his recovery has been so remarkable. He’s worked very hard at it,” said Ann.
His reward was a spot on Fenway’s hallowed grounds, pitching again, and living out his passion.
Grateful for the way Matt has progressed in his recovery, Matt’s parents offered a few words of advice to every parent.
“Appreciate even the annoying things that your children do, spend lots of time with them and tell them every day that you love them because things in your life can change in a heartbeat,” Ann said. “As serious as Matt’s injury was, he was the healthiest child on the Pediatric floor at Spaulding. Matt’s roommate had to have a section of his brain removed due to a disease that was causing seizures, several children had brain cancer, while another teenager was paralyzed after being hit by a car. The average time spent at Spaulding is two to three months – Matt was one of the lucky ones, having to spend only four weeks there.”
Not just a game
The love of the game appears hereditary in the Cook family.
Tom, Matt’s father, was drafted by a major league team out of high school, but chose to pursue a college education prior to entering the big leagues. Unfortunately, he was sidelined with an injury, which rendered him unable to take up baseball as a career.
But Tom and Matt, and what seemed like the entire extended Cook family, as well as a number of Hamilton residents, including a contingent from the Hamilton-Wenham baseball team, watched at Fenway as the self-proclaimed nervous and excited Matt practiced his pitch with a Red Sox ball boy, while Julio Lugo tossed a few to warm up with his teammates nearby.
“Every ball player’s dream is to play professional baseball,” Matt said when asked if he ever dreamt of playing baseball professionally. “I just want to play for as long as I can and hopefully that includes playing in college.”
Although he didn’t get to personally meet any of the players, he did say that the Red Sox players who are in the throes of a winning season are among his favorite in the major league.
His favorite pitcher is Jon Papelbon. “I love the way he can close a game,” Matt said.
When asked who he would want to pitch to if he had a choice of any player past or present, he stated with certainty, “Ted Williams.”
His favorite catcher? Jason Varitek, who didn’t catch the game Matt was at, resting in the first game of a day-night doubleheader. But someday, Matt certainly wouldn’t mind firing a fastball to the Red Sox favorite.
A steely debate
Matt’s injury sparks renewed interest in the use of wooden versus aluminum bats through high school baseball play.
Although his parents, Ann and Tom Cook, are proponents of wooden bat usage, Matt has no opinion.
“The game is too dangerous with the power of these aluminum bats,” said Ann, who also referenced the case of 13-year-old New Jersey youngster Steven Domalewski, who suffered a long-term injury when he was hit by a line drive off an aluminum bat last year.
After eight months of recovery, Domaleski returned home to continue his recovery. Ann Cook said Joe Domalewski, Steven’s father, called to say how sorry he was about Matt’s injury. The elder Domalewski tracks metal bat-related injuries.
Hamilton-Wenham athletic director Don Doucette is also looking at ways to make the game safer. Ann said that helmets are now mandatory for anyone pitching batting practice. Doucette hopes the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association will mandate the change.
In the meantime, it won’t be long until Matt makes a return trip to his favorite ballpark.
Varitek and his wife sponsor a program at Children’s Hospital that donates a number of tickets to games during the season for patients and their families. Matt and his family have been invited back to Fenway by Children’s Hospital as part of the Varitek’s generosity to attend another game this summer. He’ll watch pre-game batting practice and will get to go on the field to speak with Jason himself.
With any luck, Matt will have an opportunity to pitch to his favorite catcher. No doubt it’ll be another strike, just like the pitch he threw last Thursday.
