Jameson Taillon: 'There's No Time To Throw A Pity Party'
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - It was just five weeks after his surgery for testicular cancer that he returned to the mound and threw five shutout innings against the Colorado Rockies, and Jameson Taillon joined The Starkey and Mueller Show to talk about his fight and what it was like to pitch again.
"There's no time to throw a pity party or feel sorry for yourself, especially when you're in the public eye and you have kids looking up to you and you have people who are going through similar or worse circumstances," Taillon said. "So I kind of just realized the platform I had and I had eyes on me, so I wanted to return and I wanted to show people that I could return to being a competitive Major League pitcher and do it quickly."
Being able to get back on the mound so quickly was a testament to Taillon's resolve and he shared how he had nerves in the lead up to the game but felt right back at home on the mound.
"There were definitely a lot of emotions leading up to the game and over the five weeks that it was emotional," Taillon said. "The buildup was probably the more emotional part, but last night, once I took the mound, it was really just time to roll up my sleeves and go to work and compete against a really good Rockies team and that's kind of what I've been dreaming of doing since I went through this process."
Taillon also talked about his relationship with Rockies' Chad Bettis who is fighting his own battle with cancer, why baseball is like therapy for him and the Pirates still being in the mix in the NL Central. You can hear all of this and more below.
