JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Every minor leaguer's dream is to make it to the Majors, and for those who have, they've all got a different story to tell about their path there.
Devin Smeltzer didn't start his baseball career how he thought he would. Or his childhood—for that matter.
Smeltzer used the cards he was dealt to help him turn his dreams into reality.
To appreciate the product, you have to highlight the journey. That's how the relief left-hander pitcher for the Jumbo Shrimp sees it. His childhood didn't start the way he thought it would.
"Right before my 10th birthday. It was August of 2005," said Smeltzer.
That's when he was diagnosed with cancer.
"Rhabdomyosarcoma," he added, "It was located in my bladder and prostate."
Because of where the cancer was, he needed more bathroom breaks than his friends. It changed the way he played baseball.
"I would go every half inning. I'd run out the center to play if I was playing center field. By the second out, I was doing the pee dance sprint off the field. It got to the point where we just kept a jug in the dugout and kept it in the corner," said Smeltzer.
He said his cancer was aggressive, so treatment started immediately. But there's no keeping 10-year-old Smeltzer away from baseball. And it came with a price.
"I played center field game one, made a diving catch, got hit by a pitch, had a massive bruise, slept on the bench in between games, pitched game two. I remember going into the hospital the next day and having the biggest bruise you've ever seen because my platelets were so low," he added.
During treatment, Smeltzer couldn't be in school. So he practiced every day despite fighting off cancer.
"I'd come in and hit and throw and all that 'cause I couldn't be around other kids in confined spaces because my immune system was so low," said Smeltzer.
He went into remission about a year after being diagnosed, but he refused to feel sorry for himself.
"You can pity party and be 'woe is me' or you can say 'this is just going to make me stronger and find a way through it.'"
In 2016, he was drafted by the Dodgers. Then he played for the Twins, Marlins, and now the Jumbo Shrimp.
Now, Devin gives back to families like his when he was younger. He created Catch Cancer Looking apparel. All proceeds benefit Katie's Krusaders, an organization focused on helping cover expenses for pediatric cancer patients.