A ex-QB in camp

David Andriessen of the Seattle Post-Intellgencer has this profile on Johnny DuRocher, who pitched a game for the Timber Rattlers at the end of last season.

It says a lot about Johnny DuRocher that he's still bothered by throwing an interception on his last play in college football.

Seems like a reasonable reaction, except the interception led to a crushing block on the University of Washington quarterback, which led to a concussion, which led to a CT scan, which led to the discovery of a large brain tumor, which led to successful surgery to remove it.

If not for the interception DuRocher threw against Stanford on Nov. 11, 2006, the tumor might not have been discovered until it had done serious damage. But even that knowledge doesn't take the sting out of the pick, which was returned for a touchdown.

The golf ball-sized tumor was benign. DuRocher made the move over to baseball, a sport he had not played since he was a sophomore in high school. He tossed a total of six innings for the Huskies and the M's like them enough to take him in the 34th round last year.

"He's an interesting guy," Mariners director of player development Greg Hunter said. "He's got some work to do, because baseball-wise he's behind other guys his age because he lacks experience. But his arm is fresher as well."

DuRocher started his baseball career last summer here in rookie league ball and did OK, making seven starts and nine relief appearances and finishing with a 5.03 ERA. He made one disastrous start at Class A Wisconsin at the end of the year but said that was more about him struggling with control than the level of competition.

"I wasn't overmatched," DuRocher said, "and even if I was, I wouldn't tell you I was."

That start was in the second game of a doubleheader against the Kane County Cougars on September 2, 2007. DuRocher pitched one inning and gave up seven runs on seven hits with three walks and a strikeout.

What are the plans for DuRocher?

Hunter said DuRocher, set back by a strained ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow this spring, will probably stay in extended spring training and then join the rookie team in Pulaski, Va., or the short-season team in Everett.

These next few paragraphs, about the tumor, are something to take away from the story.

"People talk about it and ask if I was scared. Yeah, I was scared. I mean, what are you gonna do? Even if it was a situation where I was gonna die or something, I wasn't going to spend the next month walking around all down and depressed and sorrowful about it.

"After this, you understand that you really don't have much control over what happens. You can do everything you can to get ready, but you don't have much control. You only have control over yourself and you do what you can. After that, you let the chips fall where they may."

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