When Alex Young returned to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, prior to spring training, the Arizona Diamondbacks left-handed pitcher said he got chills.
Young was there as an ambassador for the Jessie Rees Foundation, which encourages children battling cancer to “never ever give up,” or NEGU for short.
A Carmel graduate, Young first learned about the acronym — and the mindset it fosters — as a member of the TCU baseball team. Micah Ahern, a young cancer patient with neuroblastoma, was an honorary member of the Horned Frogs, and he adopted the foundation’s mantra as his own.
Young was one of several TCU players who formed a bond with Micah, who died in 2016 at age 7. On two occasions, Young visited Micah at Cook Children’s and they squared off in Nerf gun wars. Young said it felt weird to go back to the hospital in January to play with young patients because it was his first visit since Micah’s death.
“He fought every single day,” Young said. “And so that’s what I want to do. Regardless of if it’s baseball, life, I think that is how people should go about life.”
Young said he tries to embody that spirit on the mound by giving his best every pitch. That approach paid off during his rookie season last year.
In his major-league debut on June 27, Young allowed one run in a five-inning start. He struck out five, walked one and allowed three hits in a 5-1 win at San Francisco.
Of the 39 rookie pitchers who threw a minimum of 60 innings in 2019, Young ranked eighth in WHIP (1.19) and 11th in ERA adjusted for league and park (19 percent better than the league average). He pitched 83-1/3 innings and struck out 71.
It would have been hard to predict those results at the start of the season. After a solid finish to 2018 in the bullpen with Triple-A Reno, Young was left off the Diamondbacks’ 40-man roster, wasn’t selected by another team in the Rule 5 Draft and didn’t receive an invitation to Arizona’s big-league spring training.
“That right there was what kind of fueled the fire,” Young said. “I was pretty pissed off. I remember I talked to my agent and I was like, ‘This is gonna start something really special, because I don’t want to be the guy on the back burner.'”
It just took a little time. Young returned to Triple-A at the start of 2019, made 12 relief appearances and posted a 6.55 ERA. At that point, Young was moved back to Reno’s starting rotation. He said he was confused by the switch, but he was committed to making the most of his second chance as a starter. After eight starts, Young was summoned to the majors to help an Arizona staff that was dealing with injuries and needed stability at the back of the rotation.
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Ever since he met Micah — and especially since his death — Young said he has sensed Micah was on the mound with him.
“It feels like I have an advantage because I have that confidence knowing he’s looking down on me out there,” Young said in a text message.
NEGU, the motto that meant so much to Micah, is stitched into Young’s baseball glove and cleats. Young said he looks at the message on his glove before games.
“That kind of hit me when I heard that that was his slogan,” Young said. “I was like, ‘You know, that’s pretty cool.’ It just kind of stuck with me. Basically every year, it just kind of became more and more of who I am. I want to keep spreading it to people. Everyone always asks me, ‘What does that mean?’ I always tell the story about Micah and how much he meant to me.”
Maurice Ahern, Micah’s dad, said it is humbling to see Young raise awareness for neuroblastoma, a relatively common form of childhood cancer.
“There are many childhood cancers that people just don’t really know much about, and that’s why when you have people like Alex or others who are bringing awareness, it goes a long ways,” Maurice Ahern said. “Sometimes kids don’t have that big of a voice. Adults can get a lot more done. When people are being a voice for those kids and doing stuff, it goes a long ways.”
Young and his mom, Karen Young, also raised money for the cause. Last season, the giveaway at a Diamondbacks game was a sandstorm globe, a desert twist on the traditional snow globe. Alex Young autographed the base of the globe, and his mom auctioned it off on eBay with the proceeds going to Phoenix Children’s Hospital in honor of Micah.
One of the Youngs’ relatives submitted the highest bid and the globe was given to Ahern. It now resides in a cabinet in the dining room of his Arlington, Texas, home alongside mementos from Micah’s life. The globe is the lone keepsake in the cabinet from after Micah’s death.
“I hold onto memories of Micah,” Ahern said. “When I look back at the memories, those special memories, Alex is part of that. The fact that that snow globe represents something Alex did and that Alex was connected to Micah, I can’t think of a better place to put it in.”
Alex Young has been a solid pitcher and a humanitarian since his time at Carmel.
“I always felt Alex had a heart of gold,” said Joe May, Carmel’s baseball coach from 2010-12.
But it wasn’t always easy. He rarely pitched as a junior and also weathered some personal struggles.
“I remember just walking two or three guys in a row one time. It was just like, ‘What is going on? What is happening right now?'” Young said. “I’ve never felt so helpless in baseball. That was probably one of the lowest points in my career.”
But Eddie Holbrook, who coached Alex Young on the Northern Knights travel team in the summer, saw the potential.
When an area scout for the St. Louis Cardinals asked Holbrook to recommend a player for a summer showcase in Kansas City in 2011, Holbrook suggested Young. At the time, he had only one Division I offer.
“The competitiveness was inside of him,” Holbrook said. “Just really him trusting himself and being able to reach that next gear that really successful athletes have. And it was in him the whole time. Sometimes it took me getting on him a little bit.”
Alex Young doeesn’t remember all of the details of that showcase, but he remembers the emotions he felt while he warmed up in the Kauffman Stadium bullpen. He said he probably pitched the ninth inning, and he’s sure he was quite nervous. He said his arm was a little sore at the time, but he had so much adrenaline that it didn’t bother him on the mound.
He struck out the first batter. Then he struck out the second batter. And finally, he struck out the third batter.
“When I struck out that third guy, it was almost like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Alex Young said.
When he got back to the dugout, he said his phone was already vibrating. Coaches from major college programs were calling.
They also called Holbrook. He was coaching a Knights game during the showcase, but after the game he checked his phone, and he said he had missed about 30 calls.
“It was just kind of crazy just to see all these different big-time schools calling after one inning,” Young said. “It was so surreal, and it took off from there.”
Young has drawn inspiration from Micah, and Micah’s dad has been inspired by how Young has overcome adversity time and again.
“What do you do after you throw that bad pitch? They get back up and they just keep fighting,” Maurice Ahern said. “I saw that in my son. I see that with Alex.”
Ryan Nilsson is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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