A Personal Note (Kevin Tantlinger)
This morning, I want to share a personal note with you about a friend of ours, Kevin Tantlinger. Many of you in Southern California know Kevin as a longtime fastpitch pitcher. Kevin has pitched for a number of teams over the past couple decades, perhaps most notably Hank's Mobil out of Palmdale/Lancaster, Santa Barbara and the Long Beach Painters in their heyday in the early 1990's. More recently, he pitched for the Blackhawks (as shown in the photo linked above) and also in some tournaments for my team, the El Segundo Rounders, including the 2001 Las Vegas Spring Swing where Kevin led us to our first title, winning the Most Valuable Pitcher's trophy along the way. He is a great competitor, and I still consider him a teammate, but most of all, I am honored to call him a good friend.
Some of you younger players (or readers out of the Southern California area) may not have had the chance to play against him or meet him, as he has been sidelined for a couple of seasons, battling cancer. He's had a couple of surgeries, and is scheduled for a third, tomorrow, Wednesday, April 7, 2004. I have resisted writing about Kevin's situation until now, as Kevin is not about pity or that sort of thing. Those of you who know him know that he is a warrior, and has shown remarkable courage during his battle. The longer I have the privilege of sitting in this editor's chair, the more aware I become of the strength of this fastpitch community of ours and of the character of the people in it, especially when it comes to supporting our own. (Never more obviously than last month.) The doctors expect that Kevin will be hospitalized following surgery for a week to 10 days. If you played with or against him, know him as a friend (or even if you don't), perhaps you can drop him a quick email just to say hello and let him know that you're (we're) thinking about him. I think it would mean a great deal to him, and give him some additional strength to continue his battle. You can send it by clicking this link, which will automatically forward it to him: kevint@fastpitchwest.com . If you also wish to send a card, you can send those to him, care of Jim Flanagan, PO Box 961, Los Alamitos, CA 90720 and I will see that he gets them.
Some links to fastpitch stories about Kevin:
Palm Springs 2000
Norwalk, Feb 2001
Kevin's Spring Swing MVP, March 2001
ISC State, June 2001
Postscript, some additional updates:
[4/19/04] - Further updates on Kevin at the Fastpitchwest Forum
[4/14/04] - We are pleased to advise that Kevin's going home from the hospital early - today!
[4/8/04] - Fastpitch Therapy [L.A. Daily News]
[4/8/04] - Fastpitchwest Forum - updates on Kevin
[4/7/04] - Tantlinger surgery successful [L.A. Daily News - Sports - Santa Clarita]
[4/7/04] -The following story about Kevin Tantlinger appeared in the Daily News: L.A. Daily News - Sports
[4/6/04] -
Some of you younger players (or readers out of the Southern California area) may not have had the chance to play against him or meet him, as he has been sidelined for a couple of seasons, battling cancer. He's had a couple of surgeries, and is scheduled for a third, tomorrow, Wednesday, April 7, 2004. I have resisted writing about Kevin's situation until now, as Kevin is not about pity or that sort of thing. Those of you who know him know that he is a warrior, and has shown remarkable courage during his battle. The longer I have the privilege of sitting in this editor's chair, the more aware I become of the strength of this fastpitch community of ours and of the character of the people in it, especially when it comes to supporting our own. (Never more obviously than last month.) The doctors expect that Kevin will be hospitalized following surgery for a week to 10 days. If you played with or against him, know him as a friend (or even if you don't), perhaps you can drop him a quick email just to say hello and let him know that you're (we're) thinking about him. I think it would mean a great deal to him, and give him some additional strength to continue his battle. You can send it by clicking this link, which will automatically forward it to him: kevint@fastpitchwest.com . If you also wish to send a card, you can send those to him, care of Jim Flanagan, PO Box 961, Los Alamitos, CA 90720 and I will see that he gets them.
Some links to fastpitch stories about Kevin:
Palm Springs 2000
Norwalk, Feb 2001
Kevin's Spring Swing MVP, March 2001
ISC State, June 2001
Postscript, some additional updates:
[4/19/04] - Further updates on Kevin at the Fastpitchwest Forum
[4/14/04] - We are pleased to advise that Kevin's going home from the hospital early - today!
[4/8/04] - Fastpitch Therapy [L.A. Daily News]
[4/8/04] - Fastpitchwest Forum - updates on Kevin
[4/7/04] - Tantlinger surgery successful [L.A. Daily News - Sports - Santa Clarita]
[4/7/04] -The following story about Kevin Tantlinger appeared in the Daily News: L.A. Daily News - Sports
[4/6/04] -
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home