Cedric Mullins Didn't Tell People About Getting Surgery As He Battled Crohn's Disease Last Offseason Because He Wanted All The Support And Attention To Go To Trey Mancini As He Came Back From Beating Cancer
You won't find many people like Cedric Mullins. Not only was he the only player in baseball to be in the 30/30 club last season, he also is maybe the nicest guy you'll ever meet. Mullins went through a horrible offseason going into the 2021 season as he announced that he was battling Crohn's Disease and had to have surgery that ending up taking over 10 centimeters of his intestines. It sounds like an awful experience and easily could have derailed his baseball career and his normal life. He didn't let that happen and instead had the best year of his young career that included a 30/30 season and being named a starter in the All Star Game. He didn't tell many people outside of his circle what he was going through heading into the 2021 season because he didn't want to take away from the incredible comeback story of another Oriole battling life threatening issues, Trey Mancini and his stage 3 colon cancer. Mullins didn't want to take away any of the support or attention from Trey because he wanted all the support to go to Trey. It really is an incredible gesture by Mullins.
Mullins told reporters this week that he knew he would eventually be okay and it wasn't life or death like Trey's situation was, so he decided to keep quiet about it. He just wanted all the attention on Mancini and his comeback. I just can't get over how selfless he was about that. He was going through something very painful and easily could have wanted more eyeballs on him, but he knew there was other stuff going on in the clubhouse and wanted Trey to have the spotlight. Mullins may be the best teammate ever after this move. And Trey isn't a guy who wants all the lights on him and to say "look at me, look at me", but after what he went through in the middle of a pandemic he deserved some shine. And not to say Mullins didn't, but the fact that he sat there quietly while coming off his worst season in the bigs, a horrible illness that gave him an awful infection, it says a lot about who he is as a person. He eventually came out this February with his story in hopes to bring more awareness to it, I'm just amazed by his selfless actions. You've got to love how much these guys on this team love and respect each other. I think this shows how close they are. Find an easier guy to root for than Cedric Mullins, you can't.
Man oh man do I love these guys.