Bordow: Davis can’t wait to return to team

 As Diamondbacks left-hander Doug Davis walked off the mound and into a world he wants no part of, Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent turned to him and said six words.

“Best of luck and God bless.”

D-Backs pitcher Davis has thyroid cancer

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Davis thanked him and walked into the Diamondbacks’ dugout, where his teammates greeted him with high-fives and slaps on the back.

Less than a minute later, Davis emerged from the dugout and tipped his cap to the crowd of 29,973.

The fans weren’t cheering for his six innings of six-hit, two-run ball in the Diamondbacks’ 10-5 victory. They were cheering because he threw six innings of six-hit, two-run ball two days before he’ll have surgery for thyroid cancer.

“Pretty heroic,” Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. “It looked like he was a little more emotional, a little more focused. He wanted to win this game bad. He knew this would be his last game for a while.”

It was quite a night for Davis. He got the win, collected two hits, had one RBI — matching his total from all of last season — picked off a runner and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.

But the numbers were insignificant. Davis gave himself a sweet memory he can take into surgery.

“It was definitely emotional walking off the field,” he said. … “I tried to stay strong. I didn’t want to cry.”

Davis has carried that strength since he first learned he had cancer. He called Melvin on the morning of March 27 and told him of the diagnosis. He also told Melvin he would make his first two starts of the season and there was no talking him out of it.

“He was arguing with me literally a minute into the phone conversation when I’m trying to digest what had happened to him,” Melvin said. “He was not going to take no for an answer. He was very focused on what he wanted to do.

“At the end of the discussion we felt it was the right thing to do, I wouldn’t even say to reward him, but this is a guy we needed and counted on.”

Davis said doctors told him he could pitch three months without worrying that the cancer would spread. But he didn’t want to take that risk. So he decided to make two starts, then have the surgery.

Normally, Davis would have left the dugout after his six innings and gone into the clubhouse to get his arm iced. But he stayed with his teammates until the final out, soaking up every minute.

“I treated it kind of like it was the end of the year,” he said.

Davis’ type of thyroid cancer has a 97 percent cure rate if treated appropriately, according to webmd.com.

Davis is so confident about his recovery he’s targeting the Diamondbacks’ three-game road series against the Chicago Cubs on May 9-11 for his return.

The Diamondbacks aren’t quite as confident.

Davis will have to take a radiation iodine pill two to three weeks after the surgery, and the pill will sap his strength. He’ll also have to digest two to three thyroid hormone pills every day, and their side effects can include fatigue, weight gain and poor concentration.

Melvin said he has to prepare for the possibility that Davis might not pitch again this season.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre has some idea of the thoughts swirling around Davis’ head. Torre was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999.

“The word cancer you always associate with death the first time you hear it,” Torre said. “The worst time was going through the tests and waiting for results. The more you start getting info, it lessens the anxiety of it. Probably the best thing to do is keep your mind occupied as best you can.”

That’s what Davis has done. He said he never thinks of the cancer when he’s at the ballpark. Only when he’s at home, and his mind isn’t focused on one thing, does he think about the battle that lies ahead.

But he has been encouraged by the cards and letters he has received from fellow cancer patients, including a 94-year-old woman who said she had thyroid cancer surgery and is as healthy as ever.

Davis’ mother also had the surgery and made a full recovery.

“I’m going to try to pick up a ball three-to-four days after the surgery and play catch,” Davis said.

He’ll probably have to fight the doctors on that one.

Knowing Davis, they’ll probably have as much luck as the Dodgers did.

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Listen to Scott Bordow every Monday at 2:25 p.m. on The Fan AM 1060 with Bob Kemp.