April 24, 2008

By JIM ALEXANDER | The Press-Enterprise | Click here for the complete story

RIVERSIDE - Ask Bob Adcock how he's doing, and you'll always get the same answer.

"Doin' good," he says. "Doin' very good.

"I always tell people, I don't know how I can feel so good and be so sick."

Adcock was diagnosed with cancer in his neck late in 2002, and underwent a 14-hour surgical procedure that December. Two and a half years later, the cancer returned, and he was told he had three to nine months to live. A little less than two years after that, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

But he's still here. And it's not that much of a reach to suggest that modern medicine, prayer and baseball have combined to help keep him going.

Gary Adcock, Bob's son, is the head coach at California Baptist University. Bob always was his No. 1 fan, from the time that Gary was a Little League pitcher at Riverside's Shamel Park. Bob took time off from his auto parts business to catch and coach and cajole.

Bob, 68, is still Gary's No. 1 fan, which by extension means he's the Lancers' No. 1 fan. He attends every game he can, home and away, and many if not most of the team's practices, too.

"The only thing that's keeping him from games now is doctor's appointments occasionally," Gary said. "We play on Thursdays, and Dad gets his chemo on Thursdays (at UC Irvine Medical Center), and on the way home from chemo he'll stop and watch the last three innings."

Gary recalled a recent instance. Cal Baptist was losing and not playing well when Bob came into the ballpark.

"He was bundled up and had a sun visor on, and jacket, and sunglasses to cover his (bad) eye," Gary said. "I looked over at him and said, Man, what have I got a migraine over here for? This is just a game."

No matter what the Lancers' record might be -- it's currently 28-18 with four regular-season games to play -- Gary would be the Coach of the Year, every year, in the eyes of the only guy who really matters.

"Everything's positive," Gary said.

"And I think that's why he can be diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and some doctors give you three to six months to live, and five years later you're still here. And when people ask you how you're feeling, even though you've lost 40 pounds in the last three months, you can tell 'em, 'I feel great,' because you have a positive approach."

There's merit to the concept that having a positive attitude and something to live for can stave off a serious disease.

"There's all kinds of literature out there indicating that the power of a positive attitude, looking beyond yourself, helping out, reaching out and helping somebody else (are factors) that can really affect the immune system," said J. Lynn Martell, director of special services in radiation medicine at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

"In all likelihood, it sounds like if he was given six months to live, he refused to take it as a death sentence and has moved on. He's got a reason to live."

Given what Bob Adcock has gone through, it's amazing.

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