Memory of friend helps drive Lamb

PITTSBURGH — Josh Dickerson has been gone for almost four years, a life taken far too early by rhabdomyosarcoma, rare form of cancer. But Dickerson is never far from Jake Lamb’s thoughts.

The D-backs third baseman has JD2 (2 was Dickerson’s high school number) stitched into his glove where most players have their own names. On Lamb’s wrist is a silicon band with the same abbreviation, along with the words Courage + Belief = Life.

Lamb first met Dickerson through his sister, Megan, who met Dickerson in a support group she was in after battling leukemia.

“They became best friends,” Lamb said. “He was over at the house all the time. He was also a baseball player, so we became close.”

Dickerson, who was a few years younger than Lamb, attended O’Dea High School in the Seattle area, while Lamb attended rival Bishop Blanchet High School. That didn’t stop Lamb from doing what he could to tutor Dickerson on the baseball field.

“He was honestly really good,” Lamb said. “He was undersized — a second baseman/shortstop — but he could pick it and he could hit. He was always asking me questions and I would try to give him pointers.”

Dickerson was first diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com