After an off-season inAfrica, the death of two grandparents and a hospital stint for a debilitating blood condition, the last place one might expect to find Jake Duncan is a baseball field.
“There have been a lot of reminders recently of death and how we are all going to face it,” he said. “It just reminds me take each day more preciously.”
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As the Frederick Keys take the field each day, the brown-haired right fielder is there, running alongside the rest of his teammates.
After Duncan turned 18 he began to be inspired by religion. Since that time he has been a missionary in Guinea, Africa, and won the Elrod Hendricks minor league community service award. The left-handed hitting Texas native is one of the few players who have as much pride in his work off the field as he does on the field.
“Africa was unbelievable. It was a wake-up call in and of itself,” said Duncan, who grew up Baptist and now attends a non-denominational church. “I have never thanked God for having running water until I came back from Africa.”
Duncan is batting .266 with four homers. The somewhat slow start could be accredited to the blood clot that formed in his right leg during the off-season.
According to teammates you would never hear Duncan complain about his lack of performance.
“He is one of those guys you look forward to seeing every day,” third baseman Brian Bass said. “Bad game, good game, he is the same guy.”
For someone who has been through three life-altering events in the last two years, his teammates find it hard to tell a difference with the even-keeled prospect.
“He is not the kind of guy who shies away from a conversation if he goes 0-4 or 4-4,” pitcher Tony Neal said. “He was struggling before, and now that he is on fire he just hasn?t changed. He?s that type of person.”
Throughout all of the turmoil in the past three years, Duncan has always been willingto share his experiences with teammates.
“It?s been nice to be able to talk to the guys about how short life can be and how we don?t know if we are going to have tomorrow,” he said.
THE DUNCAN FILE
Age: 24
College: Texas Christian University
Did you know? Duncan has to use a leg pump while he sleeps to keep blood circulating through his right leg. He said he bought soothing waterfall music for his roommates so the pump?s noise does not keep them awake.
