The Details: ‘Positivity’ And ‘Genuine Compassion’ Are Anchors For Bishop
October 26, 2016 | General, Baseball
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
Braden Bishop was on a bus. It was late. The former Washington outfielder didn't know exactly where he was, only that it was somewhere between Dayton, Ohio and Clinton, Iowa.
A tornado warning had forced the bus carrying the Clinton LumberKings – a Class A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners – to the side of the road. It was so dark Bishop couldn't see anything looking out the window. The only light was provided by intermittent bursts of lightning.
At times like these, over the course of a long season, life in the minors isn't easy. It certainly isn't glamorous. But it was in this particular moment, when things weren't going quite according to plan, that Bishop found some clarity.
"I'm so far from home, so far from family," he said.
But, as he looked out on the lightning, he thought, "It could be a lot worse than this."
And, in that moment, he thought about his mother, Suzy, and her battle with early-onset Alzheimer's. Since her diagnosis several years ago, Bishop's focus has been fixed on two fronts – raising Alzheimer's awareness and pursuing a professional baseball career.
Balancing both isn't always easy. There are difficult moments and long bus rides from one town to the next, road trips that blur from one into another. But the journey is worth the effort.
"Now matter what happens on the field, there's a lot more going on off the field," Bishop said. "There are a lot more people struggling. I can't even count all the people who would love to be in my position, struggling on a baseball field rather than struggling in life, so it definitely brings perspective to my life and my game."
Bishop has built his life around "positivity" and "genuine compassion," so he wasn't going to let a little rough patch get in his way. By the end of that bus ride, he was back on track.
Since being drafted by the Mariners in the third round of the 2015 MLB draft, Bishop has been working his way through Seattle's system while also trying to push his #4MOM charity work, his way of raising Alzheimer's awareness.
But balancing both proved to be a challenge as he started his professional career.
"The hardest thing for me was playing minor league baseball and run this at the same time," he said. "Once I left UW, I didn't have a sports information director like Brian Tom running everything for you and helping to get the word out. It was really hard to do while focusing on playing at a high level."
However, he was able to build on the base he established at Washington. While playing in Everett, he helped coordinate an Alzheimer's awareness game where players on both the AquaSox and Spokane Indians – a team that included Bishop's former Washington teammate Tyler Davis – all wrote #4MOM on their arms.
"It was a really good game to raise awareness, raise some money and also just get the word out about the disease," he said.
His effort was enough to help forge a partnership with Alzheimer's Greater Los Angeles back in June. The organization provides a non-profit infrastructure to help Bishop further his message.
"More than anything, it was just surrounding myself with a team of people who want to achieve the same thing and know a little bit more than I do on the foundation front," he said.
Now Bishop can focus on his career while using his platform as an athlete to continue to advocate for Alzheimer's.
"They've been great, not only to me, but to my family as well," Bishop said.
When asked about Suzy, Bishop said things are "good" right now.
"She's at a point, a stage in her disease, where it's not really fast progressing," he said. "When she was diagnosed to where it is now it was pretty fast, but now it's in a stagnant place. She's learning how to cope with it and the people around her are helping her cope with it.
"The biggest thing I've learned through the whole thing is being very supportive, very compassionate and surrounding her with as much positivity as possible, because the disease itself is so sad. It's so hard to deal with and it can hit families and the person so hard."
Bishop does everything he can to both support his mother and help others dealing with the disease. When you see him on Washington's campus – he is training at the university – he wears a black fitted hat with 4MOM embroidered on the front in purple letters. He has 4MOM engraved on his wooden bats and it is stitched into his glove – also in purple letters.
For Bishop, in every way, this is a cause worth fighting for.
Growing up, he knew he wanted to one day establish a foundation. But he wanted his efforts to be personal.
"Unfortunately it had to be this way, but for it to climb to the level it is now and have so many different hands in the fight helping me has definitely exceeded expectations," he said.
Things have gone so well with his #4MOM efforts, the next step is adding a #4DAD hashtag. He wants to help as many people as possible.
"We're just trying to make a difference," he said.
