A reminder about the magic of sports

SARASOTA, Fla. - Chris Tillman remains the Orioles' starter for today's game against the Rays at Ed Smith Stadium. Manager Buck Showalter didn't switch Tillman's assignment following yesterday's rainout in Port Charlotte.

Jonathan Schoop will start at second base, making at least one young fan extremely happy.

He's not just any fan. He's a 5-year-old boy fighting T-cell leukemia.

Give him Jonathan Schoop. Give him anything he wants.

The Orioles, through the Casey Cares Foundation, delivered Schoop to Andrew Oberle before Wednesday's game against the Pirates. Andrew's favorite player hit a three-run homer later that day.

The magic of sports. Other examples to follow.

Oberle, of Glen Arm, Md., was diagnosed on July 15, 2014. His father, Brian, marvels at how the Orioles became intertwined in their lives, and how Casey Cares - a nonprofit headquartered in Baltimore that provides ongoing and uplifting programming to critically ill children and their families - brought them together.

"Post All-Star Game," Oberle said. "If you remember, the Orioles went out to the West Coast. That was when he was first diagnosed, and all he did was sit there every night and watch the games. He became a huge, huge fan of the Orioles. Casey Cares put us in touch with them."

The family was invited to Camden Yards, where the magic really took hold.

"Buck (Showalter) comes over to us," Oberle said. "He was in the clubhouse and he says, 'You know, I was having a really bad day. Just got off the phone and did not get good news.' He said, 'I realize it just doesn't matter. Can I spend five or 10 minutes talking to you guys?' As a father, it just floored me. I heard he's that kind of guy. We went through a pretty ugly period."

Reliever Brian Matusz, Casey Cares 5K race ambassador last summer, hosted a meet-and-greet with the Oberles and other families at the ballpark that day. Andrew was confined to a stroller, unable to walk since beginning his chemotherapy treatments.

"What they do with leukemia is they bury it," Oberle said. "The first 30 days, they bury the patient. Hair's gone. In his case, one of the drugs, he couldn't unclench his fist for a month and a half. Took him about 2 1/2 months to walk."

Here's when it happened again. The magic of sports.

"I have pictures of him going to that game, pulling himself off the couch at home and I asked him what he was doing," Oberle recalled. "He said, 'We're going to the Orioles tonight and I don't want them to think I can't walk.' So he was practicing walking.

"We go there and the Oriole Bird was five yards away and Andrew ended up taking like 10 steps over to him."

This really happened. Knocks the wind right out of you, doesn't it?

"Trust me," Oberle said, "as a parent you're like, 'OK, we're going to get through this.'"

"I still have it on my phone," said Casey Baynes, founder and executive director of Casey Cares. "It was such an amazing moment. And you know those days when you just watch that and you're like, 'Oh, my gosh.' Imagine how that must stress a parent when your little kid won't get out of the stroller. It was that day that he decided that this is what he wanted to try. It was amazing.

"They made a wonderful connection when we sent them down for BP at home with Buck and they just had a nice chat. Buck came out and said, 'You know what? When I think things are bad in the clubhouse, I come out here and see the Casey Cares kids and I realize this is nothing.' That kind of compassion is amazing. But the entire organization always has for our Casey Cares kids."

Brian Oberle doesn't know why Andrew latched onto Schoop as his favorite player.

"Not pie guy, right? Not Adam Jones. He fell in love with Schoop that year," Oberle said.

"When Jonathan Schoop got hurt last year, he was like, 'Daddy, I've got to work to take his place.' We were here (Wednesday) and Schoop hit a three-run homer."

The magic of sports.

Of course, Schoop sent over an autographed bat Wednesday, delivered by Matusz, who continues to immerse himself in the foundation.

"Brian's an amazing ambassador for Casey Cares," Baynes said. "He's always willing to do stuff."

Matusz kept coming back to Andrew during batting practice on Thursday, posing for photos and treating him like one of his close friends.

"It's incredible to see Andrew come out after three years of chemo and getting through that, to come out with a smile on his face and watch his favorite player, Schoop, at batting practice," Matusz said. "It's just great. You can see it in his father's eyes, too, just how excited he was. It's a good feeling."

Andrew continues his fight each day while his parents and two sisters, ages 7 and 9, provide support and prayers. And while his favorite sport keeps touching his heart.

"He played T-ball the summer going into his diagnosis," Oberle said. "He finished T-ball about 30 days before he was diagnosed with leukemia. It was a body blow. You just don't expect it from a kid who looks healthy.

"Leukemia is 3 1/2 years of treatments for a boy. He gets spinal taps monthly. November 27, 2017. If we can get there, he's got a 91 percent chance it won't come back."

There's a 100 percent chance that he'll come back to Camden Yards. Where the magic happens for a 5-year-old boy. Where it continued at a spring training complex in Sarasota.