This story originally appeared on FoxSports.com.
SURPRISE, Ariz.—A little more than a year ago, when the Texas Rangers met before their first full workout of spring training, third base coach Tony Beasley made a shocking announcement.
Beasley, 50, staggered the players and staff by informing them that he recently had been diagnosed with rectal cancer—and further stunned the room by saying that in his mind, he already had beaten the disease.
It was not false bravado—Beasley says his confidence stemmed from his strong Christian faith. His words, though, also were the product of a man whom Rangers general manager Jon Daniels describes as “a too-good-to-be-true human being.