SEATTLE -- A familiar face was missing at last weekend's FanFest as veteran broadcaster Dave Sims, who has been the Mariners television play-by-play man for the past nine years, remained home in New York recovering from prostate cancer surgery.
But Sims, who'll turn 63 in two weeks, vows to be ready to join the Mariners at Spring Training at the end of February in preparation for the televised Cactus League games on ROOT Sports in March.
"My pathology reports are all clean," Sims said from his Manhattan residence. "I feel great."
Sims discovered shortly before Thanksgiving that his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) numbers were way up when he took a physical exam. Following a series of tests, he had surgery to remove his prostate on Jan. 15.
Three weeks later, he's taking daily walks, rehabbing, regularly exercising again and vowing to help anyone else who deals with the issue, which affects one in seven American men, according to studies.
"I had no symptoms at all," Sims said. "We finished the baseball season and I felt like a million dollars. I was working out like a mad man, I felt great, and then this happened."
Sims feels that being in good physical condition and catching the issue early were critical factors in helping him get through the surgery successfully and being back on his feet so soon.
"We found it pretty early and were pretty aggressive and got it out of there," Sims said. "Timing played into it. I'm grateful beyond words and moving forward. My wife [Abby] has been an absolute rock. She's always been the MVP in the family, but she's gone above and beyond with this."
Sims said he has heard from numerous people already who have dealt with prostate cancer. One of the people to call and offer support was Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre, who underwent prostate surgery in 1999 and told him he had baseball's family behind him.
Sims would like to extend that same courtesy to others in the future.
"My whole deal now is I'm willing to be there for anybody going through this who wants to talk," Sims said. "A lot of guys going through this want to keep it on the [quiet]. For me, my brother-in-law and some other friends walked me through it. It was good intel, no surprises. I'm looking forward to when I get back to Seattle. I told the club if somebody puts in a request, I'll be there. That information is just humongous. There is a huge percentage of guys who go through this and I'm excited to help any way that I can."
And like most who have dealt with cancer in any form, Sims said his eyes were opened a bit by the experience.
"Oh man," Sims said. "Leading up the week before my surgery, I'd wake up in a cold sweat at 4:30 in the morning. I know I'm not going to live forever, but holy cow. This is happening to me? I'll be the happiest son of a gun in Arizona when I get down there."