Is Brain Cancer More Common in Baseball Players?

The death of Philadelphia Phillies star Since Darren Daulton from brain cancer this month has added to concerns about whether the disease is more common in pro baseball players than the general population.

At least three other Phillies who played at Veterans Stadium, the team’s home from 1971 to 2003, have died of glioblastoma, the most aggressive and frequently diagnosed form of malignant brain tumor.

Researchers who have examined the baseball cases for years say there is insufficient evidence to suggest they represent anything more than coincidence. But some say a larger study is warranted, The New York Times reports.

“I’m concerned about it,” said Larry Bowa, the Phillies’ bench coach, who joined the team as a player in 1970. “It raises your eyebrows, no question. It’s sort of scary.”

Larry Andersen, who pitched for Philadelphia in the 1983 and 1993 World Series and is now a radio commentator for the team, said: “You can’t help but think about it. It would be nice if there were some answers, if nothing else for going forward. But nobody knows anything. It’s frustrating.”

Other former Phillies who also reportedly died of glioblastoma since 2003 were reliever Tug McGraw at age 59, infielder John Vukovich at 59, and catcher Johnny Oates at 58. Ken Brett, a pitcher who played in Veterans Stadium for one season,also died at 55 of brain cancer.

That same type of cancer is reported to have claimed the lives of other notable major league players, as well as a manager, from the same era: the Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter at 57, outfielder Bobby Murcer at 62, reliever Dan Quisenberry at 45 and manager Dick Howser at 51.

Dr. Cory M. Franklin, a Chicago internist who has written about the cancer cases in baseball, has called on Major League Baseball and the players’ union to enlist epidemiologists to examine whether the malignancies were workplace related. He also said that they should create an extensive registry of players and their causes of death.

“I think they should be a little more sensitive to this problem,” told theTimes. “There may be more problems like it.”

Major League Baseball declined to make Dr. Gary A. Green, its medical director, available for an interview. The players’ union also declined to comment.

Melissa L. Bondy, a brain tumor specialist at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said that the deaths of the former Phillies players seemed “to be beyond a coincidence,” but that until more research was done, “we don’t know for sure.”