Hendriks' emotional journey back to White Sox

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- Liam Hendriks' wife, Kristi, was not in attendance at her husband’s press conference Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field’s Conference and Learning Center. The White Sox closer talked to the media for the first time since he announced his stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis on Jan. 8.

But Liam would not be in this amazing position, getting ready to go on an injury rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte this weekend after declaring himself cancer-free and in remission on April 20, if not for the tremendous support of his wife. And he made that point abundantly clear in his 28-minute session.

“I could never say how much she did for me. Ever,” Hendriks said. “Being there every day, especially the first few rounds of treatment, because they were the hardest on me physically, and being a spouse, sitting next to your husband while he’s lying on a hospital bed, writhing in pain, not being able to do anything. I don’t think I’d ever be able to understand that side [if the roles were reversed, and she was going through the pain and treatment].

“She was by my side every single step of the way, kicking me when I needed to be kicked to get out and do something and get active, telling me to slow it down when I’m doing too much because I don’t know any other way. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank her enough. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to share my gratitude enough. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do anything that even comes close to what she was able to do for me throughout this.”

Hendriks received support from around baseball instantly when he put forth the stunning news on his personal Instagram account. That support became personal and direct just as quickly, even if players didn’t have his phone number.

During this past Cubs Convention, I had the chance to talk to pitcher Jameson Taillon. The right-hander was diagnosed with testicular cancer in May 2017 and spoke of how Colorado’s Chad Bettis, another testicular cancer survivor, had reached out to him. He wanted to do the same for Hendriks, and at Wednesday’s press conference, Hendriks read a text message from Taillon received on Jan. 30.

“His was: ‘It's your journey. Nobody can tell you what to feel or what to do baseball-wise. Do whatever you feel is right,’” Hendriks said. “I think I actually threw a bullpen the next day, right around there. So, I was like, ‘Screw it, I want to push this.’

“Before that, I was just planning on playing catch, making sure I was staying somewhat fit and then moving forward. That was one of the messages that really hit me, hit me in the eyes. You're talking about a rehab assignment this quickly, because I've been throwing bullpens. It's messages like that that kind of really forced me to dig deep and go like, ‘Look I've done this my entire career. This is what we're going to do. We were going to try to push the limits and see what we can do.’”

Of course, unwavering support came from his teammates, their wives and the entire White Sox family. But in the long run, it was a husband-and-wife love story at the core of Hendriks beating cancer.

“I’ve already been in love with her for 15 -- 13 [years since] 2010,” Hendriks said. “But going through that, I don’t think you could have made our bond stronger throughout it because of just everything going on.”