Baseball Coach Takes a Dive and Lives to Tell About It: If you haven’t heard of the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks don’t worry, you’re not alone. The Redhawks are a professional baseball team that is not affiliated with Major League baseball. They are part of the Northern League, which has teams in both the United States and Canada.

The Redhawks manager Doug Simunic has been with the team since 1996. Fans seem to like him. Players work hard for him, but Simunic was having off the mound trouble that finally caught up to him. “Anything healthwise that puts you in a stressful, unhealthy situation will always be a wake-up call. My doctor told me, ‘Don’t stop living.’ He wants me to make the choices I need to make.”

For Simunic that means many changes brought about by the development of Type 2 diabetes. “I should have been aware of not eating some of the things I like to eat,” he said. It was no-holds barred. Whatever goes, goes,” Simunic told Inforum.com.

Simunic’s eating habits caused his weight to escalate, which brought about intense feelings of fatigue. This led to less willingness to workout, and the downward spiral accelerated.

For Simunic it was deteriorating vision that finally convinced him to seek help. At 53 years of age this baseball coach found himself forced to change course.

• No bread.
• No potatoes.
• More fruits and vegetables.
• Smaller portions.

Like a mantra these ideals play in Simunic’s mind as he plans his meals. He’s also been convinced to head back to the gym and work up a sweat. Inforum.com indicates Simunic has lost about 50 pounds since his diagnosis and the controlled measures he’s had in place for his diabetes may allow him to eliminate medication soon.

The Inforum.com report indicates, “Simunic has been regularly throwing batting practice to his team for the first time in about five seasons.” Simunic said, “I’m a little more limber than I was the last few years. I can participate with my team and feel like I want to.”

As the Redhawks start their baseball season it is likely fans will also notice a difference in their team’s manager.

Redhawks General manager Josh Buchholz said, “I’m happy he’s dedicated to making a change. He’s back to doing what he loves to do, which is being out there with his team.”

One of the most difficult things for newly diagnosed diabetics to manage is to make the major changes needed to see positive life-enhancing results. As you can see, simply being involved in sports is no guarantee you will avoid diabetes.

The Inforum.com report indicates that manager Doug Simunic was not shocked to learn he had diabetes. He knew his lifestyle was problematic, but it took a very public wakeup call for him to begin to do something about it.

Many simply assume they will deal with diabetes if/when it comes. They feel as if they can eat what they want and just take some medicine to make it better after the fact. This line of thinking creates an atmosphere for diabetes that remains out of control. When diabetes remains a ‘loose cannon’ it can often lead to complications that can be fatal.

Simunic made the hard choice to battle back from the negative place he found himself in. Today he admits feeling better than he has in years.

Way to go, coach.