Mike Hazen, general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, recently opened up about his wife’s battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive, cancerous tumor in the front left portion of her brain. Hazen said he and his wife decided to speak on it now as most people around the game of baseball already knew about the diagnosis.
“As resistant as we’ve been to sort of talk about it, we felt like we needed to at some point,” Hazen said on Sunday, as reported by the Arizona Republic. “We felt like this was an appropriate time to talk about it and then hopefully we’ll go back to our private approach to figuring out the best way to help Nicole.”
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Hazen knew something was wrong when he saw his wife, Nicole, outside last May. She was having a seizure, which turned out to be the first sign of glioblastoma. She underwent surgery but is still experiences symptoms. Nicole, 44, was diagnosed with the disease in July after going through a number of tests. In August, the doctors removed as much of the tumor as possible before having Nicole go through chemotherapy and radiation. The couple has four boys between ages 10 and 15, so Hazen limited travel with the team in the shortened 2020 season to reduce chances of bringing COVID-19 into their home.
“Mike, Nicole and their boys are important members of our family, and we will continue providing total support during every step of the process,” Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick and CEO Derrick Hall said in a statement. “These are the challenges in our lives’ journeys that put all other obstacles and concerns into true perspective. Mike will always do everything in his power to balance being a husband, father, general manager and caregiver, but we have built a baseball operations staff of depth and talent that will allow him any and all prioritizations and flexibility that he sees fit. This courageous battle is inspirational and the Hazens remain in our prayers.”
Hazen was hired to be the Diamondbacks general manager in October 2016 after spending 10 years with the Boston Red Sox in various positions. In his first seasons as GM (2017) the Diamondbacks won 93 games and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2011. In 2020, the Diamondbacks finished with a 25-35 record and last in the NL West.
