A career cut short: The illness Rocco Baldelli battles

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Rocco Baldelli’s second career in baseball got off to a great start in 2019 when he was named the American League Manager of the Year after the Minnesota Twins won 101 games to claim the AL Central division championship. But Baldelli only turned to coaching because his playing career in the majors was cut short after being diagnosed with mitochondrial channelopathy, a rare cell disorder that causes severe muscle fatigue.

Click the video box on this page to see this story as it aired on 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS

KSTP Sports Director Joe Schmit talked to friends and family of Rocco about the disease in Baldelli’s hometown of Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

Click this link to see the first of Joe Schmit’s two stories from Woonsocket: The Woonsocket Rocket: Visiting Rocco Baldelli’s hometown