Baseball gives California man new purpose after stroke

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- The sound of a metal bat on a leather ball is so ubiquitous in America -- most of us would never think twice about it. But a couple years ago, across the street from Arlington High School in Riverside, Calif., a man named Donnie Edison heard that sound from his back door, and it changed everything.

Donnie said, "That ping kind of sound. ... It gave me hope."

A few weeks earlier, at the age of 36, Donnie suffered a stroke that destroyed pretty much the whole right half of his brain.

"That saved my life," Donnie said.

Donnie told his wife Natalia to take him to that batting practice.

Natalia said, "So we load up the wheelchair and we come down."

Asked if that was a one-time thing, Natalia said, "No!"

Donnie said, "That became everything. ... Just going to batting practice."

Never mind that he didn't have a kid on the team. Never mind that it wasn't even his Alma mater. He just liked baseball that much.

Another player said, "But then we got used to him there."

So used to him, the coach eventually asked Donnie to be his assistant, which gave Donnie a purpose he'd never known before.

In fact, his life has changed so much; Donnie now says he's actually thankful he had that stroke.

There's no sweeter sound than a found purpose -- or at least, not many.