August 2021 couldn’t have ended better for Idaho Falls (Idaho) Post 56 and pitcher Nate Rose.
Not only was Rose a member of an American Legion World Series championship team, he was named the George W. Rulon American Legion Baseball Player of the Year.
But everything changed for Rose soon after, when muscle soreness, fatigue and blurred vision forced him out of baseball for several months.
“I was at the College of Southern Idaho for about a month,” Rose said. “We were doing some scrimmages and practices. And the last fight I was playing, when I was exerting energy, my eyes were blurry and I had a lot of muscle fatigue.
“I was playing shortstop in a scrimmage and I got hit by a line drive and my eyes got blurry and I couldn’t see. “After that game, I went to my coach and said, ‘I have to go home and figure out my health.'”
Rose was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure.
After consulting with doctors, he was given medication – lots of it – and decided to sit out a full season of baseball.
“It’s probably three or four prescriptions and I take a ton of vitamins,” Rose said. “I take about 40 pills a day and throughout the day. Morning and night are the most.”
The large amount of medication will often lead to stomach upsets for Rose, who turned 19 in March.
But it allowed him to return to the baseball field this summer and preserved his future in the sport; he will return to the College of Southern Idaho in the fall.
“They supported me a lot,” Rose said of his CSI coaches.
Doctors aren’t sure if Rose’s condition is genetic or if it was just hidden over time.
“Doctors never understood the cause of it,” Rose said. “But they think that since I’m young, healthy and active, I can figure it out on my own. Right now I’m taking medicine and hanging in there.”
At least in American Legion Baseball, where Rose is trying to help Idaho Falls win an unprecedented third straight ALWS, his performance hasn’t been affected.
When Post 56 went 5-1 to win the Northwest Regional tournament title in Gillette, Wyo., Rose hit .316 with three RBIs and went 1-0 in two appearances pitching (one start). He got the win in relief in the tournament opener, a 4-3 win over Fort Collins, Colo., in which Rose also had an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning.
In the ALWS, Rose has reached base three times in eight plate appearances and was the winner in Saturday’s 6-1 win over Cheseapeake (Va.) Post 280, with seven strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings.
In 2021, Rose hit .438 in the region with a 1-0 pitching record and hit .529 in the ALWS with a 1-0 pitching record.
“I’m doing everything I can to be safe with my health,” Rose said. “I take a lot of medication to keep my vitals where they should be. So, thankfully, I’m getting through it.”
