Ed Hearn: Looking For the Good

If you are a baseball fan, you surely remember pitcher David Cone, who was a star from the late 1980's through tne 1990's who spent most of his career with the New York Mets and the New York Yankees.

You probably don't remember the player the Mets traded to the Kansas City Royals to acquire Cone. His name is Ed Hearn, a catcher who wasn't a star--on the field.

Since walking away from baseball in 1991, Hearn has endured three kidney transplant operations and the accompanying physical and psychological suffering. Rather than wallow in misery, though, he has stepped out and become a life-changing motivational speaker. Hearn shares his story, both the upside and downside, and has a way of deeply moving people.

"This is bigger than baseball to me," Hearn says. "It's provided a sense of purpose I never had before -- not as a catcher, not as a father or husband. It has given meaning to all that I went through. Otherwise, all that suffering would have been in vain."

Click here to read Jeff Pearlman's ESPN.com feature, "The Royals' worst--and best--trade."