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White Sox pitcher Danny Farquhar's ordeal hits home in Florida, Louisiana

In the Louisiana-Lafayette baseball team's locker room, coaches tack each day's lineup on a poster board, alongside scouting info on the opponent and inspirational messages.

Lately, there has been a jersey nameplate spelling "FARQUHAR" and a signed photograph of former Ragin' Cajuns pitcher Danny Farquhar.

The White Sox relief pitcher has been in the hospital since he suffered a brain hemorrhage due to a ruptured aneurysm in the dugout last week at Guaranteed Rate Field. This week, Sox manager Rick Renteria reported that Farquhar has shown signs of progress, even taking a few short walks in the hospital with his wife, Lexie.

Farquhar's story brought out well wishes from every corner of the baseball world. That includes the Louisiana baseball program, where Farquhar played college ball, and Archbishop McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches, Florida, where he played in high school.

At Wednesday's game against New Orleans, the Ragin' Cajuns asked fans to write a message to Farquhar on their programs and leave them at the door on their way out.

"The university is going to be sending him all these game programs with our fans wishing him well," coach Tony Robichaux said. "We had a really great crowd for a midweek game. I think a lot of that was the Twitter stuff that went out for Danny. It's been all over Twitter here. People have continued to pray for him and have really been responding to the good updates we've been getting."

Robichaux has coached the program since 1995, including when Farquhar played there from 2006 to 2008.

Farquhar still has friends in the Lafayette area and often comes back during the offseason. Robichaux said current players are well aware of Farquhar's big league career.

For now, the team is dedicating every pregame prayer to Farquhar.

"He was one of those guys, I call them energy guys, they come to work every day and no matter what's going on they bring energy," Robichaux said. "The response has been phenomenal. He was an impact player for us. A lot of fans saw him through the years that he played there.

"Everything about him was just fun. We just enjoyed the years we had him because he brought a lot of light into our locker room."

In Southwest Ranches, not far from Miami, Archbishop McCarthy athletic director Tony Massaro is the Mavericks' former head baseball coach. He coached Farquhar all four years in high school.

Massaro said the last time Farquhar visited the school a few years ago, Massaro brought Danny and his wife Lexie - who were high school sweethearts - to the very classroom where Danny first asked her out.

Farquhar's current situation certainly hits home for Massaro.

"I'm still kind of numb because of it," Massaro said. "Danny to me, he's still a kid. He's 31 years old. I had the privilege to coach him for four years."

Farquhar never liked being told what he couldn't do. Massaro said Farquhar wouldn't disagree with a coach or a teammate about it, he would just go out and prove them wrong on the field.

"That kind of attitude helped him to where he is professionally," Massaro said. "He's 5-9, 170 pounds, he's not your prototypical pitcher. That attitude has helped him in his career and it's going to help him through this. I believe that."

Farquhar's parents have since moved to the Gainesville, Florida, area, but Farquhar made a mark on the Archbishop McCarthy program in his four years there.

Massaro remembers Farquhar as a fun-loving high school kid and a prankster. He was also a talented ballplayer.

"One of the things adults sometimes forget is, yeah, we can play a positive role in a student-athlete's life, but they in turn play a role in our lives," Massaro said. "As I started thinking about Danny, there's things that he taught me. It works both ways, I think sometimes that gets lost in translation."

It remains to be seen whether Farquhar will play baseball again. But for him, Lexie and their three young children, the hope is that someday soon he will be walking out of the hospital.

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