‘Never Take Anything for Granted’: A Motto That Has Shaped Dom Canzone’s Life and Career

Dom Canzone was thrown a curveball that he couldn’t anticipate in the fourth grade when he was called into the principal’s office out of the blue. His mother, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer and given a 50/50 chance to live.

“I was pulled out of class, came into the principal’s office and they told me the news. Obviously, it was devastating. Being that young, you don’t understand the severity of it, but my mom let me know what the doctors were telling her. They gave her a 50/50 shot of living.”

Memories of seeing his mother go through chemo treatments stick with Canzone to this day.

“The memories of having to pull her out of bed, help her get in the shower were tough on our family and everyone around the situation. It’s something I’ll always remember. It definitely made the family stronger and I’m happy we all got through it.”

After a two-year battle, his mother was finally cancer-free and the whole community celebrated the news.

“I was just overcome with joy and the whole community felt it. It was a really good feeling; there’s always that feeling that you never know if it could come back, but so far, she’s been cancer-free and I’m blessed to have her in my life.”

After seeing his mother persevere after a two-year breast cancer battle, Canzone was taught a life lesson that he carries to this day.

“Never take anything for granted; you never know what can happen back at home and what people are going through.”

Before playing in front of thousands of fans at the Triple-A level, Dom grew up hitting baseballs into his grandfather’s vegetable garden.

“My grandpa on my dad’s side, my pop-pop, had this tomato garden with a fence up that was 80 feet out and it was like centerfield. I was getting bigger and hitting it farther and started hitting them into the garden and the big red tomatoes were falling off.”

When his grandfather found the debris of fallen tomatoes and asked about them, Dom was never the prime suspect.

“My dad would just always blame it on the deer because they would usually hop the fence and take his vegetables. I’m not sure if pop-pop knows to this day if it was me, but my dad never let him know.”

Canzone came from a family of baseball fans and began his love for the sport at the age of three.

“My family was always around the game, and we were Cleveland baseball fans. I had a bat in my hand at the age of three and was hooked from that point on. I really liked Kenny Lofton, but the guy I watched the most was Ken Griffey Jr. with the Reds; he was definitely my idol.”

Growing up in Sagamore Hills, Ohio, Canzone dreamed of playing baseball at Ohio State. His opportunity to play for the Buckeyes began with a chance encounter as a sophomore in high school at a baseball tournament.

“I was playing on a summer ball team with some high school buddies called the Lake Erie Bulldogs. The Ohio State pitching coach was there to watch the pitcher we were facing and I hit three doubles off of him, so that was the first time I was on their radar. They invited me to a camp and I had a pretty good batting practice. After that, I got an official visit and the rest is history.”

While at Ohio State, Canzone had a standout three-year career highlighted by a 59-game on-base streak his junior year that led to being named First Team All-Big Ten in 2019. When asked about his most memorable at-bat in college, the lefty smirked and mentioned a clutch home run against Big Ten rival Michigan in his junior year.

“There was one at-bat against Michigan where I hit a homer off the scoreboard in a big spot in the game. Both teams were jawing back and forth, but that series was so electric. It’s always fun playing them.”

Canzone has mentioned the longball a time or two this season to Aces teammate and Michigan Wolverine Tommy Henry.

After his junior year with the Buckeyes, Canzone prepared for the 2019 MLB Draft at his mom’s house and awaited the call that every ballplayer dreams of.

“It was a little bit longer of a day than expected, but when the call came, I was overcome with joy and it was a great moment.”

The outfielder was taken in the eighth round by the Arizona Diamondback. After signing the dotted line, Canzone’s first major purchase was a new pair of Jordan 1 Retro UNCs. Dom had a strong showing in his first year of professional baseball and finished the season with eight homers, 38 RBI and sported a .281 batting average in 46 games played between Rookie-level Missoula and Single-A Hillsboro.

“I just stuck with my ability and trusted what I knew. I was struggling at first, but I just went back to what I knew and that helped. The biggest thing was not stressing about it, especially with that short season where you don’t get to play as many games.”

Fresh off his first season in the Diamondbacks organization, Dom was eager to continue his trajectory in 2020, but the minor league season was canceled due to COVID-19. During that year of uncertainty, Canzone went back to school and finished his degree at Ohio State.

“I actually finished my degree in Sports Industry at Ohio State, so I went to school for half a year and worked out at the Bo Jackson Dome, which is a super nice facility in Columbus.”

The Buckeye has steadily climbed the ladder up the minor leagues and has made it to Triple-A this year with the Aces. Canzone is one of three players named Dominic on the team and goes by ‘zone’ to make it easier for his teammates.

Players can sometimes have tunnel vision and solely focus on reaching the next level, but Canzone is just grateful for the opportunity to play the game he’s loved since the age of three.

“I love baseball and being out here every day and I don’t take that for granted. Everybody does; they want to see their family, they want to be home, but we have this great gift of being able to play baseball every day.”