By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

His Missouri Southern baseball teammates remember Danny Sickles’ sense of humor.

“He’s the funniest man I’ve ever met in my life, without a doubt,” said center fielder and roommate Juan Hernandez. “Since he was 7 years old, he’s the funniest guy I’ve ever met.

“You couldn’t be sad around him. You couldn’t be upset around him. He would break the ice with something. You could be mad at the world. You could be mad at anything going on, and he would be the guy who would say something and brighten the mood, to get you out of the funk. It was really good to have him around as long as I did.”

“Danny wouldn’t let you be serious,” said pitcher and roommate Jacob Garrison. “If it was one of those moments where everybody was serious, Danny would give you that smile, or more creatively do something that you couldn’t do anything but laugh.

“Danny was a character that God brought into this world to make everybody smile. He made the world a happier place for us to be around. Baseball and college sports can be a long drag, a lot of practice and work. Danny is the guy who made it tolerable. He made it OK to go practice, and he was even better to come home and live with.

“We were jokesters together. He and I could sit for hours, making jokes at each other, and that’s what I’m going to really miss, my friend that I could joke with.”

Sickles, 20-year-old pitcher from Orlando, Fla., was found dead at his home Saturday night. The cause of his death is unknown, but school officials reported he had been battling influenza for a few days.

Sgt. Kevin Klink of the Joplin Police Department said an autopsy would be performed today.

Rod Surber, public information director for MSSU, said the university’s counseling team would be meeting with the team.

Sickles threw a 25-pitch bullpen session and jogged 20 minutes on Friday.

“It was the best he’s thrown in a while,” Garrison said. “We went out on Friday night, went shopping at the mall, got a bite to eat at the mall, rented a movie.

“We talked about baseball the whole night. We had a rough week the week before, and all Danny was saying was ‘I’m going to turn it around. The team is going to turn it around.’ Nothing but positive. It was the same Danny Sickles I’ve known ever since I met him.”

“I talked to him Friday night,” said Brian Sickles, Danny’s father. “About 10:30, I was on my way to work. I called him. He was hanging out with a bunch of buddies. He didn’t complain about anything, but I know last Sunday he was sick in bed the whole day.