Braves to honor Dylan Lee’s mother-in-law, a breast cancer survivor, Tuesday

“She didn’t let it affect her at all,” Lee recalled during a conversation with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in the visitor’s dugout at Dodger Stadium on Friday. “I know that it was a lot. She didn’t wanna let the kids know until it was starting to affect her. She took some medication. She was working still and going to treatment, and she didn’t want it to be a burden on my wife or my brother-in-law.”

Eventually, Maria had to break the news, using a Christmas gathering between the two families to explain her medical condition. That Christmas was the first time the Lees and Whites had spent together as one, maybe not the best time for such heart-wrenching news.

But then again, when is?

Maria had been taking oral chemotherapy medication since her July diagnosis. With the wedding and the World Series in the not-too-distant past, and with the baseball offseason well underway, Maria now started on intense intravenous chemotherapy.

“Just seeing her go through that, it takes a lot. Because I’ve had some friends do it, too, and it’s not easy,” Lee said. “You gotta have a positive outlook on life because if not, it’ll take you down. I didn’t see her falter, even when she was losing her hair. She was just the same-old, same-old.”

Maria, in remission since 2023, will be honored before Tuesday’s game at Truist Park between the Braves and Cubs. She is scheduled to throw out the honorary first pitch, and although she’s a little nervous, Lee said, his advice to her was, “to act like she’s punching somebody” when throwing the ball.

Plus, making a bad pitch won’t be the worst outcome in the world. Take it from a relief pitcher.

“I’ve had my run-ins with cancer, not personally, but it’s affected my life,” Lee said. “There’s a lot worse things than hanging a fastball and having one go over the fence.”