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MLB pitcher Daniel Norris has always marched to the beat of his own drum.
The 23-year-old lefty was baptized in his baseball uniform; he has never tasted alcohol or tried drugs; and the first thing he bought with his $2 million pro baseball signing bonus was a $14 T-shirt.
He also chooses to live in a Volkswagen camper during the offseason. Read on to meet the pitcher, cancer survivor, outdoors enthusiast, and self-proclaimed nonconformist:
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Norris, the youngest of three, grew up in the mountains of Johnson City, Tennessee. 'My parents hadn't raised a boy before,' he wrote in the Players' Tribune. 'So when I was about two years old, they were like, I guess we'll put him in ... sports?'
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Source: The Players' Tribune
He excelled at football and basketball in high school, but baseball — particularly pitching — suited his personality most. As he told ESPN, 'it can get quiet and lonely out there when you're pitching, which drives some people crazy. But that's my favorite part.'
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Norris, right, as a sophomore in high school.
Source: ESPN
Much of Norris' lifestyle was influenced by his father (pictured), who owned a bike shop in Johnson City and raised his kids to embrace the outdoors and live simply. 'We would always go mountain biking or on family bike rides,' Norris wrote in the Tribune. 'We were always outside. So my love for the outdoors comes from how and where I was raised.'
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Source: The Players' Tribune
See the rest of the story at Business Insider