There have been many enduring sports curses, from the Madden cover curse of the NFL to the curse of the Bambino that plagued the Boston Red Sox. Now, Portola’s baseball team has its own: the Anthony curse. Junior Anthony Lu has never completed a full season of high school baseball and has completed only one year in seven of club baseball without being injured.

“My favorite thing about Anthony is his perseverance and how he can tread forward even in bad conditions. His back and arms could be injured, but that’s not going to stop him from working hard,” junior and varsity baseball player Thaha Afridi said. “I remember a specific time when Anthony’s back was nearly fully recovered, so he decided to begin fielding ground balls. He persevered through his injury and worked hard to get back on schedule even though he immediately broke his finger the same day, rendering him unable to play for the rest of the season.”

His frequent injuries have given him valuable time off to pursue his other passions, such as piano, camping, hiking and his sense of humor helps him see the good in the injuries.

“It’s always so funny when people only remember me as the guy who once broke both of his arms at the same time. When I was biking in my neighborhood, I accidentally hit the divot between the sidewalk and the dirt area for the plants next to the sidewalk,” Lu said. “For some reason, I basically flipped over my handlebars, but while I landed back on the concrete, my bike dec

Lu has a long list of injuries, including broken arms, fingers, an ankle, a dislocated knee, two fractured spinal vertebrae, and most recently, a fractured thumb. However, he does not let these injuries impact his passion for baseball and pushes hard to recover from every injury he faces. Even while injured, Lu helps the team, maintaining the field and providing spirited cheers at games.

“I think I might’ve only had one baseball season without being injured and that was in elementary school. Most of my injuries affect both the off-season and in-season, and every time after I recover from an injury I have to work extra hard to regain the skills I lost from being benched for months,” Lu said. “But given that, my many injuries taught me a lot about resilience, hard work and work ethic. I work with the circumstances I’m in, and I force myself to never give up.”

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