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June 28, 2006

Under The Knife

Get Well Soon

by Will Carroll

There are times I wish I was a great writer. I know, however, that I would not be a writer at all without Peter Gammons. Many people can say they have been inspired by Gammons' work, but I'm one of a few who owe their very careers to the man. Without his generosity and encouragement, I would not be doing this. Whether it's his tireless work ethic and passion for the game, or his being one of the original UTK readers who helped spread the word, or my endless attempts to be half the writer and man he is, Gammons is a part of what I do and always will be. We always regret the things we didn't say, so I'll say it here: Peter Gammons is the type of man I hope to be, a hero and role model. The thoughts and prayers of the entire BP family are with him today. I don't have enough information on Gammons' condition to give you much of an update, though early reports are guardedly optimistic. There are some great resources out there making progress in treatment and rehabilitation associated with this condition.

Powered by Peter Gammons, on to the injuries:

• If discussion about Kerry Wood and a motion analysis sounded familiar to you, it's because BP introduced you to the facility. Dr. Tim Kremcheck and his staff took a look at Wood and found an imbalance in his shoulder, a difference between the anterior and posterior muscles in his pitching shoulder. This isn't uncommon, and it should be correctible by adjusting the exercises that are universally used by pitchers, variations on Dr. Frank Jobe's "Thrower's Ten." Kremchek tends to be an optimist, so the short timeframe he's quoted for Wood's return is more positive than I'm willing to accept; pegging a return just after the All-Star break isn't bad. We should consider Wood's latest condition more of a complication from the rehab than his surgery; catching it so early in his return hopefully kept any cascade effects from really taking hold.

• The Yankees took a look at Robinson Cano on Monday night and decided that with their upcoming schedule, they couldn't afford to wait any longer. Cano was placed on the DL. With the retro move and the All-Star break, Cano will get some extra time to heal from a moderate strain of his hamstring. The DL move is conservative, a bit of a change from the normal Yankees philosophy, making me think that the timing is key. Cano will head to Tampa to rehab after the current series concludes and should be back in pinstripes when teams return from the break. Hamstring injuries can recur, but this looks like it shouldn't be a long- or short-term problem for Cano.

• Eric Chavez has dealt with minor injuries for much of his career, making him normal. He's usually been able to play through them without a discernible effect. Chavez has come up with an interesting new one this time, bilateral tendonitis in his forearms. The initial reports were that Chavez had some form of tennis elbow, though later reports indicate that the problems are clearly below the elbow and on both arms. He's been dealing with back and hip problems all season, so the arm problems could be the tipping point for the Gladwellesque A's. (Don't forget the bacterial infection he suffered, either.) Chavez still hopes to avoid the DL, and with the A's almost always very slow to DL someone, his wishes could come true. Most reports indicate that Chavez is going to try and wait to see if the All-Star break will afford him enough rest to recover. Until then, Chavez's production shouldn't be expected to improve from its current levels.

• The Tigers have led a pretty charmed life this season, apart from some unpleasantness with Dmitri Young. Seeing Magglio Ordonez leave the game Monday with knee soreness had to make some fans think that their good fortune had ended. It turns out that in this case, soreness was just soreness. Ordonez's knees have held up well since his return from experimental surgery in Europe. He was back in the field with no apparent problems on Tuesday. The injury bears some watching, but not much. In fact, the Tigers are fast becoming the Midwest version of the A's, with tighter and tighter control of injury information.

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