So blogger Rany Jazayerli posted a scathing article on the Kansas City Royals’ training staff, outlining a number of incredibly bad treatments, prognoses and procedures that have led to extending injuries over the past decade. The article, here, is extremely well-written and researched. As a result, Rany was banned by the Royals. It meant that any radio station that wanted to interview Rany would not be given access to the team, etc. In other words, they panicked.
I highly recommend reading the article. It’s an interesting look at the medical side of the game - something that certainly receives very little attention from the casual fan/media member.
So the Dodgers just gave Manny a day off because he said his legs were tired. After he just got back from a 50-game vacation. :rolleyes: At least this way he didn’t have to remember *which *leg was hurt (he forgot in a last-straw incident with Boston).
Same old Manny being Manny. If LA hasn’t yet realized he isn’t worth it, they soon will.
Recently a lot of Blue Jays fans have been wondering if the Jays’ incredible number of pitching injuries is bad luck (as the team claims) or systemic. It seems very difficult to believe one team could have so many injuries - they have had 10 pitchers on the DL this year, including every starting pitcher- just by chance. But we don’t really know for sure because that aspect of a baseball team’s operations aren’t easily observed.
I’ll say this, though; in any other context, you’d think the person reaponsible for that sort of thing would have his ass fired. Toronto’s had the same trainer, George Poulis, since 2003, and for at least the last four years the team has suffered a truly astounding number of injuries. They’re one of the “top” three teams in games missed to injury every year. Of the 5 starting pitchers they planned on using in 2009, three have had to have surgery, the other two were on the DL for muscle pulls, and two of the replacement starters have been hurt. Their “star” ceter fielder’s career is being ruined by a bad shoulder that seems to have a different explanation every year. I can’t think of any players they’ve had who were important to the team who HAVEN’T been hurt, actually. Sure, sometimes it’s just bad luck - Aaron Hill’s concussion was not a training issue - but as Jazayerli points out, at some point you have to bench the guy batting .100.
If Poulis isn’t responsible for keeping the team healthy, then just what IS his job description? I can’t imagine anyone at my workplace, or at any workplace I work with, allowing such sustained failure without revisiting whether it’s being managed by the right guy.
Now, in the case of the Royals there’s another story in their “Banning” of Jazayerli, which is unbelievably bush league and pathetic and frankly says a lot about the franchise. I feel really bad for Royals fans because KC’s a great baseball town and they’ve been screwed pretty bad.
So the Royals look bad, don’t shut the guy up but just give him more readers, and in fact focus a helluva lot more media attention on the injury problem. Sounds like a win for you KC fans.
That was like the Phillies just stomped them to the ground in the first, and once or twice the Reds tried to stumble back to their feet but got knocked back down, and then in the 8th Werth came out with a big ol’ bucket of salt to pour in those wounds. I mean, I’m a Phillies fan, and I was really hoping that the Reds would manage at least one more run in the 9th.
Man. It was a fun game to be at! The crowd was kind of out of the game by the time Werth was up - i mean 18-1 is a good time to watch the Phanatic! - but, that grand slam drove the crowd crazy. It was like being at a playoff game crazy loud. FUn, too!
Sure, sure, laugh it up! We’ll score at least TWO runs tonight, damn you!
I can’t believe the Reds lost 22-1. TWENTY TWO TO ONE! That’s literally unreal.
And this on the heels of a supreme beatdown at the hands of the Cardinals.
The interesting thing about the SF Giants, who are becoming an interesting team: they’ve got a good rotation (2 great starters, a rookie who’s 2-0 0.00, and then Zito & Johnson), and a good bullpen. But their worst reliever may be their All Star closer, Brian Wilson. He’s blown 2 3-run leads this year, and almost did it again last night. Fans just hold their breath & close their eyes when he gets the ball.
The Blue Jays are willing to listen to offers for Roy Halladay. Story here. I imagine the price would be quite a bit of young talent. Maybe Tampa would be interested? He has a no-trade clause and will be a free agent after next season, so it’s unlikely he’d be dealt, but it sure is tempting.
Coming back from a two-month layoff is precisely when a professional sportsperson is quite likely to suffer from something like tried legs or fatigue. Sure, these guys train all the time, but the fact is that training isn’t really the same as playing proper games at the top level. It’s quite common for players coming back from extended lay-offs to get fatigued, and to be given rest days. Hell, one of the purposes of Spring Training, apart from competing for roster spots, is to allow players to get used to playing again after months away from baseball.
I’m sure that’s right.
I mean, those 7+ years in Boston, where he put up an OPS of about 1.000 and slugged over 250 homers, really weren’t worth the trouble he caused. And he’s really been an albatross around the neck of the Dodgers, what with his 1.150 OPS and his 24 homers and 74 RBI in 83 games.
Hell, I’m not an athlete but I can understand this. My job requires a lot of 12-hour+ shifts, but it’s also somewhat seasonal (I’m a banquet chef working a convention facility). Just last month, the first two weeks of June were dead - I think I worked a total of three days in that two-week stretch. Then the last two weeks of June were absolutely slammed, with several 12-hour shifts in a row. When it’s been busy for a while and I’ve been able to get used to it, a string of long shifts like that is no problem. Coming immediately after two weeks of mostly sitting on my ass, it just about killed me.