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As everyone has said, sciatica pain being referred down into the leg. It can be casued by a variety of problems. It's a good sign it has gone only to the hip. Much easier to treat than if it goes down to the knee or foot. The most common cause is a disc problem. The disc pushes on the nerves which shoots the pain into the hip. Other causes can be a "piriformis syndrome" This is where a muscle in the posterior part of the hip compresses the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve runs under and sometimes through this muscle. If he turned his hip wrong or was too tight this problem can trigger a sciatic pain. Also inflammation of the sacroiliac joint can cuase this because the sciatic nerve runs right by it. I have not seen any confirmation of what the actual injury is. But if it happened the other day just from a bulpen seesion and extends only to the hip, I don't think the problem is too serious. A 15 day DL stint with the appropriate anti-inflammatories and exercises should do it. His lumbar spine mechanics will need to be closely watched so there isn't too much strain for awhile.

QUOTE(WCSox @ May 5, 2006 -> 04:30 PM) I'm not an M.D., but isn't the meniscus in the knee? One should easily be able to differentiate a knee from a calf injury. If he does have a calf strain, there are varying degrees of severity. He could be out from anywhere from a couple days to a month. My guess is that it's a low-grade strain, but I'm not sure why they haven't taken an MRI of his calf yet. You're correct. The meniscus is cartilage in the knee. They would not mistake one injury for the other. Calf strain take awhile to heal because they are the muscles which raise you up on your toes. Any running or pivoting is done on the toes so these aggravate the problem. Plus the muscles are short thick multipennate muscles and the cross section of fibers which get injured is pretty high and take longer to heal. It's best to rest him and wait until he can raise up on his comfortably so that there isn't a long term problem created.

QUOTE(C_LEE45 @ Apr 16, 2006 -> 11:32 AM) thanks for the help man. I came from the Bolingbrook ara yesterday. It took me longer to go from Ashland to the park down 35th than it did to go from BB to Ashland. The traffic on 35th was awful. You might want to try Pershing (39th) instead.

I've said this before and people have blown it off, but with the bilateral surgeries and subsequent "scar tissue" problem , I don't think he is healthy. It seems to me that he really isn't striding and using his leg well .Since he hits lefty and the left groin was the sports hernia and scar tissue tear area, I believe he is not using his legs enough in his swing and thus all of the weak hits. Now, whether this is physical pain or mental apprehension I don't know but it definitely effecting his swing.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Apr 9, 2006 -> 06:13 PM) DJ mentioned today that Pods didn't look 100% running. At least he's starting to hit the ball on the ground instead of the lazy flyballs he was hitting earlier. I've never been a big fan of his, but he does have one of the biggest home runs in White Sox history, so I can't hate him as a player. As the guy at Rotoworld said, if Pods legs aren't 100% he is a below average player. He's 1-22, I'm sure the plan is to let him try and work it out by playing. If this goes on another 4 or 5 games, the plan may be to work it out with extra BP and cage work, while riding pine during games. You can't have automatic outs at the top of the order. I agree. Also he realyy isn't using his legs and striding into the ball. This is because of the left adductor problem and probably why he has ben hitting pop ups.

I've always heard that a pitching staff coming off a world series has trouble the next year due to the 1 month less rest. I've never worked with that type of group and dismissed it because I thought 3 months rest in the off season should be enough. However, I'm starting to rethink this position as our pitchers have started out rough.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Apr 7, 2006 -> 08:05 PM) Hawk is saying Garland has pitched well, I don't agree. Granted the play in LF has been brutal, but he didn't pitch over it, and gave up some rockets. I agree. If Garland goes into his pouting, "I tried to do MY job without help" routine as he did in 2004, I'll walk to KC myself and rap him upside the head.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Mar 31, 2006 -> 10:55 AM) I think they are priming Brandon for the back end of the pen right now because of his stuff. Thorton is the innings eater right now. I agree that this would seem to be the plan. McMarthy in the Hermanson role and Thornton in the innings role.

QUOTE(JimH @ Mar 31, 2006 -> 10:34 AM) Yes. And there are already loud whispers he's not healthy in Arizona. With the condition his shoulder is in, he will not be healthy for any long stretch of time. Also, in regards to the bullpen, his shoulder would not allow him to be an effective member of a bullpen. He would need to warm up an inning before he was needed, would have to be used if warmed up and probably would not be able to go two days in a row. Most of this was discussed ad nauseum last year around the playoffs and is the reason he needed to be traded in the off season. We traded the two pitchers in the bullpen who most people complained about last year (Marte and Viz) and people still complain.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 30, 2006 -> 07:42 PM) Yep. looks like Pods is staying back to get as many ABs as possible. Good that he sounds positive about it. He's so cautious about all of his injuries. That's the best news. As per our discussion before sometimes it's the mental part that makes athletes tentative and loses the edge. In his case he needs it for the aggresive base stealing.

It's a good way to handle it. In the minor league games he can hit to keep his timing but not run to stress the leg. They can use a designated runner to jsut get at bats. I like the way they are handling it, rest as much as possible until it's time to go.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 30, 2006 -> 02:26 PM) Somebody needs to get his contract extended. Somebody also needs to ask for a raise, deservedly so.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 30, 2006 -> 02:24 PM) Good day for Jose. Glad to see he was good with dropping down. Might take a start or two to get that pinpoint control back but he looks healhty and good to go. How many did Jose walk? Was it three?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 30, 2006 -> 10:10 AM) Yes, I suppose driving inside the park would be problematic. You mean you can't park in the infield like racing events!!!!

I don't know if this is the right place for this but I feel I need to acknowledge the help the White Sox gave us. I have a friend who has had cancer for two years with medical bills piling up. We are having a benefit for her. I contacted my season ticket rep Tom Collins. I got an immediate reponse and within a few days recieved donations for the benefit. I thought everyone should know, with a personal example, what a great organization this is not just on the field but also in the community. THANKS to the Sox and Tom. It is greatly appreciated!!!1

Unfortunately, there are a number of signs for concern. 1) The pain is the the same muscle as the surgey. 2) The team thought it was bad enough to warrant the MRI 3) There was enough inflammation to show postive on the MRI 4) He was supposed to play yesterday until they got the results of the MRI 5) As a lefty hitter it's the rear leg and it stretches as he strides into the pitch. With all of these factors, the should be very conservative and not let him play until it's 100% which could take some time. I'm afraid he'll run into the trap of "it's good enough to play" and have it be a problem on and off throughout the season. As the quotes in the paper also indicate, he does not do well unless he is at 100%, as the high performance car analogy indicated.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 11:04 PM) Only if something happens to aggrevate it further. As it stands right now, what he has is not something that should keep him out any longer than around opening day. If he does soemthing to it by coming back too early, then it could be longer term. Then again, he could get to 100% and blow out something else. You just never know with injuries. Anybody could get hurt at anytime. We've been relatively lucky with injuries this spring compared with a bunch of teams this spring. It's all relative I suppose. Well I guess we'll agree to disagree. From his reaction, the team's reaction and from the one's I've treated, this does seem to be that minor.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 10:57 PM) Well, if Podsednik does end up missing some time this season, a platoon of Mackowiak and Ozuna in LF damn sure looks a lot better than a platoon of Timo and Ozuna in LF. They are still only bench players but they are at least good bench players. i agree. I think they are both more than capable fill-ins.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 10:50 PM) Well sure they should be careful. I wouldn't send him back out there until he's practically 100% which could come Friday, Sunday, next Tuesday. Really it's all speculation. Nobody knows how it will go down. Everybody's bodies react differently. I'm just thankful it wasn't worse and it happened now, so he can get over the first initial mental hurdle, because he was going to feel a twinge at some point. Very true. But I also think this will be a longer term problem then we think. the real shocking news I just read was that Hermanson is contemplating have a nerve permanently deadened in his back. This is serious stuff going on and they are thinking last ditch effort here if this is the case. I very pessimistic that we'll ever see him return.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 10:39 PM) Depends on how you define it. It is fairly minor/routine for someone coming off of a sports hernia surgery, as has been said by all involved. You could take an MRI of everyone on the team and find some inflammation in there. Inflammation is extremely common for ballplayers. I covered a basketball player that had the same surgery as Pods and he had it around the same time as Pods and was back playing in December and January. He felt a tug every once in awhile, but once he realized that it really wasn't anything that would hurt him, he just played through it with no problem. Now, everybody is different, but I've heard of similar things with many SH surgeries. In order for the inflammation to show on the MRI there needs to more fluid present than just typical inflammation. The sports hernia is a basket term for these muscle problems and it could very well go down the way you are saying. But if the inflammation is at that level and he's feeling in the same area, I would be very cautious also. Especially in this case where his base stealing relies on the lateral movement and tremendous acceleration. If I remember right Tim Raines described Pods first move as a cross over step with his left leg as opposed to the way he did it with a right first step. If this is the case that is all the more reason to be careful with the left leg.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 10:28 PM) Agreed. At this point I think it is much more the mental thing, and it might take him a week or two to get over it. Herm all but said that in Pods mind everything has to be running flawlessly and even a very minor strain like this gets in his head and he wants to make sure he is close to perfect again before he goes back out. So in a way its good to have this little episode while its still spring training so he can get an idea what a little tug from surgery is going to do. He'll ahve a couple of tugs during the first half most likely, but it won't be a physical problem. he'll just have to get over the mental part. i'm not too sure about that. Muscle repairs are tricky things and I can see why they need to be cautious. With enough inflammation to show on the MRI, it's not just a "blow it off" type of injury.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 10:10 PM) Hermanson now admits he won't be ready for the first half of the season. I don't think I'm alone in saying that I'm not thrilled with the way his injury was handled. it's really the only choice they had. It was either the rehab protocol or surgery to fuse the vertebrae. I don't know off hand if any pitchers have returned to competition from a fusion but it would be very difficult. The rotation and flexion a pitch must do would put a greatdeal of stress on a lumbar fusion.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 09:23 PM) Yep, it does. But I'd rather have a guy on first base than a guy getting thrown out trying to steal second base. Afterall, Podsednik will still have some boppers in Iguchi, Thome, and Konerko to drive him in from first base anyways. Yes. The time it will bother him the most is the quick step from a stand still like in base stealing. He'll still have the scoring from first on a double capability.

QUOTE(South Side Fireworks Man @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 09:08 PM) My concern with Podsednik is that he hasn't shown the ability to steal bases since his injury last season nor so far this spring after his off-season surgery. I hope he hasn't lost a step permanently. agreed. And it may not be all physical. Frequently, injured players become tentative and that can kill a base stealer. If the constant problems are in the back of his mind he becomes an ineffective on the basepaths.

What concerns me is that there was enough inflammation to show up on the MRI. That is not a minor strain. even if he can play through it, this will be a problem for awhile.