ptatc

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.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 27, 2006 -> 10:31 PM) Gagne is still in the low 90's according to the LATimes by the way, like 1 pitch at 94, and the rest at 92 or below. I still say that Pods having a bit of a growing tweak is exactly what we should expect right now, since he's basically just startin ST, and he's probably going as much all out as he can be right now. This could be the case. However, the complicating factor is that he had surgery in the off season. The sports hernia has a direct relationship with the groin/adductor muscles. That's why an important quote for Herm was "it could be scar tissue from the surgery." It is in the same area and hopefully it is just stengthening or the scar tissue problem. The sports hernia surgeries do not always work well enough on guys who rely on speed. A good example is Kendrell Bell when he was a linebacker for the Steelers. He relied on speed for rushing the QB. He has not been the same player since that surgery.

QUOTE(JimH @ Mar 26, 2006 -> 09:05 PM) It sounds like they want to make decisions after tomorrow's game so hopefully we'll find out soon. Hahn was on the radio this morning and said the bullpen situation is always fluid, they will always look to improve. So a last minute pick up wouldn't surprise me. I like the idea of having a grizzled veteran in the pen, always have. I have no problem optioning Logan out even though IMO he deserves to be on the team but hey, life isn't fair sometimes. They appear to want Thornton in the innings eater role and that's ok. If it's a choice between, say, Javier Lopez and Jeff Nelson ... I go with Nelson because Politte is pretty good on LH hitters. It will be interesting to see where Nelson lands. The White Sox would hardly be the only team thinking about him. I agree. KW and Coop have said they wanted Thornton for a couple of years. Thornton is here and will be here so the bullpen is: Jenks Cotts Politte McCarthy Thornton and a choice of Lopez, Logan or Nelson if they go with 11 pitchers my bet is they want a LOOGY and logan appears better to handle that.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 24, 2006 -> 04:44 PM) It just seems so painful for Hermanson to pitch. I can't see how his back's going to get any better, as it's been like 8 months since his back started to bother him. I think the back problem really hurts his follow-through, which prevents him from getting any movement on his splitter and flattens out his slider. This is correct. the back problem will not allow for full trunk flexion. This does not allow him to finish off his pitches. He will lose velocity and usually leave pitches up in the zone. If he can learn to compensate by flexing more at the hip instead of his spine he may be able to work through it.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 24, 2006 -> 04:25 PM) If Hermanson's back troubles persist and he's ineffective pitching, he should atleast consider beginning the season on the 15 day disabled list. Honestly, after watching him this spring I believe he's done. If devoting the ENTIRE offseason to rest your back doesn't provide comfort, then what difference will a short period make? I recall last season Hermanson said his aches were so severe he had trouble picking up his own daugher. This is a problem. If he returns from any desonated DL trip and continues to falter, what happens next? Someone will have to make a difficult decision--whether it's Hermanson or the Sox. Don't need backless pitchers on our roster. Rest has absolutely nothing to do with this back problem. He has an instability caused by a disc problem. It's a matter of trying to keep the back in a good mechanical position to minimize the excess motion. The more motion that occurs the more inflammation will appear. This is the reason for the epidural injections. It's like putting a crap load of ibuprofen in a localized area to decrease the inflammation. He will have the problem until he has surgery. The key is to manage the problem through rehab and meds. Hermie (the trainer) is one of the best at managing this type of thing. Give them a chance.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 11:14 AM) I could be wrong, but this doesn't sound like a disc injury: "...Hermanson felt better thanks to the epidural, which was given to control the pitcher's back pain caused by loose ligaments. The injury is called a one percent instability and only affects Hermanson when he pitches." That's just a way of talking around it. The instability is caused by the disc shrinking in height so the vertabrae above and below the disc move too much or cause instability. The ligaments are loose because the distance between the two vertebrae has decreased due to the decreased disc height. Either way it will be the disc which causes the problem and it will nedd to be addressed if he is to continue pitching long term.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Mar 16, 2006 -> 06:18 AM) Yeah, there is no way the Sox are going to rely on Hermie. If 4+ months of rest doesn't alleviate the problem, then more rest is not going to do it for him either. The best option would be to go ahead and fix the problem with surgery and come back at 100%. It's not the rest that is supposed to help but the strengthening and control exercises to keep the disc under control. This will keep the disc off the nerve and decrease the pain. Since the rehab didn't work there are going to do the epidurals which is like throwing a crap load of anti-inflammatories in a localized spot and hope the injection calms the inflammation down. My guess would be surgery. The surgery would not end his career but rehab would probably be 2-3 months, then with time to get the arm in shape he wouldn't be ready at the earliest until the mid-August. The epidurals may take care of it but I doubt it would on a long term basis.

QUOTE(SouthsideBlitz @ Mar 13, 2006 -> 05:00 PM) I would prefer Cy Young Winner Actually, I would prefer World Champ to all of them.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 11:04 AM) Sorry, I had doub le posted and for some reason my posts was deleted and the thread remained. The best local Hot Dog stand near me, Chicago Dogs, added real gyros to the menu. I noticed they offer cheese, but I can't remember adding cheese before. Is that a new Chicago thing? Feta cheese, a white crumble type of greek cheese is very common on gyros.