posted on Friday, June 01, 2007 12:28 AM
by
Jim
I'm not a doctor, but...
January 25:Health was a minor concern with Erstad, who was limited to a career-low
40 games in 2006 because of a bone spur in his right ankle. Erstad hit
.221 with just five RBIs, but after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on
the ankle on Oct. 5, he has said that he's ready to play the outfield
on an everyday basis once again.
March 15:
"During the winter, I didn't know," Erstad said. "They tell you they fixed as much as they could and just hoped that
would do the trick. After a couple months, the doctors said to start
running on it and see how you feel. There were some iffy days in there
where I wondered, but I just kept grinding it out and eventually it
started to feel good."
More than five months later, Erstad is running again, just as
he always did – elbows out, shoulders hunched, face burning red – and
by appearances directly into the Chicago White Sox's starting lineup.
:
A main source of excitement for Erstad simply comes from how good he
feels on a daily basis. On March 13, 2006, Erstad was sidelined by pain
in his right ankle caused by the bone spur and missed the Angels' next
eight Cactus League games.
At the time, Erstad said he would have played through the pain
if it came during the regular season but was sitting out just as a
Spring Training precaution. Erstad also had to deal with soreness in
his left shoulder after moving from first base back to the outfield.
None of those issues are presently points of concern for
Erstad. He feels sound across the board, and while there's always room
for improvement, the anticipation of the new season fast approaching
can be heard in Erstad's voice.
:
He was a hit machine who could handle things at the top of the order,
and his surgically repaired right ankle had just received a full go
from the doctors.
March 20:
Erstad has shown he is recovered from surgery to remove a bone spur in
his right ankle -- an injury that crept up during spring training with
the Los Angeles Angels last year.
March 31:
"Oh, my God, yes," Guillen said. "I know the way he played. I didn't know
his body would be in that great of condition to perform the way he has.
He went through every drill, played every game without complaining."
May 27:
Imagine an entire roster of Erstads. Guys who sacrifice their bodies to
make a catch. Guys who run out every ground ball, even a soft tap back
to the pitcher, as if they were legging out a triple. Guys who always
slide hard to break up double plays. Guys who prepare for each game as
if it were Game 7 of the World Series...
...guys who collapse in a heap after swinging and missing.
This isn't to make light of
Darin Erstad's injury, which will require a DL stint but doesn't seem as severe as it looked when Erstad fell down clutching his ankle while home plate umpire Tim Timmons fervently flagged the Sox dugout for aid. At least that's as far as we know, since no official word has been released at this point.
Rather,
it amazed me then, and it amazes me now, just how comfortable everybody was depending on a guy who played fewer games in a season than
J.D. Drew, a non-football/hockey player who's routinely criticized for being "soft," over the last four years.
Erstad may be the toughest guy the Sox have, but at the same time, he only has four extra-base hits in the month of May. It's one thing if Jim Thome's swing causes him pain, since his whiffs have been known to provide electricity to rural hamlets, but when a singles hitter like Erstad is done in by a normal swing, I'm wondering how sturdy that repaired ankle could have been.
***************
Almost as painful as Erstad's injury was a highlight package a Toronto broadcaster attempted to deliver before the start of an inning
during tonight's game. I'm not sure if the teleprompter was busted, but the result was the
"Boom Goes The Dynamite!" kid with a Canadian accent. And thanks to the power of DVR, I was able to transcribe it.
The segment started with a highlight of Justin Verlander giving up a homer to Grady Sizemore:
"Top of second, one on, Curtis Granderson sends it to center. Grady Sizemore,
one of the great poster boys of baseball... (ball goes over the wall) ...that's not
going to do it! Tigers and Indians, still working hard. 6-4 Indians, bottom of
the fifth inning, lots going on, you just never know what's going to happen
next."
Followed by some Giants-Mets highlights:
"Giants-Mets at Shea Stadium... (big swing) and there you see it... (as deep
flyball descends)...and there's it's gone (as ball hits off top of the wall and
rolls back towards center field)! How bout that one! Off the wall, rolling around there....
yeah, it's lots of fun. Mets up 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Gotta love
Carlos Beltrans-- "
It ended there.
***************
Minor league round-up:- Charlotte 7, Louisville 4
- Jerry Owens was pulled during the middle of the seventh inning after going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, raising his average to .305, and his OBP to .386. Hmm...
- Josh Fields hit a two-run homer, drew two walks and stole a base. Brian Anderson and Craig Wilson had three hits apiece, and Ryan Sweeney had two hits and two walks.
- Today's crazy position switch: Wiki Gonzalez playing second. He went 2-for-5 and started a double play while committing no errors.
- Gavin Floyd had a so-so- start: 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 HR. Andy Sisco threw a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out two. Ryan Bukvich closed it down with a perfect ninth.
- Birmingham 5, Jacksonville 3
- Jack Egbert threw six solid innings, allowing eight hits and two earned runs, walking one and striking out two. Corwin Malone struck out four in two innings of relief.
- Thomas Collaro hit a three-run homer; he, Jason Bourgeois and Sean Smith had two hits apiece.
- Lynchburg 3, Winston-Salem 2
- Derek Rodriguez threw seven quality innings, allowing only one earned run on seven hits and two walks, while striking out six.
- John Lujan took the loss by allowing two runs in the eighth.
- The Warthogs had five hits on the night; Aaron Cunningham went 1-for-4 with an RBI double.
- West Virginia 11, Kannapolis 8
- Jacob Rasner was shelled for seven runs in five innings, but Noe Rodriguez took the loss by giving up four runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief.
- Lee Cruz and Brandon Allen each hit three-run homers; Chris Carter went 1-for-3 with two walks, and has 12 walks in his last 10 games.