News that Mark Prior is still intent on making his big comeback ripped the scab off some old wounds this week. As a friend remarked this morning, the biggest flameout in recent baseball history is a hard one to get over, especially with Joe Mauer up there in the Great White North reminding us regularly what we could have had.
There's been a lot of blame tossed around when it comes to Prior's denouement; everyone from Dusty Baker (coughyescough) to pitching coach Larry "Rasputin" Rothschild to team doctors have come under fire for their handling of Prior. In the end though, no one has taken as much heat for the crashing and burning of Mark Prior's career as Mark Prior has.
You guys know what I'm talking about: He's a headcase, a prima dona, he doesn't want it bad enough, he's afraid to pitch through pain, yada yada yada. From time to time, I've subscribed to and even advocated some of these views. At times, I've been extremely critical of his mental toughness and desire to pitch at the big league level.
But is nothing if not a bitch, which is probably why I injured my shoulder last summer while carrying a giant bag of baseball equipment. For a couple of days, I couldn't raise my arm over my head; I wore a sling for a while because I kept surprising myself with white hot pain every time I "forgot" I was hurt and tried to use my right arm. Over the last 6 months, the pain has reached a tolerable level, but it's never gone away. And it comes back with a vengence whenever I engage in any kind of lateral movement, like . . oh say. . . trying to open or close my patio door because my stupid dogs have to go in and out 10,000 times a day.
All these months later, I still cry out in pain when I move my arm certain ways and it's started interfering with my ability to sleep. Keeping me from sleeping is where I, and Max, draw the line. No one likes grumpy Julie.
So today I packed up my sore shoulder and took it to see my doctor, who also happens to be a good friend and fellow baseball fan. After putting me through a series of motions that seemed fine at the time but have now resulted in a really freakin' sore shoulder (thanks a lot, Jim), I had my diagnosis: bicipital tenosynovitis/acromio clavicular arthritis. As far as I can tell, this means I messed up my shoulder last summer and my shoulder is still pissed off about it.
At first, I was seriously bummed out that I didn't have a torn rotator cuff or labral tear, as I had planned an elaborate plot to be referred to Dr. James Andrews for surgery, thus allowing me to demand a local anesthetic that would have allowed me to interrogate him about Mark Prior and Kerry Wood all during my surgery. However, after getting over the disappointment, I decided that the fact that I have an inflammed "insertion point" in my shoulder is enough.
The famous doctor I won't be going to see.
But your probably wondering why I'm telling you all this. Here's why: My doctor and I got to talking about what it means to "pitch through pain." And I have to say, as a former gymnast, I've had all manner of broken bones, pulled muscles, torn ligaments, etc all over my body. Maybe because it's so close to your head, maybe it's because you use your shoulder for so many things, but either way, shoulder pain is right up there with the most painful injury I've ever had.
So when I got home from the doctor, I decided to do a little experiment (Jim, don't read this next part). Since I was having so much pain with lateral movement, I decided to see how difficult it was to put my shoulder through a normal range of motion, knowing it would result in blinding pain. After a few deep breaths, I faced my daily nemesis: the aforementioned patio door.
How hard was it to slide that door back and forth without compensation for it in some manner? Really hard. Almost impossible.
There's something about your body knowing it's about to experience searing pain that makes it unbelievably difficult to go through a range of motion in a manner that will result in said pain. No matter how hard I tried, to simply slide the glass door back and forth, it seemed that my body was hell bent on compensating for the use of my shoulder. My biceps tried to bear the brunt of the motion. Then my abs. Then my thighs. Eventually, I wasn't using my shoulder as much as holding on to the door and swaying my body back and forth. And this was with me really concentrating on using my shoulder.
My point is two-fold:
1) Those of us who have complained that Prior should just have "pitched through the pain" knew not of what we spoke. No matter how mentally disciplined you may be, there are some things your body just won't let you do. Or at least won't let you do repeatedly. Human beings are programmed to avoid pain. Sure, he could probably have thrown a ball over the plate, but if he really did have as much pain in his shoulder as he claimed, I find it really hard to believe that he could have repeatedly engaged in a motion as violent to the human body as a major league wind-up. Pain is a convincing deterrent.
2) On the occasions when Prior was able to stay out there and "pitch through the pain," he probably struggled because he was changing his mechanics in order to compensate for the shoulder pain. When a body is really in pain, it's almost impossible not to do this.
Of course, I'm not a major league pitcher and I have no idea what it felt like to be inside Mark Prior's body. And, obviously, my injury isn't even serious enough to require surgery. But as Atticus Finch once told me, you can never really understand another person until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Or, in this case, shoulder.
Today, I think I understand Mark Prior, and what he must have gone through, a little bit better.
Except for the money part.
23 Comments
gravedigger said:
Excellent points.
Now let's sign him.
wv23 said:
plus, your control sucks.
JulieDiCaro said:
true.
perhaps more towel drills?
AndCounting said:
Great post, Julie. I understand the frustration of fans who wanted to see him continue to dominate, but there's no way to really understand what it was like for him.
wv23 said:
for the record, i was more critical of those fans (say in san diego) who believed he was the answer.
then again, i traded for him the winter before the 2007 season in a fantasy league. that was a mistake.
JulieDiCaro said:
well yeah, those fans were funny.
i'll admit that i was one of the people who, in moments of frustration, used to say "just suck it up and pitch." in part, i think, because i used to be able to suck up past injuries and still participate in sports. but WOW, is a shoulder injury not like a broken ankle or torn ACL or anything else. it hurts like a mo-fo.
wv23 said:
i have a (partially) torn rotator cuff from skiing 4 years ago. i don't get it fixed because i'm not a lefthanded pitcher.
but damn does it hurt when i move wrong.
JulieDiCaro said:
right? hurts like crazy.
Dmband said:
For me, the realization came when he described his last attempt at pitching and said something to the effect of, it felt like "firecrackers" went off in his shoulder.
For some reason, that resonated and I really thought, man, his arm is completely destroyed.
JulieDiCaro said:
This is kind of how I feel. When I move it wrong, there's white hot flames in my shoulder. I've broken and sprained just about everything, and I've NEVER had pain like this. And my injury isn't even serious enough to require surgery!
Perkins said:
Thank you. My dad tore his labrum AND rotator cuff just before Christmas 2008, and had surgery a few months later. The recovery was long and painful, and he couldn't do much of anything with it for awhile.
The thing that gets me about Prior is that he suffered a compression fracture from taking a line drive off his pitching elbow, and came back a month later. A month. After taking a 100+ mph baseball off his elbow. That's fucking tough.
Dmband said:
Am I wrong to picture Dr. James Andrews as a white version of Mr. Miagi(sp?)?
I imagine players go into his office, he rubs his hands together quickly and then applies them to the affected area and they are immediately cured.
Teebob2000 said:
Julie as a gymnast... hmmm....
Sorry - was that out loud?
cubby23(eric) said:
This all reminds me of the time when Steve Stone questioned Prior's toughness on Chicago radio. He mentioned how if the x-rays were clear and the doctors were all in unison on Prior's prognosis all that was left was whether or not Prior was tough enough to pitch through a little pain. Stone mentioned that most pitchers once they'd gone through shoulder or arm troubles would feel some pain, and it was a matter of how much was an acceptable threshold.
It's all just sad, and I'm sure no one feels worse than Prior. After all those rehabs it was his once glorious career that seemed to fade like a comet into the distant horizon, almost as quickly as he when he first arrived.
JulieDiCaro said:
This, I think, is a huge point. X-rays don't always tell the whole story. Sure, there may not be visible injury--I doubt mine would show up as a visible injury--but it doesn't mean the person isn't in a lot of pain.
If major league pitchers pitch through this amount of pain on a regular basis, they deserve every dime they make.
Dmband said:
Have they given your a cortizone shot?
I heard that works wonders...temporarily of course.
Edelweiss said:
Cortisone only works for about a week. I used to get one every year form 1997 to 2007. I finally gave in and got two new knees. Now that I can walk again, I will be going to Vancouver to help cover Alpine Skiing.
Aisle424 said:
It is also unfortunate that so many of us were on the Steve Stone is a Straight-Talkin' Genius Bandwagon. I think his comments helped shape a large portion of our attitudes towards Prior.
Doc said:
Yeah...I think we have all grown a lot since Steve Stone left the Cubs.
cubby23(eric) said:
Perhaps, but I give some credence to the former pitcher/Cub announcer because he saw things behind the scenes that few of us are privy to. That alone carries a little more weight than me calling out Mark Prior without really knowing what the trainers and support staff behind the scenes are murmuring.
abe frohman said:
Okay, Julie: what you need is a big sliding-door sized towel . . .
*dan bradley said:
Mark Prior: "What's that insurance that pays if you're hurt at work and too hurt to work?"
Duck: "AFLA.." ::gets swept away in revolving door::
itsjenjen said:
Excellent points about a lesson learned, Julie. Having had even a temporary shoulder injury (from volleyball) I can't see how anyone can pitch or do any serious regular throwing with that kind of injury. Unfortunately, as you noted, until you experience this sort of thing, it's really easy to fall into the "armchair critic" trap.
Steve Stone was the whiner and the baby, not Mark Prior. I got sick of Stone years ago when he would rag on about the Cubs players, and it seemed to get worse every year. At one time I liked Steve, but he got too bitter for my taste!
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