Troy Patton is dealing with a stiff shoulder he believes may be related to a damaged labrum. Taking on Miguel Tejada may have been a mistake for the Astros, but they may have picked the right time to cash in on Patton. "It’s pretty tight right now, but it’s getting better every day," Patton said. "I’m doing a lot of stretching and a lot of exercises to strengthen it and get it looser." Patton was examined over the winter. "They said most likely it’s a slap tear, he said. "They know there’s something going on in there, but they don’t know how serious it is yet or what it is." The Orioles knew Patton was having shoulder problems when they took him on. The left-hander will be able to compete for a job this spring, but since his stuff isn't what it was back in 2005, he doesn't seem like a very good bet for the short-term. Source: Baltimore Sun Maybe Wade and company knew all along Patton wouldn't be much good to us this year.
If Carlos Hernandez hadn't tried that infamous slide into 2nd base, he would have been a top-line pitcher IMO. That play remains a sore spot for me to this day.
It was a fluke play... but the universe has a way of making things inevitable. He likely would have had another head-first slide at some point that year... which could have caused the injury. Or perhaps, his shoulder wasn't all that strong to begin with, and it was just a matter of time before it would have gotten hurt simply by pitching. As for Patton... the Astros sure are dodging a huge bullet if this becomes something more. Then again, you have to wonder about the state of the farm system when they only just produced their first reliable everyday position player since Berkman in Pence, and thought they had the best prospect in Patton that they'd had since Oswalt.
I still remember I was driving to austin listening to that game when carlos slid into second. for some reason, I knew it was serious then.
I remember I was in Chicago. I guess it's one of those "Where were you when..." moments for Astros fans.
So what is it? did the cosmo's cause the freak but inevitable injury or did he already have a bad shoulder or both? This is really not a fair implication even by "universal" standards. By the bum shoulder theory you can also say that the slide triggered his shoulder problems he's dealing with today, except that theory would have relevance. Really, Bo Jackson has had hip problems since he was injured!?! He must have had a bad hip that was going to get hurt anyway one day!?!? There is a difference in a player of known chronic knee or back problems(Sampson/Tmac) and players that have a freak injury and see their careers spiral downward cause they can't get back what they once had. The inevitable freak injury by the cosmo's theory is what it is. Carlos decided to over run second and had to slide back. I would theorize that he was a bad base runner before I'd blame the universe but that's just me. I'll always remember c-los for the very short career he had and the potential that was there. He could have been great, we may have traded him at some point, he could have been an average pitcher or a bust. We will never know. Implying his shoulder was already bum after seeing for yourself it was a freak injury isn't fair to him. If he had been drafted by a American League team, he would never been on base in the 1st place! The universe made sure he was in the National League on the Astros just to piss my a$$ off when he got injured!
Is the Carlos Hernandez slide one of those moments in history (like the O.J. verdict) where everyone remembers what they were doing when it happened?
You can Add Brad Lidge to the damaged list scenario. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5564576.html
So if you add the word "perhaps" to anything you say then you aren't implying anything? Buck, perhaps you are racist.
You're using too many words to not say much. Anyways, who's to say that Carlos Hernandez would never dive head-first into a base again? Who's to say that he wouldn't have hurt himself pitching anyways (like a good number of young pitchers end up doing). I used "perhaps" because clearly I knew his shoulder was strong enough to throw 95 mph in the minors and majors... but remember, he was still only 21, had only pitched in 3 games, and had a helluva long road ahead of him to declare that "he would never have gotten hurt, if it wasn't for that slide." Bo Jackson isn't that great of an example... #1, he had an amazing career... and was already on his way to the HOF, unlike the 3 starts Carlos Hernandez had, and #2... a normal person wouldn't have been able to completely dislocate his hip like Bo did. They would have falled down from the initial tackle... yet Bo, being the biggest FREAK sports has ever seen, was strong enough to keep running through it... and eventually, his body had to remind him that he was still human. It would be one thing if Carlos tripped on a players leg, or fell down in the clubhouse... the fact that he hurt himself doing something ROUTINE, that all baseball players do, takes away my sentiment for the whole "tragedy" angle. "Oh, what might have been!"
I was at Berryhill on San Felipe eating some spinach and corn enchiladas watching the little t.v. in the corner.
