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Klapisch is Injured

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by slowdream101, Jul 11, 2008.

  1. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    I've known Klap since he was pitching for Leonia High School and calling in the results to the local paper .. where he now works. I'd never seen the piece BYH linked but it is pure Klap in terms of his undying love for being in uniform and on the mound, even when he knows he should give it up.
    Sadly, this will bring an end to his amateur pitcing career. Hopefully, he'll recover and be back writing by the postseason -- if there is a postseason in New York.

    Get well, Klap
     
  2. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    There's always that slo-pitch softball league with the ball that beeps.

    (Hey, c'mon, that's the sort of pressbox humor Klapisch would appreciate! Best of luck to him in his surgery/recovery. Getting hurt doing something you love is a risk all of us journalists are running these days. Getting disabled doing it is unnecessarily cruel, though.)
     
  3. casty33

    casty33 Active Member

    I've also known Klap for many years, covered baseball with him for years in the 70s. I, too, know of his love for playing the game and I certainly wish him well. But I also understand where Shockey is coming from and I would say we're not lecturing when we tell him to give it up, we're looking out for what's best for him and his family. And I will call him, offer him a prayer and express what I just said.
     
  4. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    apologies if i came across cold-hearted, woj, by advising klap to give up the hardball life at 50. nothing but prayers from the shockey household for bob.

    i stand behind thinking how sad i am that his "peter pan complex" did this damage to him, though.
     
  5. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    I don't think the caution is out of line at all, and not exclusive to this case, either.

    There comes a time when you have to realize you're not 25 any more and shouldn't try to do the same things you did then. If your friends can't tell you that, who can?
     
  6. Small Town Guy

    Small Town Guy Well-Known Member

    I don't understand when writers tell pro athletes it's time for them to retire--are writers forced to give it up even after their prime is gone?--so I really don't feel like telling middle-aged guys who are just playing for fun that they should quit.

    Thousands of people are playing competitive sports after 50 with no ill effects - whether it's in over 40 or 50 fast-pitch leagues, or regular town team ball. Near my hometown is a guy who still catches 30 amateur games a year and he's 60, and my aunt's husband is 67 and plays full-court basketball every day against guys who just completed Division II hoops careers. I'd imagine there are more 50-year-olds who suffer devastating injuries while driving than while playing sports. We're not telling them to give up the keys.

    Best wishes to Bob.
     
  7. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    I gotta respectfully disagree, Shockey. I think of Peter Pan Complex and I think of a guy who's out there even though he's pushing three bills and throwing 45 mph meatballs.

    But Klap is in better shape than people half his age--as a former soda guzzler, I always thought it was cool that he toted that giant Gatorade bottle of water into the press box every single day--and he was still throwing 80 mph. Throw in a guy bright enough to graduate from Columbia and you've got someone who I'm sure more than held his own against the kids in those leagues.

    His playing days are obviously over and that's sad. I hope it's the saddest thing to emerge here and that he's still got many, many columns to write, b/c he's as good as it gets.
     
  8. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Agree with that, Beej. Being active, staying fit, playing ball ... does not make one a Peter Pan.

    A bad hop into his eye like that could have happened just as easily in a senior or church softball league. As STG said, we put ourselves more at risk behind the wheel of a car every day.
     
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Klap is in great shape for a guy who is 50. That is horrific. A bad hop on a baseball diamond can happen to anyone, even a 22 year old. It sounds like he has a crummy road ahead. Thanks for posting that, BYH.
     
  10. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    The bad hop in the eye also could happen to a 25-year-old.
     
  11. MMatt60

    MMatt60 Member

    Oops. Big Ragu had the same thought as me and beat me to it. Amen.
     
  12. Jones

    Jones Active Member

    I don't want to be the bearer of bad tidings, but one of my soccer teammates recently had his retina detached by an errant shot. No broken bones, nothing like Bob's injury -- his sounds more like Bryce Florie's damage -- but Ed's still been through a tough, tough stretch.

    The retina gets re-attached with a laser. It is not a pleasant surgery.

    The recovery process is long.

    And then, best case scenario, my buddy Ed (and Bob, I'm guessing) will have 80 percent of his vision back. That's the upper end. Ed was told zero would be the bottom.

    Right now, a few months out of surgery, he's probably at around 50 percent. It's been a slow but gradual improvement, but it seems to have slowed to a near stop, so he's worried that's it for him.

    I hope that Bob gets through this as well as he can.

    But I also hope his friends understand that he's going to need you guys -- he's in for a long haul.

    All the best.
     
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