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Rocco Baldelli--WTF?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by BYH, Sep 6, 2007.

  1. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Sorry I didn't put this on the baseball thread, and mods can feel free to merge, but I was hoping someone from tampaSportsJournalists.com had an inkling as to what the hell is going on with Rocco Baldelli. He's apparently undergone an extensive battery of tests and neither he nor the D-Rays will talk about it.

    He had such a brilliant start to his career and now he can't stay on the field. And his last ailment--called "general soreness" after he played in all of two rehab games--coupled with the radio silence over his test results makes it easy to think worse-case scenario.

    Any rumblings from down that way?
     
  2. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    Remember when Tampa Bay was dead set on building a team around Baldelli? It's a shame he can't get healthy again, and even more so because he no longer has a place in what used to be his outfield.
     
  3. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    He was so good they signed him long-term AFTER he blew out his knee and elbow.

    I really think something bizarre/sinister is going on down there. Why the Belichickian secrecy?
     
  4. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    You think it's something like a Greinke situation, like a mental thing where he doesn't feel like playing anymore or a legit injury?
     
  5. andyouare?

    andyouare? Guest

    I have "general soreness" all the time, how come I can't get off from work?

    Baldelli's hammies have been a problem for a while. He was doing a minor league rehab stint when they got "sore" again. Last I heard was that they were still holding out hope he could be back at the end of the year.

    That dude has had some bad luck. He was recovering from another injury (I think in 2005) when he ruptured a tendon doing some simple throwing.

    It's pretty amazing the Rays' outfield is as loaded with talent as it is (Crawford, Upton and Delmon Young). Imagine if they had had a healthy Baldelli, a drug free Josh Hamilton and non-psycho Elijah Dukes.

    Not to mention Toe Nash!!!
     
  6. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    The optimist tells me it's a setback due to his relearning how to run, similarly to what the Mets did with Jose Reyes when he was having hamstring troubles. His body is still adjusting to the new technique, and he'll be fine, and be ready for spring training next season.

    The pessimist doesn't know what to tell me. The silence is deafening.

    I like Rocco, hung out with him and another Ray, can't recall who, in a bar watching the Angels play in the playoffs. It was odd to me that no-one in the place recognized him in street clothes with a ball-cap on.
     
  7. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Blew out his knee playing baseball with his brother in the back yard. Which, let's face it, is a pretty suspicious explanation.

    Then he snapped his elbow just throwing the ball, as you mentioned.

    You add these up and he's got a lot of bizarre injuries. And their silence makes me think that they worry that Baldelli is about to end up...

    ...like one of those guys.
     
  8. terrier

    terrier Well-Known Member

    As a fellow Bishop Hendricken alum, please say this shit isn't so (I've never met him, but have dealt with members of his family at my last stop). He was just inducted into our athletic Hall of Fame last year.
    The injuries go back to breaking his leg playing freshman football. Maybe he should've stuck with volleyball - he made All-State without hurting himself.
     
  9. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    Drug problem didn't cross my mind. I was thinking something more along the line of a serious health issue.
     
  10. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    I can see it now: J.D. Drew for Rocco Baldelli, straight up.

    One can't play. The other can't play.

    I hope Rocco is OK. This silence reminds me of Magic Johnson's "flu-like symptoms" forcing him to miss a pre-season game in Utah 16 years ago. And we all know how that turned out.
     
  11. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    Ok, wait a minute ... didn't his "just throwing" involve something like trying to throw a strike from the centerfield fence without bouncing the ball? Or some other stupid, teenage shit like that? Seems like I heard (or read) that somewhere.
     
  12. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    And turn into a black man?
     
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