Klapisch is Injured

[slowdream101]

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/Record_columnist_hurt_in_baseball_game.html

 

[pressboxer]

Gives a whole new meaning to "You gotta play hurt."

 

[Moderator1]

Ouch. Hurts just to read about it.

 

[pseudo]

Oh man, that sucks. Get well, Mr. Klapisch.

 

[shockey]

klap and i came up in the biz together. he's good people.

but, please, bob, it's time to stop livin' the dream. this is a message that, at 50, pitching in an over-aged baseball league ain't for you.

 

[AdrianWoj]

Because Klap is facing such a long and difficult road back to regain his vision, I'm not sure this is the time to be lecturing him about playing semi-pro baseball at his age. Maybe it would just be best to offer up a prayer for him.

 

[GB-Hack]

Never met Mr. Klapisch, but have always enjoyed reading his work online, even when I was back in England and starting to get into baseball seriously. I really hope he comes through this OK.

I'm guessing this is a question for Doctalk, but what are the possible outcomes of the surgery Klapisch is going to have to undergo? From the story, it sounds like reduced vision in the eye is pretty much guaranteed, which is awful.

 

[CHETtheJET]

from one Lion to another, I'm hoping for the best.

 

[BYH]

*******, that really sucks. Love reading his stuff b/c of the perspective he brings. And The Worst Team Money Could Buy (co-authored with John Harper of the NYDN) should be required reading for everyone in the biz.

So should this: An incredibly enjoyable essay about why he plays well into middle age. It's a little sad, reading it today.

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2005/09/from_the_press_1.php

Get well soon.

 

[Angola!]

Never met Mr. Klapisch, but have always enjoyed reading his work online, even when I was back in England and starting to get into baseball seriously. I really hope he comes through this OK.

Back when I use to read the New York papers with regularity, I would always check into New Jersey to read Klapisch. I always thought he did the best job of writing on the Yankees. He had great insights and great features.

I assume he broke a lot of stuff as well, but I'm not really sure since I didn't read the other guys enough.

Anyway, good luck.

 

[gingerbread]

BYH,
Thanks for posting that article. I had never read it; it explains a lot about Klap the person and Klap the ball player.
He has some horrific surgeries ahead. I hope they don't prevent him from continuing to excel in his second love, or from watching his young kids play his first love. My thoughts are with him.

 

[buckweaver]

As someone who has taken one of those shots to the face on a baseball field -- fortunately, it didn't shatter any bones but my eye was swollen shut for three days and I had migraines for a month -- I wish Bob all the best.

He might have been 1/8-inch away, like I was, from not sustaining any major damage at all. The beauty and tragedy of baseball, but I think he knew that all along. Hopefully, his vision will come back and he'll be able to appreciate it more.

And good on him that he's still playing. What a wonderful piece of writing in that link that BYH posted.

 

[spnited]

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

 

[Joe Williams]

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.)

 

[casty33]

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.

 

[shockey]

Because Klap is facing such a long and difficult road back to regain his vision, I'm not sure this is the time to be lecturing him about playing semi-pro baseball at his age. Maybe it would just be best to offer up a prayer for him.

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.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

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?

 

[Small Town Guy]

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.

 

[BYH]

Because Klap is facing such a long and difficult road back to regain his vision, I'm not sure this is the time to be lecturing him about playing semi-pro baseball at his age. Maybe it would just be best to offer up a prayer for him.

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.

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.

 

[buckweaver]

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.