Jurr
12-10-2006, 11:33 AM
So, I'm at the Grizzlies game with a buddy from high school. He was drafted in the sixth round in '97 by the Cleveland Indians. We hadn't ever really been able to talk at length about his injury that ended his baseball career. He had some interesting stuff to say.
He worked his way up to AA, then attended Indians camp in '00, where he experienced a stretched capsule and torn rotator cuff. He was sent to Dr. Andrews in Birmingham for evaluation, and was operated on in the Cleveland area. Then, he received rehab treatment. He lost a whopping 6 MPH on his fastball, and for the first time, he was experiencing pain after pitching rehab sessions in the bullpen. He was worried it was over.
Now, he was approached by the training staff in mid '00 and told that he should get on a cycle of deca and winstrol to take away his inflammation and build up his shoulder muscles. He knew a lot of guys were taking it, especially in the pitching side of things, but he couldn't believe the trainers were suggesting it. He said that the trainers even told him the exact regimen of drugs to take. Flabbergasted, he refused. He was cut by the Indians 2 days later, thus ending his career.
Due to the nature of what went down, he tried to sue the Indians for wrongful medical practice. His lawyer began pursuing the case, but was shocked to see that the training staff and team doctors had documented everything to the t, but nowhere in their report was the steroid conversation listed. Given the fact that it was his word against the documented training staff report, he had no case.
I just couldn't believe that the training staff of all people were pushing him to pursue steroids. It wasn't banned in those days, but you'd think that these things wouldn't happen.
He worked his way up to AA, then attended Indians camp in '00, where he experienced a stretched capsule and torn rotator cuff. He was sent to Dr. Andrews in Birmingham for evaluation, and was operated on in the Cleveland area. Then, he received rehab treatment. He lost a whopping 6 MPH on his fastball, and for the first time, he was experiencing pain after pitching rehab sessions in the bullpen. He was worried it was over.
Now, he was approached by the training staff in mid '00 and told that he should get on a cycle of deca and winstrol to take away his inflammation and build up his shoulder muscles. He knew a lot of guys were taking it, especially in the pitching side of things, but he couldn't believe the trainers were suggesting it. He said that the trainers even told him the exact regimen of drugs to take. Flabbergasted, he refused. He was cut by the Indians 2 days later, thus ending his career.
Due to the nature of what went down, he tried to sue the Indians for wrongful medical practice. His lawyer began pursuing the case, but was shocked to see that the training staff and team doctors had documented everything to the t, but nowhere in their report was the steroid conversation listed. Given the fact that it was his word against the documented training staff report, he had no case.
I just couldn't believe that the training staff of all people were pushing him to pursue steroids. It wasn't banned in those days, but you'd think that these things wouldn't happen.