Post-Season Injuries

[Ksyrup]

I'm not talking about the playoffs, but after the season ends. So far, Lance Berkman and Rocco Baldelli have both torn their ACLs. Six months minimum for each, I believe.

Ouch.

[JeeberD]

Uhhh...huh? What about Lance???

[JeeberD]

Dola-

Sheeee-it... :( :mad:

HOUSTON -- Houston Astros outfielder Lance Berkman tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will undergo surgery within the next 10 days, the team said Friday.

The Astros said it will take Berkman between five and six months to recover.

The circumstances of the injury were not immediately available.

Berkman, who made the National League All-Star team, batted .316 this season with 30 home runs and 106 RBI in 160 games. He became the first outfielder to have three 30-homer seasons with the Astros.

Berkman made his major league debut in 1999 after he was Houston's first-round pick in the June 1997 draft. He has a career average of .303 with 156 home runs and 535 RBI in 775 games.

[Ksyrup]

The circumstances of the injury were not immediately available.
He's still consulting Jeff Kent before he releases the official version of what happened.

Seriously, this sucks.

[JeeberD]

He was probably out hunting and tripped over a log or something stupid like that...

[wbatl1]

And I give you...

AARON BOONE!!!!!

Last Offseason

[Ksyrup]

Berkman hurt himself playing flag football.

[3ric]

The DKBL mirrors real life! Or is it the other way around?

[Ksyrup]

You guys have off-season flag football leagues? Damn, that's one hell of a committed league!

[miami_fan]

I believe the flag football game was a charity event for a local church or chruch group.

[miami_fan]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2887167

Torn ACL may force Berkman to miss '05 start
Outfielder's knee injury leaves club with big hole
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle


The Astros, who stand to lose RBI leader Jeff Kent and once-in-a-generation center fielder Carlos Beltran via free agency this winter, absorbed another blow when outfielder Lance Berkman suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee playing flag football.

The sky might not be falling in Houston, but the RBI production is for a team that was a victory away from reaching the World Series last month. Kent (107 RBIs), Beltran (104 RBIs) and Berkman (106) led the Astros' offense this season. Now there's a good chance they will be missing when the Astros open the season next April.

Known for his positive outlook, Berkman, a three-time All-Star, used humor to caution against panic. He also joked he is more frustrated because he wasn't playing "worth a dang" during the flag football game when he got hurt at Second Baptist Church on Oct. 28. Nonetheless, he might be out until mid-May.

"I haven't missed a game yet," said Berkman, who hit .316 with 30 home runs in 160 games this year, leading the club in average, games, home runs, walks, slugging percentage (.566), on-base percentage (.450) and total bases (308). "When I miss a game, then tell people to start mourning my loss."

Berkman expects to have the surgery Wednesday or Friday with Astros medical director Dr. David Lintner.

Recovery time is expected to take about five to six months, barring complications or setbacks.


'Significant injury'
"It's a significant injury, but it's not like, 'Hey, this guy will never come back,' " Berkman said. "Shoot, I may never miss a game. It happened at Second Baptist, and that's not even where I go to church. I had no business being out there (playing football). There's no doubt about that. At the same time, we play football all the time in the offseason. I use that as part of just staying in shape."

Berkman said he was playing safety when he first felt the injury, but he kept playing and felt it again while playing quarterback later in the game.

"I was playing safety and the guy was running down the opposite sideline," he said. "I was probably running three-quarters speed just loping along. He tried to stop and I tried to stop, and I put my foot down and it gave way. It gave a nasty crunch sound and I said, 'Oh, gosh.' I stayed in the game.

"A couple of plays later I was playing quarterback and made a pass and jumped up to throw the ball and when I landed I felt it give a little bit again."

Berkman, 28, just finished a three-year contract that paid him $11 million with all the incentives. Activities such as flag football are barred in standard contracts, but because his contract expired after the Astros were eliminated in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series last month, he broke no contractual obligations.

"Players have lives outside of the game," Astros general manager Tim Purpura said. "What they do with those lives (is) their decision. They bear some risks. The way Lance has handled this is absolutely first class and what you'd expect from Lance Berkman."

Berkman stands to make at least $10 million this winter in his final year of arbitration if he doesn't get a multi-year contract. Beltran, considered the top free agent on the market this winter, is primed for the windfall. Kent is negotiating to return to the Astros next year.

If All-Stars Berkman, Kent and Beltran are missing on opening day, Jeff Bagwell (89 RBIs) will be the top RBI man back from this season.

"The prognosis is five to six months of recovery," Purpura said. "He'll probably begin running activities within about 10 to 12 weeks. And then around four months he'll get back to baseball-related activities and progress from there. ... I think it's an unfortunate event, but the fact that Lance was absolutely and totally forthright with us and has absolutely accepted responsibility for this, it shows the kind of person he is, the kind of character he has."

Berkman is the only outfielder to have three 30-homer seasons with the Astros, and he has tied the club record for most 100-RBI seasons by an outfielder with three. Picked in the first round out of Rice in the June 1997 draft, Berkman has a career average of .303 with 156 home runs and 535 RBIs in 775 games since his debut with the Astros in 1999.


Huge piece of offense
"He's a huge, huge piece of their offense," Berkman's agent, Mike Moye, said. " He's going to work hard to get back as quickly as he can because he recognizes they need him."

[Ksyrup]

I was playing safety and the guy was running down the opposite sideline," he said. "I was probably running three-quarters speed just loping along. He tried to stop and I tried to stop, and I put my foot down and it gave way. It gave a nasty crunch sound and I said, 'Oh, gosh.' I stayed in the game.

"A couple of plays later I was playing quarterback and made a pass and jumped up to throw the ball and when I landed I felt it give a little bit again."



I was expecting another line that read, "Then at the end of the game, I was running for a TD, and I felt something weird, looked over, and saw my knee cheering for me on the sideline, and thought, "Good Golly Miss Molly!"

[JeeberD]

The DKBL mirrors real life! Or is it the other way around?

At least he hasn't ditched the Astros for the Dodgers IRL yet...