It’s been a rough couple of weeks for ballplayers, managers
and general managers which remind us fans that people associated with professional
sports are indeed human after all. After
the whole Houston Astros scandal wreaked havoc on the them, the Mets and the
Red Sox you had the big Kobe Bryant helicopter crash on the day of the NFL
championship game. Then we got
announcements about sportswriters, front office personnel and older ballplayers
facing health crises (or death), but for some reason none hit me quite as hard
as the news revealed on Saturday night that short-term Met Tony Fernandez is on
kidney and oxygen support in desperate condition at just age 57.
I got to thinking why his health revelation made such an
impact on me. After all, Fernandez was a
four time All Star, four time Gold Glove winner and was in the MVP voting a few
times when he arrived still in his prime to the Mets at age 31. It was 1993, one of the darker eras in Mets
history, when winning was pipe dream. In
fact, during the 1992/1993 off-season the Mets sent Wally Whitehurst and minor
leaguer D.J. Dozier to the Padres for the star infielder. He dealt with injuries and put together his
worst offensive numbers ever after coming to Queens. During the lost season that saw the dual
incompetency of Jeff Torborg and Dallas Green rack up a 59-103 record. Al Harazin conceded defeat and shipped him off
to Toronto where he’d had some of his best output for failed outfielder Darrin
Jackson.
Fernandez bounced back from his injuries and wound up
playing another five years for a variety of ballclubs, hitting .295 with 41
home runs and 301 RBIs. He was much more
like the pre-Mets player towards the latter stages of his career than he was
during his 173 ABs in Queens. A player
with this kind of professional success would seem to be in great health as his
body was indeed his paycheck.
Consequently, hearing about his current ordeal at a young age seemed
incongruent, inappropriate and personally hit very close to home.
Many of you are aware I took a forced absence from this site
during December and early January due to an as-yet-undiagnosed condition which
caused me to pass out in my home, slamming my head on my dresser as I fell, fracturing
my brain in multiple places and giving me such a bad black eye I couldn’t even
joke to my friends it was my wife who did it.
Floating in and out of consciousness for about a week led to a transfer
for nearly 3 weeks in a rehab hospital which, in turn, was followed by a bed in
an outpatient facility for advanced rehab.
Being the stubborn person that I am, I took myself out of
the third place on the earliest opportunity as they weren’t even sure whether
or not the insurance company was going to pitch in at all on the medical
expenses. Considering they were more than
four figures per day for a medical equivalent of a Motel 6 room, it didn’t seem
like a good investment. About two weeks
later I was told the insurance company would pay for the treatment, but had I
stayed there the entire expense would have been on me while they twiddled their
thumbs making this payment decision.
The good news for me, of course, is that I’m too stubborn to
let a life threatening injury slow me down for long and I was back at the
office long before it was medically advised to do so. My energy level is coming back to me and the
blackness of the eye has gone away. The
best news to come out of this whole ordeal is that not being conscious nor even
oriented to my normal lifestyle, I’ve lost thus far about 37 pounds, but I
wouldn’t recommend brain injuries as a replacement for Weight Watchers or
whatever the diet-du jour is.
It finally connected in my healing brain that the news about
Tony Fernandez clicked because he is two years younger than I am and spent his
career with an All-Star body. I wouldn’t
wish this kind of medical tragedy to affect anyone, but especially not someone
who was so much better at caring for his body than I was. I know he was only a Met for a very short
period of time, but the news about his life threatening injury on top of all of
the other recent tragedy really impacted me and I can only wish the best
for his recovery.
5 comments:
Ironically, Tony Fernandez did not underperform for the Mets due to a variety of injuries. He was suffering from kidney stones for much of the few months that he spent with the Mets. Perhaps, a precursor to what he is going through now.
Here's hoping he can get the kidney transplant he needs to survive.
Reese -
Did you get ice cream on that brain injury diet?
Weight Watchers has ice cream.
Did you? Did you?
Good Morning, Reese.
Quite the harrowing tale concerning your recent medical issue. I am glad that you are on the road to
recovery, to say the least.
As far as Tony Fernandez, he was the consummate pro and it is hard to believe that he has been retired for
as long as he has been retired already. It is also hard to envision a professional athlete in a compromised physical
state.
The sad part is that all of us tend to take our health for granted until something like this (or your situation) happens.
Mack -- the periodontist after Monday's surgery last week recommended ice cream. I found sugar-free butter pecan and it was my dinner. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Mike -- a friend of mine just took a tumble on a concrete sidewalk which required actual brain surgery and he's still not verbal, so by comparison I got damned lucky. I'm driving, I'm working and I have enough residual story about my situation to get out of most housework :)
Remembering the '93 season is painful. One notable thing about it is that we spend HUGE amounts of money on payroll, resulting in Bob Klapisch's famous book, "The Worst Team Money Could Buy".
A perfect response to those who insist our "cheap" owners need only to spend more now to gain instant success. 😢
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