Rehab can be a lonely life
Baseball is a team sport, but for players on the disabled list it can be a lonely life – especially on the road.
“You’re still part of the team but you’re not,” Jeff Nelson said Tuesday. “You try to get your work in early in the day so you’re not in anyone’s way.”
Edgar Martinez, for instance, was at the ballpark 5 1/2 hours before the game to get physical therapy. Nelson wasn’t far behind him.
“On the road, the training rooms are small, and the guys who are playing need it closer to game time,” said Martinez, eligible to come off the DL next Tuesday.
Martinez, who hasn’t played since April 11, puts in long days on the road, where he not only misses the camaraderie of the clubhouse but his family.
“I could work out at home, but this is where I’m getting the best treatment, where I have the best chance of coming back soon,” he said. “The worst part of it is that every day is the same.”
Example?
On Tuesday, Martinez got physical therapy, stretched and took early batting practice – all before 3 p.m. Then, working with trainer Rick Griffin, he went through a series of on-field agility drills, finishing them with 14 sprints of about 50 yards.
After a quick break, it was on to the weight room and more exercises, both for his upper and lower body. Then another physical therapy session.
All accomplished before the bus from the team hotel had left at 4 p.m.
Martinez then stretched again with teammates and took regular batting practice.
“During the game, he’ll go up to the clubhouse and ride the bike there for 20-25 minutes, then do some water therapy,” Griffin said. “It’s a long day, every day.”
For Nelson, who played catch Tuesday, the routine is much the same.
“You want to be part of it, you want to be back but you can’t rush it,” said Nelson, recuperating from elbow surgery. “When you feel good, you ‘re afraid to go to far. When you feel bad, you’re afraid you’re going backward.”
For weeks, Martinez would grab his bat and walk out to one hitting cage or another on the road and – alone – hit baseballs off a tee into a net.
On Tuesday, he opened a traveling case and pulled out a few ”game” bats, those he’s been saving.
“You want to remind them you’re coming back,” he said, laughing. “You want to tell them to save those hits. I think bats get lonesome, too.”
Dissing Ichiro: Bret Boone used mock rage to break up the clubhouse and teammate Ichiro Suzuki, who he accused of collecting hits without the benefit of a good swing.
“Look at how he does it, a 12 hopper to shortstop,” Boone said. “I could hit those and go 0-for-4 every game the rest of my life. He does it and gets two hits a game. He gets hits on balls that knock the limbs off pitchers, on balls that don’t roll 30 feet. I’m swinging great and can’t buy a hit, Ichiro doesn’t even need to swing well. Just tap – oh, let me beat this out – and he’s got another hit.”
No one laughed harder at the outburst than Suzuki.
Double trouble: Two-for-one: In their last seven games, the Mariners had hit
into 14 double plays.
Tonight’s Game: Seattle plays Oakland in a 7:05 p.m. game at the Network
Associates Coliseum that will be televised on FSN. Probable starting
pitchers: Jamie Moyer (4-2, 4.29) vs. Corey Lidle (1-5, 5.94).
Reach staff writer Larry LaRue at larry.larue@mail.tribnet.com
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