Maybe we were a little too glib with our reaction to Casey Janssen's injury yesterday. As has been established by a few others (including Wilner and Jon Hale), the implications of a labrum injury for a pitcher are pretty profound.Maybe it was just having the dark spectre of Mike Sirotka's injury raised throughout the discussion (especially in Will Carroll's four year-old piece in Slate titled "Baseball's Most Fearsome Injury") that made us realize how serious this was.
It's not that the Jays won't be able to adjust. Our point of view yesterday was focussed more on the impact that this had for the team and their always slim chances at the playoffs. But the more you think about it, the more that it comes clear that this is all about Janssen. He's a bright young talent and a good kid (we suppose...we'd like to think) whose career is now teetering on the edge of oblivion. Jeff Blair reports that he's "crushed", and hearing that humanizes the situation in a way that smarmy fucks like us can't really be arsed to consider when spouting off.
Our fingers are crossed that we see Casey with his high socks and his general twitchiness on the mound sometime in 2009.
That's quite the glamour shot of Mr. Janssen....
ReplyDeleteI know how he's feeling. I remember one time at a chicken wing eat off, I could only get 2 pounds down before I nearly fainted. It was crushing to realize I would never face Kobiyashi or Eater X in the big show.
ReplyDeleteYou showed genuine class making this post though...and that's why we come back every day.
You probably wouldn't have passed out if you hadn't swallowed the bones.
ReplyDeleteThat's always been your problem... swallowing too many bones.
The problem isn't the swallowing, it's not finding a way to make money off it.
ReplyDeleteHEYYYYOOOOO
ReplyDeletereal tough break for Casey. seems like a good kid who loves the game and just wants to throw. let's just hope he's back in '09.