"It's one of those things that's been bugging me a little bit," Moehler said. "It's been an off and on thing for a few weeks now."
Brian Moehler on his knee.
This kind of crap is what kills me. Did anyone on the team know about this? If so, why was he allowed to pitch? Why not bump up Ortiz and let Moehler have ten days into the season before he was needed for a start?
Can anyone provide any sense of reasonableness to this madness? Because if Moehler didn't inform anyone on the team and he got crushed last time because he couldn't pitch well enough through the pain, then what business does he have to go out there and take the ball?
11 months ago
Stephen Higdon
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from BPro's commentary on Billy Wagner's 2000 season:
Why do pitchers do this? Why does baseball encourage it? When your arm hurts, tell someone! The culture of sport dictates that a player should hurt his team by trying to play when he’s physically incapable, and any player that pulls himself from competition because he feels he is doing his team a disservice is selfish. Not only does this place players at risk of permanent injury, it doesn’t do anyone any good. The Astros were not helped because Wagner denied for two months that his arm hurt. The 1978 Red Sox lost the division because Butch Hobson refused to go on the DL with a bum arm and made 43 errors at third base. Grow up, guys. In the Marines, they say that pain is weakness leaving the body, but in sport, it’s weakness entering the body.
There are players who, when they play injured, can still contribute. They still shouldn’t do it, but they’re good enough that even when they’re hurt they play well. Moehler is most definitely not that type of player, and all he does is fuck up everything when he tries to be one.
by Only_A_Lad on Apr 13, 2009 9:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Seriously
And that’s a good point about there being some guys who can suck it up and produce. Moehler got by on a lot of luck last year, and the one thing you cannot mix with luck is misfortune.
Although the game was only 4-0 when he left today, and on Wednesday, I’ll still go ahead a chalk those losses up to Moehler being stupid.
Even if Moehler was being macho and not speaking up. It’s not like the buck stops there. There are trainers and pitching coaches and managers whose job it is to make informed decisions about the capability of the players. They’re literally the only ones who can access the situation and then make decisions accordingly. If Moehler’s knee has been bothering him for awhile, I imagine that he’s been limping, get ice, stem, or some sort of treatment for it as well. My point being that I’m sure the powers at be knew about this.
The result of their ascribing to the philosophy above is two disastrous outings by Brian Moehler—two games we’ll never get back.
The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
by Stephen Higdon on Apr 13, 2009 10:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's one thing I appreciated about Brocail last week....
as much as he hates to say anything that would keep him out of games, he admitted that his arm soreness was hampering his control. Then, as the Astros were faced with a decision last weekend on calling someone up, they asked Brocail if he thought he would be well enough to pitch by Wednesday. Brocail reluctantly admitted, “probably not.” Wade said he didn’t think Brocail would tell the truth, but he appreciated that he did. Brocail said that, in past years, he probably would have lied to keep from going on the DL, but he realizes that he hurts the team when he does that.
by clack on Apr 13, 2009 10:00 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Brocail has a few years on Moehler
But if we’re keeping veteran guys around for their “presence” perhaps its up to the veterans to set positive examples like:
(The scene, the final days before the season gets underway)
Brian Moehler: He Coop and Dewy, I just wanted to let you know that my knee has been bothering me for a few days and its affecting my pitching.
Coop: Thanks for letting us know Brian. Hey Dewy, why don’t you watch Brian go throw off the mound and bring a trainer with you.
(five minutes later)
Dewy: Coop, Brian admitted that he probably needs a few days rest to get this under control and the trainers suggested getting it looked at with some imaging. I guess we’ll have to bump Ortiz up in the third or fourth slot and then we can save Brian until the 16th.
Coop: That sounds good. This way we don’t have to call up a minor leaguer and eventually send him back down, burning an option of his. Boy, I sure am glad that Brian came to us before the season started and let us know what was up. Otherwise this could have resulted in a truly misfortunate situation that sees us drop two games, waste a call up, and jumble our fifth starter all up because he would have had to come in and make a relief appearance when Brian ultimately would have had to be pulled from a game 2-3 innings into it.
(Ed Wade peeks his head around the corner)
EW: See guys, this is why veterans are so valuable.
(To the three young guys on the Astros bench…young being defined as less than thirty…so all three of them)
EW: This is a lesson to all of you, it’s more important to speak up and not risk the fortunes of your team by playing through an injury by not just performing miserably, but injuring yourself further—thereby missing more time.
(idly)
EW: Now if I can only remember to send a transcript of this to the minor league organization so young people actually learn from veteran presence.
The Crawfishboxes
A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while.
by Stephen Higdon on Apr 13, 2009 11:10 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
This thing doesn't work right
it only allows me to give you +1 rec, when you clearly deserve more.
by AstroAndy on Apr 13, 2009 11:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
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