Kuzul

Every baseball season, there are injuries around the league.  Some are so bad that a few can never rebound and make the same impact as they did before—i.e. Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets, who has now been forced to change positions due to injury.

Depending on the situation, whether it’s Tommy John surgery, a shoulder operation, elbow tendinitis or a broken foot, baseball is a very tough sport to recover in.  This can be due to the fact that “Americas pastime,” puts a high demand on muscles that aren’t used in everyday life. 

Not to mention that those muscles and ligaments are used in an unusual fashion.

The throwing motion, for one, is a prime example of overuse of certain shoulder and arm muscles.

With constant force on the knee joints, whether it be getting in a fielding position or moving side to side, the ligaments eventually began to fall apart like tread on a tire. 

Baseball players bodies’ are like tires.  They can ride great when they’re fresh and new, however, once they start to wear down from the overuse, bad things can happen.

Now that the steroid era has come and gone—at least it looks that way—more superstars are coming up with injuries.  Why? Because of the constant grind on their rubber-like bodies.

A few players may never be the same again this season.  

So who are they?

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Adam Wainwright got a surprise this week.  It has been determined that he will have to endure every pitcher’s worst nightmare—Tommy John surgery—and will miss the 2011 season.

Will he ever be the same?

That is the big question not only Wainwright is probably asking, but every baseball fan in St. Louis, as well.

With the recent explosion in the field of sports medicine, all signs point to a successful recovery for Wainwright.

The fact that his own teammate, Chris Carpenter, went under the knife in 2007, could be an optimism booster for Wainwright. I say this because the former ace battled through the injury and has re-emerged as one of the MLB‘s top pitchers.

In 2009, Carpenter finished second in the NL Cy Young voting.  The following season he was voted to his third All-Star game.  Since the surgery, his record has been 33-15 with 323 strikeouts.

In order for Wainwright to make a successful comeback there will be two major factors:

1. He will have to be patient and understanding.  It takes time for the replaced ligament to gain enough strength in order to throw the pearl.
2. When beginning rehab, it is vital that he not only stretches his arm, but also his shoulder.  

If he fails to do so, he will be adding even more stress not only to his elbow, but his shoulder and rotator cuff as well.

The St. Louis Cardinals will almost certainly make sure their new found ace gets the best possible treatment.

As long as the hurler takes his time and works hard, we could see a revamped All-Star selection in 2012. 

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In 2010 Elvis Andrus had an average year batting average-wise and still made the AL All-Star team. 

Now heading into his third season in the “Bigs,” Andrus has the opportunity and ability to emerge as the AL’s top short stop.

Andrus hit .265/.342/.301 in 2010 with 35 runs batted in, 32 stolen bases and no home runs. 

What will he have to do to be top gun come mid-July in 2011?

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The World Series begins tonight and it is going to be quite an adventure. The National League Champion San Francisco Giants will host the American League Champion Texas Rangers at 8 PM Eastern on FOX. Both teams won their respective divisions. It was the Rangers first division title and the Giants seventh.

The Rangers have won 2 career postseason series and have never won a World Series.

The Giants enter this series with their second NL pennant and third division title this decade.  In 2002, they lost to the Angles 4-3 in a terrible game six collapse, after being up 5-0. The original “G-Men” have been to the World Series three times, in 1962, 1989 and 2002, since coming to the Golden State.

Personally, I believe the past demise for these two young and talented teams has been inexperience which is no longer an issue.

The Rangers have four active players that have experienced October baseball. Catcher Bengie Molina beat the Giants in ’02 for a World Series title. Staff ace Cliff Lee has World Series experience, dominating the Yankees in ’09. DH/OF Vladimir Guerrero and OF Jeff Francoeur also have prior playoff experience.

The Giants also have four active players that have witnessed playoff fever. Starting with infielder Edgar Renteria, who in 1997, hit the game winning RBI to give the Florida Marlins their first World Series title over the Cleveland Indians. Then there is infielder Juan Uribe, who also has a ring with the Chicago White Sox, as well as outfielders Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand.

These experienced players helped their teams advance with positive energy and focus through the season. Their past successes helped lead their newer, younger teammates to glory.

Here are the key players to watch in this World Series:

Texas Rangers

Cliff Lee:

This guy is a monster in his short post season career. He is 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA. He has three complete games, an average of eight innings per start, and a 10/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. If he leads the Rangers to their first World Series, he will be the greatest post season pitcher EVER.

Vladimir Guerrero:

Texas Manager Ron Washington has said that Vlad will play the field on occasion during games in San Francisco. Furthermore, Giants Manager Bruce Bochy, will most likely look to  intentionally walk All-Star Josh Hamilton.  This will leave Vlad and Cruz to do the dirty work. Having him DH most of the season clearly has helped the Rangers — 1^st in RBI’s 115, 3^rd in BA .300, 2^nd in HR 29, 3^rd in hits 178 — as he was among the league leaders in multiple offensive categories. Not to mention his arm could still shock us a few times this series. Mark my words.

Elvis Andrus:

This kid is legit at the leadoff spot and shows great promise in the field. He led the rangers in steals (32), was third in runs (88), fourth in hits (156) and first in BB (64). He will need to be successful on base and in the field for the Rangers to be successful this series. 

Neftali Feliz:

The young stud (22 years old) surprised many of us this season, as he was handed the job as closer within the first two weeks of the season. He went on to have a monster rookie year with 40 saves, 71 strikeouts and 18 walks. This kid will have to keep his cool to help the Rangers finish games this series.

San Francisco Giants

Tim Lincecum:

In his first postseason, “Timmy the Freak” is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA. He is currently averaging seven innings a game this postseason and will need to continue to give their bullpen rest in order to win this series.

Buster Posey:

The first round pick has worked out well so far at catcher in the second half of the season. He was first on the team in BA (.305), third in RBI’s (67), and struck out only 55 times, second best out of the primary starters. Also, he had an OPS of .862, which is unheard of for a rookie. This kid may shock the world with the calm, cool and collected approach he brings to the plate.

Aubrey Huff:

The veteran led the team in RBI’s (86), hits (165), runs (100), home runs (26), BB (83), plate appearances (668), OPS (.891) and was third in batting average (.290). He also was second in fielding percentage for position players at .997, behind only catcher Bengie Molina, who had .998. He clearly carries this team offensively and has struggled a little this postseason. Huff needs to step his game up offensively for the Giants.

Bullpen:

Unlike the Rangers bullpen, which has three pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched, the Giants have only have two. Closer Brian Wilson (74.2) and reliever Sergio Romo (62). Both starting pitchers, Jonathan Sanchez (averaged 5 IP per game) and Madison Bumgarner (averaged 3.1 IP per game), have struggled this postseason going late into games. Most would say experience wins, but I think the Giants pen has been successful this post season due to the low amount of innings split this season. Their bullpen helped beat the Phillies in six games throwing 19.1 innings, 22 strike outs, 15 hits, eight walks and only six runs. This bullpen will be key for the Giants to win games.

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