Derrek Lee Has Thumb Surgery

The only thing really of interest here, since he's no longer a Cub, is that the thumb injury was sustained on Opening Day.

The Cubs' practice of letting veterans play through injuries like this has got to stop. This is why Lee and Ramirez both had horrible first halves -- if they'd have been DL'd, maybe they could have come back in a month and been productive.

over 1 year ago Al Yellon 23 comments 0 recs |

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Wow. This is ridiculous. Thank god we are working with a new manager.

Here’s to hoping this doesn’t continue with the Q

by CubFan90 on Nov 8, 2010 3:16 PM CST reply actions

Has Quade ever been asked about this practice?

by elgato on Nov 8, 2010 3:31 PM CST reply actions

Is it an organizational issue?

''"I always thought I was the most competitive person out there. I never thought I'd find anybody more competitive until I met him.'' Ryan Dempster talking about Ted Lilly

by Madison Cub Fan on Nov 8, 2010 4:17 PM CST up reply actions

That's what I'd like to know.

by elgato on Nov 8, 2010 4:54 PM CST up reply actions

That's a good question.

And I would like to know the answer.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Nov 8, 2010 5:00 PM CST up reply actions

His free agent year...

…he wasn’t going to sit…it’s ALL about the Benjamins. You’re right tho, Al…these coaches NEED to be more observant and STOP taking the word of these guys about NOT being hurt. Those 2’s (Lee and Ramirez) performance the 1st half of the season put this team in a hole that was not possible to climb out of. It’s not all on them, but, the 3 and 4 hitters are the “heart” of the order and those 2 had nothing.

"I don't care who the manager is OR who they sign in the off-season...I want a frickin' World Series winner" - Easy Ed

by Easy Ed on Nov 8, 2010 4:04 PM CST reply actions

but he gets more $$$ with a better season

Also why are these players not frustrated about their play when they are hurt? Won’t they rather take some time off and then play better? It’s not football where as a star misses a game it affects the the whole season.

Yes there should be some blame on the manager. But I also blame the training staff. They should be telling the manager it.

''"I always thought I was the most competitive person out there. I never thought I'd find anybody more competitive until I met him.'' Ryan Dempster talking about Ted Lilly

by Madison Cub Fan on Nov 8, 2010 4:15 PM CST up reply actions

What if they tell him he needed surgery in May?

He wasn’t gonna risk it. He probably didn’t expect to suck as bad as he did with his injured thumb.

"I don't care who the manager is OR who they sign in the off-season...I want a frickin' World Series winner" - Easy Ed

by Easy Ed on Nov 8, 2010 4:58 PM CST up reply actions

Come on.

Look at Soriano, Ramirez, Lee. All played worse when they were hurt, better when healed.

What’s worse: missing a few weeks and coming back at 100%, or playing at 75% for two months and having a down year?

I know what I’d pick.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Nov 8, 2010 5:01 PM CST up reply actions

Certainly, if it was just for a couple weeks...

…but, he obviously needed surgery and having that done in May probably would have shelved him until at least August at the minimum. In a free agent year?…you’d play hell trying to find a player who’d do that. You underestimate the greed of a professional athlete. To an athlete, playing hurt, if at all possible, is better than not playing at all. Out of sight…out of mind. It’s all about $,$$$,$$$.

"I don't care who the manager is OR who they sign in the off-season...I want a frickin' World Series winner" - Easy Ed

by Easy Ed on Nov 8, 2010 5:20 PM CST up reply actions

August?

Seriously? Again, put him on the DL and do something — that “aggressive” treatment the Braves gave him seemed to work.

And again, he’d probably be better positioned for free agency if he had four good months in 2010 rather than have three bad injured months and one hot streak.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Nov 8, 2010 5:38 PM CST up reply actions

They both STUNK for so long...

… I don’t care if they were hurt or not, they should have sat out more.

by TheHawkRules on Nov 8, 2010 4:08 PM CST reply actions

I wonder if this speaks volumes...

…about how good the trainers/health folk is on this team?

The article mentioned how the Braves… who win all the stinking time…. were more aggressive in treating this.

I think this is something Quade and Hendry SHOULD take not of.

by TheHawkRules on Nov 8, 2010 4:10 PM CST reply actions

The Braves went five years between postseason appearances.

by elgato on Nov 8, 2010 4:55 PM CST up reply actions

How'd they do before that?

"I don't care who the manager is OR who they sign in the off-season...I want a frickin' World Series winner" - Easy Ed

by Easy Ed on Nov 8, 2010 4:59 PM CST up reply actions

agreed

What as been their record under that Cox guy?

by TheHawkRules on Nov 8, 2010 5:02 PM CST up reply actions

The Braves are a good organization.

But to say they “win all the stinking time” hasn’t been true for a while. That’s all I was saying.

by elgato on Nov 8, 2010 5:14 PM CST up reply actions

so frustrating

especially when you consider that the cubs had xavier nady and chad tracy ready to take over while lee and ramirez took a few months off. i can’t stand it when guys try to play through pain so as to continue their careers. i mean, look at all the teams lining up to sign erik bedard coming off his surgery-plagued lost season in 2010. now that the recession is over teams are going to be spending big time this offseason and probably won’t even consider a player’s recent health.

by circuitclout on Nov 8, 2010 6:05 PM CST reply actions

This just galls me.

No.3 and No.4 hitters, trying to play while injured, is a recipe for disaster.

Hey Mike Q, we're long overdue.

by deadcatbounce on Nov 8, 2010 6:42 PM CST reply actions

This is interesting

Buried at the end of this Paul Sullivan article about whether Zambrano is a #1 starter (so what? after the first round through the rotation it doesn’t matter) is this quote from Mike Quade:

“I literally check my ego at the door,” Quade said. "Now, if you stomp off the mound and you’re upset, I get it. That’s OK. If I have to go out to second base and pick up the baseball because you flipped it over there, well, it’s probably not going to go quite as smoothly.

“There were a couple of moments where he was fired up or disappointed or upset, and I get that. That’s OK. But he’s also a veteran guy and an important part of this club. That status usually gives you a little leeway.

“It doesn’t give you carte blanche. It ain’t Club Med for the veterans, by any means.”

That last sentence tells you all you need to know. It doesn’t sound like he’d do what Lou and Dusty did with veteran players. Good.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Nov 9, 2010 7:16 AM CST reply actions

Hmm...

Interesting how two different eyes can see the same thing differently. I was pretty alarmed when I read that.

I read that article and honed in on the idea of Quade staring down a teammate on the field and disrespecting the manager and him being ok with it.

The games will have to be played to see how he works out. My biggest fear for an inexperienced manager like Quade is that when the team heads south he won’t have the clubhouse credibility to pull them back.

We can diss Lou now, but I think about what he was able to do in 2007 when he kicked his team in the butt, handled a dugout brawl, etc. I don’t know that Quade could do anything like that.

Eamus Ursuli!

by WGNstatic on Nov 9, 2010 7:39 AM CST up reply actions

He basically said...

… that if a player showed he was “disappointed or upset”, he understood. But throwing a ball away because he disrespected a manager, that’s a different story.

You’re giving Lou too much credit and not enough to Quade. It’s clear that the players already respect Quade. I don’t think he’d have any problems with keeping that respect.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Nov 9, 2010 8:08 AM CST up reply actions