Chicago Cubs: Darvish is tougher than Yu think

Chicago Cubs: Money doesn’t change an athlete’s body

This is the reason we now have little league pitch counts, high school innings limits and a pitch counter in every on screen scorebox every time we watch a game on TV. We now take extra precautions to ensure the health of pitchers, whether they’re 12, 17 or 30.

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So, why then, when a pitcher signs a 100 million dollar guaranteed contract with our favorite team, are we so quick to throw that caution to the wind and label him as “soft,” “weak,” or other more derisive words meant to emasculate him?
Why don’t we believe him when he says he hurts?
The answer is simple – most fans haven’t had the kind of injuries these guys fight through on a daily basis.

We don’t believe professional athletes are truly hurt or the injury is serious unless something is broken or torn.  Ironically, in our daily lives, we grimace getting out of bed, grabbing Doritos from the pantry or getting off the toilet if we move the wrong way.

The other piece to this phenomenon is sometimes you are your best doctor.  You know what you’re feeling and how you’re supposed to feel.  You also know when something isn’t right, especially when you’ve been throwing a ball 95 MPH for more than a decade. An X-ray or MRI can’t always see everything, but you can certainly feel everything.

Chicago Cubs: Sometimes, you just know something is wrong

When I tore my labrum and rotator cuff at 24, the doctor didn’t see it in an X-ray or conventional MRI.  He told me he found no structural damage and suggested PT since surgery wasn’t necessary despite the fact I knew something was seriously wrong.

I went through 12 weeks of PT and still knew my arm wasn’t right.  I told him so.  At that point, he believed me and I had an arthrogram done, the dye injected MRI that makes it easier to see issues with soft tissue. He found a labral tear after doing the arthrogram and we scheduled surgery.

Funny thing is, when he cut me open and looked at everything, he also found a torn rotator cuff and the bone spur that was responsible for tearing a ligament when inflamed from throwing. He repaired everything, I went through PT, and was able to throw again nine months later.

My point here is that doctors can’t see everything.  Despite the marvels of modern medicine, we are still our own best doctors, and sometimes we know when something just isn’t right.  You don’t even have to be a world-class athlete to feel when something isn’t right.  Although, when you are, like Yu Darvish, you know immediately when something isn’t right and how far you can push your body before it goes from uncomfortable to just plain foolish.

Chicago Cubs: Hopefully, this ends Darvish’s woes in Chicago

Unfortunately, that personal knowledge that something doesn’t feel right often has to match up with what team doctors and trainers find as well, lest the player risk becoming a laughingstock or punching bag for ignorant fans and media members.

Thankfully and unfortunately all at the same time (if that’s possible), after months of speculation and naysayers, it was revealed that Yu has a stress reaction and bone bruise that would have probably ended up being something torn or broken given enough time.

Let’s hope this diagnosis and being shut down for the season will give Yu, the organization and fans at least a little peace of mind.

Just don’t count on it when it comes to some “fans.”