Maddux Back In Blue

For the second time in three seasons, Greg Maddux is back in Dodger blue after a deadline deal. Two years ago in 2006, Ned Colletti sent SS Cesar Izturis to the Cubs to get Maddux at the non-waiver deadline. That year, he went 6-3 in the final two months, helping the Dodgers back into the post-season. This time, it was a waiver deal, with about two weeks left before that deadline on August 31. To get Maddux this time around, they sent the infamous two players to be named later to San Diego. Because those minor leaguers had not cleared through waivers at the time of the deal, the names of those two players could not be made public per baseball rules.

In the meantime, Maddux returns to the Dodgers one win shy of tying Roger Clemens on the all-time career wins list. With Brad Penny on the DL again, the Dodgers had to get some rotation depth. It was either Maddux or bring up prospect James McDonald from AAA-Las Vegas, but McDonald has struggled of late and the Dodgers obviously felt he wasn't ready. Might be a blessing in disguise because personally I think a smart, veteran pitcher would have a bigger impact on the success of the team and pitching rotation

Maddux will make his second Dodger debut tomorrow night when the Dodgers open a 10-game road trip in Philadelphia. Dodgers are 4-0 so far against Philly after sweeping them last week at home to start the just concluded homestand.

Five in a Row

What ended as a disastrous weekend in San Francisco last weekend has turned into a five-game winning streak to start the homestand, including a four-game sweep of the Phillies. Manny continues to be Manny (oh, and he finally "trimmed" his dreads, too!); Andre Ethier and Nomar continue to provide late-inning heroics; the pen is getting the job done; and the team caught Arizona atop the standings and share first place with the Snakes. All in all, it has been a successful week so far. With Milwaukee in town, the Dodgers get a bigger break when they avoid a red-hot CC Sabathia, and Ben Sheets. With about 40 games left in the schedule, the Dodgers picked the ideal time to play well, and go on a hot streak. If they can continue to play well, and continue the hot streak, they should be in great shape down the stretch. There is no room for error anymore. Now is the time.

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One other note: the Dodgers reportedly have put in a waiver claim for Washington second baseman Ronnie Belliard. Speculation is they put the claim in simply to prevent him from going to Arizona. (Arizona lost their second baseman Orlando Hudson last week for the remainder of the season with a wrist injury.) However, other sources say the Dodgers and Washington are trying to work out a deal to bring the second baseman to L.A. with the idea that he'd be their everyday second baseman next season should Jeff Kent opt to retire or play somewhere else.

Baseball and Concussions

Two words you rarely see in the same sentence.

You hear about concussions all the time in more contact sports than baseball, such as football and hockey. In football, defensive backs putting big hits on receivers, or defensive linebackers doing the same to quarterbacks are the most common causes of players suffering concussions. In hockey, it's generally any one player putting a hit or a hard check on another player either into the boards or the player taking a spill to the ice. But in baseball, where major contact with another player isn't as common as in other sports, unless perhaps a runner is barreling towards home plate to try and score, and the catcher is waiting for the runner and anticipating a hard collision, you rarely hear about concussions.

The Mets' Ryan Church, a victim of two collisions of different sorts on the playing field, knows all too well about the dangers of suffering a concussion, feeling the effects of post-concussion syndrome (PSC), which has ended a number of hockey, football and baseball players careers too early, and attempting to beat PCS too soon.

Church has been feeling those effects since the day he first collided with teammate Marlon Anderson in spring training. Both players had CT Scans which came back negative, and the Mets held Church out of baseball activities until his symtoms disappeared.

He was in the Mets Opening Day starting lineup. But less than two months later, Church suffered a second concussion when he was accidently kneed in the head by Atlanta's Yunel Escobar while trying to break up a double play at second base. Church was in and out of the lineup for three weeks after the second concussion before the Mets finally put him on the disabled list. He missed most of June with PCS. The Mets felt he had recovered enough to re-activate him three weeks later, but just as soon as he came off the disabled list, he was removed from a game against Philadelphia with dizziness, and placed back on the disabled list.

Church was told by doctors then that the episode of dizziness in Philadelphia could be related to the migraine headaches he's had since he was a teenager. Tests on his brain then were negative, but he still didn't feel 100%. He hasn't played since, and the Mets finally acknowledged today that he could be done for the season. Could his career be over, too? Only time will tell.

The Mets had been questioned recently by outsiders about the way they handled Church's second concussion. General Manager Omar Minaya insists they handled Church properly, but others, most notably, neurologists who specialize in PCS, aren't so sure.

The Mets went on Chruch's word that he felt symptom-free, rather than a doctor who specializes in these types of injuries to the head. Team doctors also cleared him to play each time he returned from PCS. But while Church may have felt symptom-free, his brain had not fully recovered from the two concussions he suffered earlier this year. And he may never fully recover.

When you take a blow to the head, your brain moves around in different directions inside your head. The direction of movement of your brain from the blow determines the severity of the concussion. The lingering effects such as headaches, dizziness, fatigue, memory and attention problems, sleep problems and irritability are commonly known as post-concussion syndrome, or PCS. These lingering effects can last for weeks, months or even years after the initial injury. Sometimes, rest alone has limited effectiveness. Generally, however, symptoms go away on their own within months.

Concussions aren't anything to mess around with. Major League Baseball is just now finding out that you simply can not use subjective reports on a player with a concussion as you would with an arm or leg injury. In the NFL or NHL, players are not allowed to even return to play until they've been tested thoroughly and are free of symptoms after rest and exertion. Major League Baseball doesn't have such testing in place.

Former Major Leaguers Mike Matheny and Corey Koskie retired early in recent years because of PCS. Like a lot of players in the NFL and NHL (the L.A. Kings' Adam Deadmarsh is a name that comes to mind) who have had to retire early because of PSC, Matheny and Koskie never fully recovered. To this day, Deadmarsh, who retired three years ago after suffering two concussions from 2002 to 2004, and missing most of the 2002-2003 season, and all of the 2003-2004 season due to lingering affects from PCS, is still feeling the symptoms of PSC.

The Ryan Church situation should be an eye-opener for Major League Baseball to look into mandating the same type of testing the NFL and NHL have in place. The players union has already begun plans to approach the league about developing formal league-wide guidlines for managing concussions. The union does not intend to use the Mets handling of Church's injury as a centerpiece of conversation with the league, but rather to use Church's injury as an awareness of the dangers of PCS, and to bring more attention to concussions and PCS.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Manny!

Wow! What a wild and wacky four days it's been in Dodgerland.

First, the unexpected last second deadline deal that brought Manny Ramirez from Boston to L.A., and now, in the aftermath of it all, Manny's tearing the cover off the ball.

The Trade

I didn't see it coming. Just a total and complete shock! Stunned. I'm STILL blown away it actually happened. It came out of nowhere! Well... sort of.

There had been some rumors swirling around that the Dodgers were interested in Manny. Boston seemed like they were intent on trading the disgruntled slugger to the point they were willing to pay the remaining estimated $7 million left on his current guaranteed contract. But there were contradictory reports that suggested the Dodgers weren't interest, and I would guess because Boston would have wanted Matt Kemp in return. What we didn't know until after the deal was that the Dodgers had in fact talked to Boston in recent weeks and days leading up to last Thursday, but Manny's name never came up until that day around mid-morning.

Eventually, when Boston found difficulties in trying to make a deal straight up for Manny, they started hunting for a third team to get involved, and found one in Pittsburgh. Boston and Pittsburgh basically laid the groundwork to move Jason Bay to Boston, and Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss to Pittsburgh. All they needed was a third team to take Manny and send two prospects to Pittsburgh. When they found that team in Florida, the Marlins refused to part with one of the players Pittsburgh wanted, and Boston called the Dodgers. When it was agreed that the Dodgers would send only Andy LaRoche and A-ball prospect Bryan Morris, a deal had been struck. Manny had already waived his 10-5 no-trade rights to go to either Florida or L.A. And, as part of the deal, the Dodgers agreed to void the two option years of his contract, thus making Manny a true free agent after this season, and Manny agreed to refuse arbitration after the season.

In the end, the Dodgers landed a much needed power bat in the middle of the lineup. And has it ever shown!

Manny-mania!

Manny's impact is already being felt. He felt right at home in his pre-game press conference on Friday afternoon, when he was introduced to the L.A. media, donning a number familiar to many in L.A., #99. Just Manny being Manny! Everywhere you went in L.A., after word trickled out early Thursday afternoon that Manny was headed to L.A., it was all you heard people talk about. All of the local sports talk radio shows were talking about Manny heading to L.A. There was a three-hour special on AM 790 KABC, the Dodgers flagship radio station, before Friday night's game. The Dodgers sold a record 11,000 tickets for Friday night's game from Thursday afternoon up until the game sold out on Friday afternoon from walk-up sales alone. An estimate 30,000 tickets had been sold for the weekend series against Arizona, all from walk-up sales after the trade.

On Friday night, in his Dodger debut, Manny went 2 for 4 in a 2-1 loss to Arizona. The game's key moment involving Manny came in the 9th inning when Russell Martin led off the inning with a base hit. Manny came up representing the winning run, and with the crowd roaring and on its feet, Manny disappointed when he grounded into a double play.

With everything that had gone on from Thursday until before game time Saturday, Manny blew everyone away when he told the media he wanted to finish his career in L.A. donning Dodger blue. Manny Being Manny, I guess, right?!

Then Manny made the Dodgers and their fans happy. In his first at bat Saturday night, Manny launched a booming two-run home run to left field for his first as a Dodger, his 21st of the season overall, and the 511th of his long career. He came out for a curtain call after the home run. Manny would add another hit and finish the night 2 for 4 yet again, this time, a 4-2 Dodger victory that pulled them back to within two games of Arizona.

Manny didn't disappoint again today. He went 4 for 5 with another booming home run, this time a solo shot leading off the 5th inning, and added an RBI single in the first, an RBI double in the 2nd, and an 8th inning infield single while scoring two runs.

His three game total? Eight hits in 13 at bats with two home runs and five RBI. Not a bad start, huh?!

Manny-mania has definitely arrived in Los Angeles, and hopefully it'll last longer than two or three months!