In yesterday's game against the Orioles, Rocco Baldelli belted a two-run pinch hit homer in the seventh inning in his first big league swing of the season. Prior to signing a minor league deal with the Rays, Baldelli worked with the club as a special assistant. Now that he's back in the majors, he has no immediate plans to return to coaching, writes Ben Shpigel of the New York Times.
“I like playing; I don’t know what else I would do,” Baldelli said. “I have some ideas. What I did earlier this year was definitely pretty nice, but there’s nothing better than playing. Coming out here every day, it’s something that I’ve done the last ten years of my life and it’s not something I’m going to let go of easily," said the soon-to-be 29-year-old.
The right-handed hitter spent 2009 with Boston, posting a slash line of .253/.311/.433 in 164 plate appearances.
He just struck out against the Sox. Darn!
So have they figured out any kind of treatment to keep him playing more than once a week? He’s always been my favorite. I remember when he first started getting injured all the time, and could never make it back within the normal rehab time. Some of the Rays fans thought he was faking it or was soft. Little did they, or he, know the problem was going to be so life altering. It’s a shame really. He was a special talent.
He can’t just decide out of nowhere he wants to play…Ruggiano should have gotten the callup. He has played well and deserves it more.
I feel bad for him, the dude’s career was ruined by that doctor that misdiagnosed him.
Wait, seriously? That fatigue condition was a misdiagnosis?
….That…sucks.
Doing a little bit of research, it was technically a misdiagnosis because it is not a mitochondrial disorder.The bad news is that it’s still quite a real condition and obviously still affects him a great deal. The good news is that they believe it is something that is more treatable, and of course having a better idea of what the problem is (assuming they’ve gotten it right this time!) will likely lead to better and more successful treatment.
Yep. the dude got like 2 years taken away from him because of that.
I couldn’t care less about Tampa (I’m an NL fan), but I’m definitely pulling for Baldelli to make what he can out of his career.