As this Mark Prior shoulder injury thing continues to pick up steam, I thought it might make sense for me to lay out an estimated timeline for those not located in Chicago.
February 20th, 11am: Baseball Prospectus injury analyst Will Carroll mentions a tip he’s received claiming that Mark Prior is nursing shoulder problems within a spring training injury notebook.
February 20th, 11:05am: Major League GMs and other BP subscribers read Carroll’s report and nod knowingly. Cubdom reacts. Blogs were all over this one for the next few hours.
February 20th, afternoon: Carroll appears on Chicago sports talk station 670 The Score to talk about the rumor. Various members of Chicago print media listen to the radio show and first hear about the possible Prior injury. It is immediately branded an "Internet rumor" and is decided that the nerdy website from which it originated uses too many numbers.
February 20th, evening: Majority of said sportswriters deem the rumor unworthy of tomorrow’s column, and instead go back to writing cutting edge essays on why they hate Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa.
February 21st, morning: Reporters in Mesa, Arizona, unwilling to give credence to the rumor but afraid to miss out on the scoop, quiz Prior and Dusty Baker on it. Prior does not acknowledge the rumor as true, but strangely neglects to simply say, "My shoulder is perfectly healthy."
February 21st, evening: Members of Chicago print media Google the name "Will Carroll" for tomorrow’s column. They learn that he is neither a doctor nor in Arizona, thereby debunking the rumor. They do not attempt to contact Carroll.
February 22nd, morning: Members of Chicago print media take baseless shots at Carroll yet take the Cubs to task for not being forthright about injuries within the same column. The aura of unprofessionalism surrounding all Internet media is maintained and print journalists keep their jobs.
Interesting side note: An advertisement for Will Carroll’s radio show appears in the Baseball Cube listing for Prior (it has for a while, if I recall correctly).
