Bonderman Shut Down For Regular Season

May Pitch Again in October, Too Soon To Tell

By

Clinton Riddle

SEPT 13, 2007-Why does it always happen to the young ones?

Jeremy Bonderman, one of the young guns in the Tigers' rotation, was shut down for the remainder of the season after an MRI showed inflammation of the lateral aspect (lateral collateral ligament, perhaps?) of his right elbow. This is a chronically recurring inflammation that Bonderman says he's been dealing with since 2005.

"I'm happy with the results", said Bonderman. "I'm just going to rest now. I've had this for three years. I had it in '05, and last year it came and went. This year, it kept lingering. For the rest of my career, I'm just going to have to focus on it. ... I've got to figure out how to have it not happen again."

There is, of course, much relief that there was no major injury reported, certainly nothing requiring surgery and perhaps costing Detroit the services of one of their dominant power pitchers for months.

"I didn't tell anybody how bad I was because l wanted to go out and pitch," he said. "Maybe some people don't think I did the smartest thing in the world, but the team gave me a contract and they need me to go out and pitch."

Leyland said, "We are trying to come up with a philosophy now in the organization that we want to know about the first minor little sign of anything (that is wrong with a player) so we can check it out. We can do research to make sure it doesn't turn into something else."

Something else, indeed. Fortunately for the Tigers, Bonderman decided to speak up. He would do well to look to his future, because he could have a very bright one.

OUTLOOK: Bonderman is still relying too much on that hard slider of his. He had been working on a changeup that was coming along quite well, and my feeling is that he needs to get back to changing speeds and working his infield a bit more, let the guys behind him do their job, instead of trying to blow it by everyone. This is always hard for young power pitchers to do, but he's apparently having to learn the hard way. I guess if I threw 99 mph fastballs, I'd think the same way, but he should think long-term. When he starts mixing in more changeups, I think that inflammation will abate and he'll get past it. Also, I ALWAYS take team medical reports with a grain of salt; after all, 'major injury' is a relative term. What they're willing to say is 'major' is subject to debate.

Good luck, Jeremy. I'm looking forward to many years of dominant performances, so take care of yourself NOW.


Clinton Riddle

Quotes from [url=http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070911/SPORTS02/709110387/1050/SPORTS01]The Detroit Free Press[/url]

Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago

Sept 8, 2005

Well, well, well.
Show of hands....

Who here thought the Pale Hosers would be in first place in September, leading their division by the 2nd largest margin of all division leaders, with the 2nd most wins of any team, AND become a team which others dread to face?

Anyone? Anyone?

Bueller? Bueller?

I would expect that there are a number of hardball enthusiasts out there who noticed the subtle but discernable thud of several million jaws hitting the floor. My friends, that's the unmistakable sound that echoes throughout the streets and alleys of the Windy City, the sound of disbelief.

And this year, there is hope.

Hope that perhaps this year, THIS time, Chicago will find themselves with a dog in the hunt, as they say. Hope that a team with such a rich history of talented players and grevious dissapointment will step onto the baseball field AFTER the regular season is over for only the seventh time in their entire EXISTENCE. This is a team that has finished 2nd or better 27 times, and has only 4 AL pennants to show for it.

They haven't even BEEN to the World Series since 1959.

Oh, and there's that whole "Black Sox" thing...but noone talks about that anymore. Right?

Their record over the previous 15 seasons is not the record of a team who is fiddling with their DVD players and TiVOs, teaching their sons and daughters to ride a bike, and ordering NFL PPV packages in October. In 15 seasons, from 1990 to 2004, they finished 2nd or better in their division 12 times. In the other 3 seasons (1992, 1995, 2001), they finished 3rd. Is that the record of a club who shows up to the postseason without a date? Hardly.

Jon Rauch, a Louisville product (yay, KY!), is undoubtedly the team ace this year, 17-8, with a 3.28 ERA thus far. Three other starters have 11 or more wins (Mark Buehrle, 15-7; Freddy Garcia, 12-7; Jose Contreras, 11-7), and Orlando Hernandez has 9, his most since 2000. The Chicago bullpen has accounted for 23 wins, and players like Cliff Politte, Neal Cotts (Who?) and Dustin Hermanson have led the charge.

There are no candidates for the batting title, here, but everyone hits consistently. Consider this: Tadahito Iguchi leads the team with a .284 average. Among starters, the lowest average is only 49 points below that, Joe Crede at .232. If they lost an RBI man or basestealer, someone else would pick up the slack; the team averages an RBI every 7.5 ABs. There are 5 players with 10 or more steals, Scott Podsednik leading the majors with 56.

Bottom line, this team is no pretender. We'll have to see whether or not they can withstand the pressure that comes with winning more games than anyone else.

And of course, the weight of history.