DEL.ICIO.USGlavine will not require ligament transplant surgery
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tom Glavine got the news he was looking for Wednesday from Dr. James Andrews. He needs surgery to repair the partially torn flexor tendon in his elbow, but he does not need ligament transplant surgery.
That means with a four-to-five month rehabilitation, Glavine will have a chance to return next season, if he decides he wants to and if the Braves are open to the idea.
Ben Gray/bgray@ajc.com
Braves pitcher Tom Glavine, 42, had planned to retire if told he needed ‘Tommy John’ ligament transplant surgery, which has a 12-16 month recovery period.
The 42-year-old Glavine had planned to retire if Andrews told him he needed “Tommy John” ligament transplant surgery, which has a 12-16 month recovery period.
“On one hand, I didn’t want my career to end this way,” Glavine said Wednesday evening. “If I chose to end it, that’s one thing. It was a relief in that regard. And it was what I thought it was, and it was what the doctors thought it was, so that was good.”
At the same time, Glavine said he won’t decide whether he wants to come back until after the season.
He will undergo surgery Thursday in Birmingham and has a lot on his mind.
“I’d say right now I’m 50-50 at best,” Glavine said. “I think the smart thing is to deal with what’s ahead and have the surgery. I’ll have five weeks to be back at the ballpark, working on my rehab, and we’ll see how it goes. Once the season is over I’ll have a better sense of how I feel physically and mentally and be able to make a decision. Right now, there’s too much in front of me with surgery and rehab.”
Glavine has said he would not pitch anywhere other than Atlanta next season. He signed a one-year $8 million contract to come back this year and pitch where he makes his home with his wife, Chris, and their four children.
What remains to be seen is how much interest the Braves would have in re-signing him.
Manager Bobby Cox said Wednesday he was impressed with how Glavine was throwing before his elbow became a factor.
“He was pitching lights out,” Cox said. “He couldn’t win because we couldn’t get him any runs, and we couldn’t hold them after he came out.”
Teammates were happy for Glavine because he’ll have options.
“Any athlete wants to go out on their own terms, especially Tommy,” Brian McCann said. “He’s meant too much to this organization. He’s a big part of the success the Braves have had the past decade and a half. He’s one of my real close friends, and I’m real happy for him.”
Glavine tried to come back after two months of rest and rehabilitation, but in his first start back Thursday, he felt the same pain, while allowing seven runs in four innings.
He is 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 starts this season.
“He’s been pitching hurt all year long,” McCann said. “You can only do so much. He gave us everything he had, and we all respect that. That makes him who he is. He’s a 300-game winner, everybody respects him around baseball, and he’s just a great teammate.”
Glavine is in his 22nd season, including 17 with the Braves and is 305-203 with a 3.54 ERA for his career. He has the fourth most wins of any left-hander, behind Warren Spahn (363), Steve Carlton (329), and Eddie Plank (326).
Until this season he had never been on the disabled list. He has made three stints, once for a hamstring and twice for his elbow.
— Staff writer David O’Brien contributed to this report.
