The Case Of Ventura And The Cadaver's Ankle Bone

I've heard stories about Robin Ventura's legs being far from what they used to be, but I had no idea about how bad they were. Check out this story about Robin's battles with his injuries and the unique procedure that presented itself.

I'll spoil the ending by saying that Robin is now relatively pain free for the first time in years. The story includes hardships, a cadaver and a return trip to Spring Training in 2008.

If I didn't know better, I could swear I'm listening to the pitch of the latest Disney film. You know, the schmaltzy ones that they try to sell to families. Hmm, maybe it's a sequel to Angels In The Outfield. That had dead people, baseball, hardships and a return to form by "past their prime" players.

Alas, the truth is less entertaining than the movies, but still can be "feel good". The hardship was walking with a cane five days of the week after cortisone shots lost their desired effect. The cadaver was an ankle bone donor that matched Robin. The trip to Spring Training is just a chance to chat up old friends and watch some baseball. The feel good moment would be that a man potentially could walk again.

1990 Fleer Soaring Stars

Some of the first insert cards that grabbed my attention were the 1990 Fleer Soaring Stars. I never got the Robin Ventura card, but I did get stars like Scott Coolbaugh and Todd Zeile. Sure they don't sound great now, but back in 1990, they were hot stuff.

Todd Zeile was white hot back then. Now he's more known for being on a bunch of teams and switching positions a lot. Scott Coolbaugh is now known for more for his brother Mike's tragic death. Back in 1990, Scott was the next coming of Ron Cey. That sounded a lot better 17 years ago too.

The initial attraction was the green. Green has been my favorite color since I saw Luke Skywalker's light saber in Return Of The Jedi. That left quite an impression on a young kid sitting in a movie theater in 1983. The card doesn't just have a green border, it's bathed in it. The Soaring Stars lettering and the star backed in a shooting rainbow color reminds me of those CBS Special intros that I'd see at the beginning of Garfield's Halloween Adventure or A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. So sue me. I liked the animation on the ghosts on the island and loved the idea of the dinner of popcorn, jelly beans and toast.

These cards look like some lost relic from the late 70's or early 80's. The design is so kitsch. You can see this card from a mile away. Sometimes that's a good thing. The only White Sox card is #4 Robin Ventura.

This set always stood out when I was a kid. My goals were even loftier when I was younger. I wanted to collect one of every card. So I tried to complete sets. A 12 card set is easy to complete at first glance. But when something seems too easy, it's usually hard. I only got the Zeile and Coolbaugh cards. I've seen the Ventura card on eBay occasionally, but never could bring myself to pay over $2.00 before shipping. One day I'll get that card, then on to the next project.

M*A*S*H Unit: Chicago

Cal Eldred is a pretty good story. A pitcher who screwed up his arm and made a miraculous comeback by inserting a 5 inch screw in his pitching elbow.

Cal had Tommy John surgery five years prior to being on the White Sox. Then in 2000, while on the Sox, a nerve in his pitching elbow flared up and then a stress fracture that kept reappearing forced the "screwy" option. It was basically there to stabilize everything. He ended up pitching until the end of the 2005 season with the Cardinals.

This got me thinking about what I called the M*A*S*H unit. From the early 90's until the early 00's, every player that had a career threatening injury would probably sign on with the White Sox long enough to get better and move on.

Bo Jackson, Ellis Burks, Roberto Hernandez, Cory Snyder, and many, many others. It seemed that if I saw a bad injury happen to a major leaguer, they would be rehabbing in a White Sox uniform sometime soon. I'm probably exaggerating a bit, but it always seemed that way. Then again, with Herm Schneider running the rehab, I'm not that surprised. I can remember Robin Ventura's bone sticking out of his leg and Hermie fixed that. Robin went on to play for a few more years after that. Although, not with the White Sox.

I miss the M*A*S*H days a little bit. If nothing else, superstars would stop by and play catch in a Sox uniform before moving on to a major league team. It gave Sox fans real hope. Once in awhile, it resulted in a division title. 1993, strike-shortened 1994 and 2000 come to mind.