Glavine: ligament surgery would signal end to career

Glavine: ligament surgery would signal end to career
Braves? pitcher indicates desire to pitch, but not endure long rehab
By CARROLL ROGERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, August 16, 2008

While Tom Glavine’s future in baseball is up in the air, this much seemed clear to him Saturday: His season is over and he’s likely headed for surgery.

Two days after suffering through a painful return to the mound, Glavine said he hoped and believed the surgery he needs will be to repair a torn flexor tendon in his left elbow.

Surgery confined to the flexor tendon would require three to four months’ recovery time, Glavine said. In that case he could be ready to pitch at the start of next season and would consider pitching next year.

If he needs “Tommy John” ligament-transplant surgery — which requires 12-16 months recovery and is much more difficult — he said he will not have that surgery and retire.

A damaged flexor tendon would need to be repaired either way, Glavine said. But he could live the rest of his life without having ligament-transplant surgery and throw batting practice to his kids, play golf and live the active lifestyle he wants.

Glavine will see Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham as early as Wednesday to find out which way he’s headed.

“All the discussions I’ve had, and the MRI I had before, were that it’s my flexor tendon,” Glavine said. “The soreness I have now is the same soreness I had then. You can pinpoint a needlehead as to where the pain is, and it just puts me through the roof when you touch it, so it’s very similar in that regard. There have been some discussions about what my ligament might look like, but I think there’s a very low percentage that there might be something wrong with my ligament.

“And if there was, honestly, I’d leave it alone and I’d be done. I wouldn’t come back from that kind of surgery now. I’d fix the flexor tendon and leave the ligament alone and live the rest of my life.”

Glavine struggled to throw his fastball in the low 80s on Thursday, allowing seven runs in four innings to the Cubs in an 11-7 loss.

He said the pain was worse than after his two minor-league rehab starts. The Braves put him back on the disabled list Friday.

“I know it’s not going to get any better,” Glavine said. “I had one spot on my elbow where you touch it, it hurts, and I didn’t have that before. I knew that wasn’t a good sign.”

If he is able to pitch next year, there’s also a question of whether the Braves are prepared to bring him back. Glavine said there are too many variables to answer that yet.

“There’s too much uncertainty with what’s going on in my arm, No. 1,” Glavine said. “No. 2, I haven’t even remotely sat down and had a conversation with [Braves general manager] Frank [Wren] as to if they have any notions of having me back. I think in their mind a lot of that too would stem from what happens with my elbow.”

Glavine said he would only pitch next year for Atlanta, where he makes his home with his wife and four children. Saturday, he sounded like he wanted a shot.

“By no means do I want to go through another year with what I’m going through now,” Glavine said. “But at the same time, I don’t think I want my career to end this way either. That lends me to thinking that I want to pitch next year.”

Notable

Manager Bobby Cox said first baseman Casey Kotchman was out of the lineup to recover from the stomach virus, which Kotchman has played with for a couple of days. … Reliever Manny Acosta was scheduled to pitch the first game of his rehabilitation assignment Saturday in AAA Richmond in his recovery from a hamstring injury.


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