Weaver said Richards "kind of lost it" when he was in the trainers' room

[Redondo]

Knee cap looks like it popped out.

 

Ouch

 

Hope for a speedy recovery

[ten ocho recon scout]

So are you thinking he'll be ready to go next spring IP?

[Inside Pitch]

So are you thinking he'll be ready to go next spring IP?

 

I'm thinking we should all keep from making those sorts of guesses until after we know exactly what the injury is and what all he's damaged.   The good news is that he will have the best doctors money can buy and he's already a top athlete.  All we can do is hope there isn't a lot of damage in there.

[Angels Never Die]

This is depressing the shit out of me right now, I feel so bad for him, I hope he can come back and be himself again eventually.  It must feel so terrible to be taken down like this in what was probably the most exciting period in his career. He needs to take as much time as he needs to get well.

[T.G.]

I have a feeling Weaver is about to take over.

 

I have that feeling too.  I want him to put this team on his back and demonstrate the kind of leadership we've come to admire in him.

[tdawg87]

Weaver's fastball grew 3 mph that day.

[eligrba]

Hector Santiago just became really important.......Based on his second half, I think he is ready to step into a bigger role.

 

This would be a great time for CJ Wilson to overcome his issues, but I don't expect anything from him.

 

Weaver just needs to be Weaver and not try to do too much.

 

Shoe needs to keep going before the clock strikes midnight.

 

Our new #5 may be a revolving door......Thank God for September call ups.

[19HALO71]

I'm sure he did "lose it".

 

He was having an amazing season. I can only imagine the thoughts that were going through his head.

[Carlota Gonzalez]

that does look pretty granrly. Sucks to lose him, but hopefully its a relatively minor surgery and hes ready to go next year

Unfortuntely, based on Richards pointing at his quad when they were talking to him, it looks more like his patella snapped and his knee cap was in his quad. NOT GOOD AT ALL. A co worker of mine had that happen to him, and when he saw richards down, and pointing at his quad, and the bulge coming out of his quad, he said it looked just like his injury. It took him, a non athlete and older, over a year to get back to just walking normal. if thats what it is, and I strongly suspsect it is, we wont see GRich until 2016 or late 2015 at best. 

[TobiasFunke]

I guess it's a good thing there are a lot of pitching free agents this offseason, but there are a lot of teams going to be going after them. The price for pitchers will be through the roof!

[ten ocho recon scout]

Theres gotta be a joe blanton type out there thats working on a knuckleball to reinvent himself at 40

[Hollyw00d]

Dipoto has to somehow pull off another "trumbo trade" this offseason. This doesn't hurt this season as much as it does the next and future seasons. I'm really hoping he will be ready to go by next spring training or even April or May, but that's optimistic at best if this injury turns out to be very serious

[Inside Pitch]

Unfortuntely, based on Richards pointing at his quad when they were talking to him, it looks more like his patella snapped and his knee cap was in his quad. NOT GOOD AT ALL. A co worker of mine had that happen to him, and when he saw richards down, and pointing at his quad, and the bulge coming out of his quad, he said it looked just like his injury. It took him, a non athlete and older, over a year to get back to just walking normal. if thats what it is, and I strongly suspsect it is, we wont see GRich until 2016 or late 2015 at best. 

 

Everyone is different -- I ruptured my patellar tendon at age 34 about 7 years after having needed knee surgery to repair a torn ACL, my tear was off the bone so they had to actually attach the tendon to the bone which made it a bit harder for them than had it just been a fibrous tear.  I actually said it looked like his patellar tendon when it happened because of my experience with the injury -- the pain was instant and much much worse than when I had torn the ligament, so much worse I thought I'd completely dislocated the knee and severed all three ligaments.  

 

Anyway, I was unable to do anything really for a good 3 months which was both frustrating and extremely boring, this led to a lot of Cheers re-runs and even more sandwiches eaten.  When it was all said and done I was doing normal daily activities (walking going up stairs etc etc), 4 maybe, 5 months after surgery and cleared to jog and so forth around 6 months in.  I didn't actually do any jogging because I had more Cheers to watch and more sandwiches to eat.  At about the 8th or 9th month mark I went to the batting cages and was freaking gassed within 15 minutes so I decided my rotund ass needed to get back into a shape other than round and I started legit working out.  I wore a sleeve basically every day for a good 6-8 months and put a strap on below the knee whenever I attempted anything that required burst or jumping but despite more initial pain and less activity than the ligament tear the recovery was a lot faster and with a lot fewer roadblocks, I never once had to back off after I started to try to work out or play sports.  Again, everyone is different, Richards is taller than I am, I'd assume that works against him but he's younger than I was and obviously in peak physical shape.  I guess the key will be what we are hearing 5-6 months in.  If he's already running then he would likely beat the 9 month time-table.  Again, everyone is different and I think I was aided in having had the surgery within ten days of the tear, as soon as the swelling went down and having been pretty active physically at the time of the injury.

 

The trick for him will be whether or not he is able to land his plant leg pain free.  His delivery is such that it likely won't be as big of an issue as if he were a true drop and drive (Tom Seaver) type of pitcher.  I was actually pretty elated to hear it was just the patellar tendon and nothing else had gone pop -- that would have greatly lengthened the recovery time and slowed down the rehab process.

 

I did a search for athletes coming back from patellar tendon tears yesterday and found  the following link to be pretty interesting.  It mostly relates to NFL players, but I think it's fair to say that's a far more strenuous sport than baseball. http://dynastyleaguefootball.com/2013/06/01/the-dynasty-doctor-6/

Edited August 22, 2014 by Inside Pitch

[Carlota Gonzalez]

Knee injuries are a bitch on the waistline if you aren't s professorial athlete with trainers up your ass all day everyday. I tore my ACL and minisiscus and I also sat on my ass for close to a year. Now, because the knee is t what it use to be and I'm not a 24 yr old professional athlete, getting rid of the sandwiches isn't an easy task.

I found yesterday's news to be a positive because I was thinking 2016, but now maybe he'll be in by June of 2015? That's good news.

[Revad]

I have a feeling Weaver is about to take over.

Yes, I'm thinking he's feeling it. I would suggest everyone get out of the way.

[Sir Aaron]

 

Weaver said Richards "kind of lost it" when he was in the trainers' room and heard talk of possible surgery to repair his patellar tendon.

Mike Trout, Richards' housemate and one of his closest friends on the team, said Richards "was in tears" in the trainers' room.

http://www.ocregister.com/angels/richards-632315-field-angels.html

 

 

 

Yes, I bet he did lose it.  Most people would.  This is a devastating injury.  It is painful, requires surgery, and the rehabilitation protocol can be very overwhelming.  I asked a well known Sports Medicine Doctor/OS and he said it was close as to which was worse, ACL or Patella tendon tear.  He went with ACL but said it was a close one.

 

Everyone is different -- I ruptured my patellar tendon at age 34 about 7 years after having needed knee surgery to repair a torn ACL, my tear was off the bone so they had to actually attach the tendon to the bone which made it a bit harder for them than had it just been a fibrous tear.  I actually said it looked like his patellar tendon when it happened because of my experience with the injury -- the pain was instant and much much worse than when I had torn the ligament, so much worse I thought I'd completely dislocated the knee and severed all three ligaments.  

 

Anyway, I was unable to do anything really for a good 3 months which was both frustrating and extremely boring, this led to a lot of Cheers re-runs and even more sandwiches eaten.  When it was all said and done I was doing normal daily activities (walking going up stairs etc etc), 4 maybe, 5 months after surgery and cleared to jog and so forth around 6 months in.  I didn't actually do any jogging because I had more Cheers to watch and more sandwiches to eat.  At about the 8th or 9th month mark I went to the batting cages and was freaking gassed within 15 minutes so I decided my rotund ass needed to get back into a shape other than round and I started legit working out.  I wore a sleeve basically every day for a good 6-8 months and put a strap on below the knee whenever I attempted anything that required burst or jumping but despite more initial pain and less activity than the ligament tear the recovery was a lot faster and with a lot fewer roadblocks, I never once had to back off after I started to try to work out or play sports.  Again, everyone is different, Richards is taller than I am, I'd assume that works against him but he's younger than I was and obviously in peak physical shape.  I guess the key will be what we are hearing 5-6 months in.  If he's already running then he would likely beat the 9 month time-table.  Again, everyone is different and I think I was aided in having had the surgery within ten days of the tear, as soon as the swelling went down and having been pretty active physically at the time of the injury.

 

The trick for him will be whether or not he is able to land his plant leg pain free.  His delivery is such that it likely won't be as big of an issue as if he were a true drop and drive (Tom Seaver) type of pitcher.  I was actually pretty elated to hear it was just the patellar tendon and nothing else had gone pop -- that would have greatly lengthened the recovery time and slowed down the rehab process.

 

I did a search for athletes coming back from patellar tendon tears yesterday and found  the following link to be pretty interesting.  It mostly relates to NFL players, but I think it's fair to say that's a far more strenuous sport than baseball. http://dynastyleaguefootball.com/2013/06/01/the-dynasty-doctor-6/

 

Keep in mind that he will receive the best physical therapy money can buy which will mean that he will get back a lot more quickly than the average person. 

 

Also patella tendon tear is going to be much more painful because the ACL stops hurting after the tear (no nerves to hurt).  Some people have virtually no pain when they tear their ACL.  I tore my ACL then got up and continued doing what I was doing before.