Bored Kendall Still Learning To Cope
.c The Associated Press
By ALAN ROBINSON
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Jason Kendall said Thursday he is bored and fidgety without baseball and even lost his appetite.
As he hobbled into manager Gene Lamont's office for the first time since dislocating his right ankle July 4, Kendall appeared to have lost five pounds and maybe 10. Doctors normally worry about athletes putting on weight during inactive times.
``It crushes me that I can't play baseball,'' Kendall said. ``It showed me how baseball isn't everything. All I've ever known is baseball this and baseball that, and it definitely put a change in my heart. It's definitely given me a different perspective.''
Kendall's injury - his right foot was detached from the rest of his leg from the ankle down, held on only by skin - is serious enough that his doctors still can't accurately estimate if any skills are gone forever.
Kendall was batting .332 with 22 steals and was on pace to break the single-season record for a catcher of 36 steals.
``He is an unusual athlete for a catcher,'' said Dr. Jack Failla, the Pirates' orthopedist. ``The ankle will never be 100 percent again, but it might be 95-98 percent.''
Failla and Dr. Mark Langhans, who operated on Kendall within 90 minutes of his injury, also have determined the catcher's ankle was not broken, even if the team still lists the injury as a fracture-dislocation.
A tiny fragment found floating in the ankle was determined to be a tiny piece of detached cartilage, not bone.
``It was a complete dislocation of the ankle joint,'' Failla said. ``His ankle became completely disconnected.''
Kendall must spend another 2-2 1/2 weeks in a solid cast, waiting for four detached ligaments to begin healing and scar tissue to form so he can start his rehabilitation.
On Thursday, he began working to strengthen his upper body and left leg, which began to atrophy. He also gets lightheaded if he walks on crutches for more than several minutes.
``It's definitely tough. I've always been on the move and on the go,'' Kendall said.
Kendall would have preferred to start his rehabilitation the day after he was hurt, but he was warned by New York Mets third baseman Robin Ventura not to rush back. Ventura fractured and dislocated an ankle in a spring training accident with the Chicago White Sox in 1997 and didn't return until that August.
``That was one of the best calls I had when I was in the hospital. It was good to get it from the horse's mouth, because he had the same thing,'' Kendall said. ``A lot of it was personal, but he told me the rehabilitation wasn't easy. He also told me to be patient, and I'm not a patient person.''
The talk made Kendall realize his hopes to return later this season were overly optimistic.
``I'd love to get back this season. It is likely? Probably not. Could it happen? Maybe,'' Kendall said. ``If there is any way to get back this season, I will. But there is no reason to risk it if it isn't 100 percent.'' By coincidence, a Pittsburgh-area food chain announced Thursday it would begin selling a cereal named after Kendall. The name obviously was chosen before the injury: Kendall Krunch.
``It's actually pretty good cereal,'' Kendall said. ``My mom won't have to worry about fixing me breakfast.''
