May 20, 200422 yr ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Anaheim Angels center fielder Garret Anderson was diagnosed Wednesday with arthritis in his upper back, neck and shoulders. Anderson, on the disabled list since April 22, will take medication and begin light workouts in a pool to start his rehabilitation. There is no timetable for his return to the lineup. The 31-year-old outfielder, an All-Star the past two years and the game's MVP last season, hit .339 with two homers and five RBIs in 15 games last month before stiffness and pain forced him onto the DL for the first time in his career. He has undergone many tests to try to determine the cause of the ailment. "It's encouraging to get a hard diagnosis, something firm that can lead to a course of action that will help Garret get better," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said after Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees. "I think it's giving him a little peace of mind that there's something the medical staff can do to get him feeling better." Asked if he expected Anderson to play again this season, Scioscia said, "Absolutely." On April 13, Anderson, a career .300 hitter, signed a four-year, $48 million contract extension through 2008. The deal includes a team option for 2009 with a $3 million buyout. Anaheim's Darin Erstad (hamstring) and Tim Salmon (knee) also are on the DL, and Troy Glaus is scheduled to have shoulder surgery on Friday. espn.com
May 20, 200422 yr I feel bad for the Angels.... Their owner finally goes out and spends some big time bucks for a franchise that has never done that before and their ship seems to be sinking fast....
May 20, 200422 yr it kinda bothers me that he didn't succumb to the perpetual "stiffness and pain" and go on the DL until 1 week after he finalized his $48 million contract extension. actually, it really bothers me. i'd be pissed as hell if i were arte moreno.
May 21, 200422 yr GA's career is pretty much done now, arthritis is a death wish to an athlete's career. That's very unfortunate, he's been a very good player for several years.
May 21, 200422 yr it kinda bothers me that he didn't succumb to the perpetual "stiffness and pain" and go on the DL until 1 week after he finalized his $48 million contract extension. actually, it really bothers me. i'd be pissed as hell if i were arte moreno. I agree, he was definitely having this "pain and stiffness" since the beginning of the season. Arthritis doesn't just suddenly appear one day, so he definitely knew there was something wrong before he signed the contract extension and obviously just sucked it up until the deal was finalized. Him having arthritis is terrible and it will probably ruin his career, however what he did to hide it until after he signed the contract extension is very shady and is completely unfair to the Angels and their fans and for that he'll receive no sympathy from me. But hey, you can't blame him, with 40 something million dollars on the line, I and probably everyone else would have done the same thing, lol.
May 21, 200422 yr he can spend more time with his wife, and if you have seen her that's definitely not a bad thing.
May 21, 200422 yr Best of wishes to GA. What a sucker. EDIT: just saw the whole contract shenanigan, that is pretty damn unfair to the angels organization and their fans, but i'm not surprised - it's money, whadda ya expect?
May 21, 200422 yr I hate the people who only can say "OH NO! MY FANTASY TEAM!" Maybe people hate you too
May 22, 200422 yr I hate the people who only can say "OH NO! MY FANTASY TEAM!" Maybe people hate you too Coo'
May 24, 200422 yr They'll put him on a COX-2 blocker then it won't bother him much at all. There's some very selectively targeted drugs these days for dealing with that kind of pain that don't have the side effects that 1st generation "shotgun" drugs like Ibuprofin have. Really? That's very interesting..... I have yet to hear of an athlete being diagnosed with any type of arthritis and then having success long term afterwards in athletics, but I wish Garrett the best and hopefully he can work through this.
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