When I saw a mention of this in the blogisphere I knew immediately I had to find the source and post it here. In the "you must be sh*tting me" department :

 

 

Hendrickson has his eyes set on a terrific 2008

Frank Bodani

Article Last Updated: 01/21/2008 06:28:43 AM EST

 

Jan 21, 2008 ? It sounds like a joke.

 

A Major League Baseball pitcher is in a doctor's office for laser eye surgery.

 

He has 20-200 vision in his left eye.

 

The doctor: ?You must be relieved to never have to wear glasses or contact lenses again.?

 

The pitcher: ?You don't understand, I didn't wear a thing.?

 

The stunned doctor: ?Boy, you were fooling some people.?

 

It only sounds like a joke.

 

Somehow, York County's Mark Hendrickson has pitched in the majors the past five seasons with terrible vision in one eye and only mediocre vision in the other.

 

Apparently, the kid who spent summers and holidays around family in York County always had eye problems. He fought wearing glasses and contacts growing up and simply adjusted without them.

 

Who could fault the results?

 

He could see well enough to become a star basketball player at Washington State and play parts of four seasons in the NBA.

 

He also was a dominating pitcher and hitter for York Township in the Susquehanna League before signing with the Toronto Blue Jays and getting called up in 2002.

 

He hit the first home run by a pitcher in Jays' history. The 6-foot-9 left-hander went on to become a solid starting pitcher with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Then he pitched well in relief for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2006 playoffs.

 

But his eyes were getting worse.

 

The deciding moments came last summer when he couldn't see the ball clearly while hitting. He was 1-for-27 at the plate with 10 strikeouts.

 

?I'm not saying I'm a .300 hitter . . . but I was embarrassing myself.?

 

Who's to say how his eye problems affected his pitching? He struggled last season but still showed flashes.

 

No matter, he had laser eye surgery a couple of weeks ago. He signed with a new team, the Florida Marlins, last week.

 

And he feels like he has a new lease on his baseball life.

 

?It just got to the point where I'm going into my free agent year, and I'm pulling out all the stops. I don't want to ever look back and say, 'I could have done this, I could have done that.'?

 

He's doing whatever he can while spending the winter in York with his girlfriend. He throws regularly on an indoor field in Lancaster and is working out with a personal trainer.

 

He's also wiser, having learned from two rocky seasons with the Dodgers.

 

?Every situation a pitcher could be put in I was put in,? Hendrickson said. ?Going through it and remaining healthy taught me a lot as far as being able to deal with different situations.?

 

And now he has a new team that has promised him a spot in the starting rotation.

 

He also has new eyes, in a way.

 

His vision is now 20-15 - better than most. He couldn't believe streetlights and neon signs were always this bright.

 

He couldn't believe, at 33, he finally has his best chance for success.

 

That's why the season can't come soon enough.

 

?This is helping me see a whole new world.?

 

Frank Bodani is a sportswriter for the Daily Record/Sunday News. Reach him at 771-2104 or fbodani@ydr.com.

 

http://www.yorkdailyrecord.com/ci_8033020?source=rss

 

Yeah I'd say he's motivated.

HAHAHAHA WOW

I hope his girlfriend doesn't look any worse after his surgery.

 

Hopefully she's not a dude.

I hope his girlfriend doesn't look any worse after his surgery.

Haha...

 

But wow, talk about good news for us.

 

And it'd be nice if Henrdickson could step up and be the next great pitcher-hitter in Marlin history... Sounds like he thinks pretty highly of himself at the plate.

This is great news.

 

I played for years with very poor vision, and I was a decent player. I look back on it now and think of how much better I could have been had a wore glasses or goggles.

 

Who knows, maybe Mark can raise a lot of eyebrows. Being able to see better, especially in a sport, makes you feel a lot more confident and allows you to compete at a higher level.

 

Not saying he'll win the Cy or anything, but he can maybe have a solid year. Who knows? All I know is I'm kinda excited to see what he does this year

I hope his girlfriend doesn't look any worse after his surgery.

 

 

Hah!

 

I forgot which game it was, but I was watching a college football game one time and the announcer was telling a story about some receiver on the team who recently had lasik surgery and said he took one look at his girlfriend after the surgery and dumped her.

 

:lol

and people were ragging on him! :o

Sign him to an extension now! Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn had the same thing happen to him and look at where he is now. Yeah, makin the big bucks with the Cleveland Indians. Maybe Hendrickson should go to the slammer and cut his hair with a razor and wear leather to the mound. WILD THING!!!!!!!! YOU MAKE EVERYTHIIIIINNNNG GROOOVY!!!!!!!!

Sign him to an extension now! Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn had the same thing happen to him and look at where he is now. Yeah, makin the big bucks with the Cleveland Indians. Maybe Hendrickson should go to the slammer and cut his hair with a razor and wear leather to the mound. WILD THING!!!!!!!! YOU MAKE EVERYTHIIIIINNNNG GROOOVY!!!!!!!!

 

 

:blink:

I don't know how he was pitching with 20/200 vision...when I was pitching in high school, I had 20/200 vision in both my eyes and I couldn't even get the signs from the catcher.

Sign him to an extension now! Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn had the same thing happen to him and look at where he is now. Yeah, makin the big bucks with the Cleveland Indians. Maybe Hendrickson should go to the slammer and cut his hair with a razor and wear leather to the mound. WILD THING!!!!!!!! YOU MAKE EVERYTHIIIIINNNNG GROOOVY!!!!!!!!

 

 

:blink:

 

 

Oh c'mon Puma... You don't get it?

Sign him to an extension now! Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn had the same thing happen to him and look at where he is now. Yeah, makin the big bucks with the Cleveland Indians. Maybe Hendrickson should go to the slammer and cut his hair with a razor and wear leather to the mound. WILD THING!!!!!!!! YOU MAKE EVERYTHIIIIINNNNG GROOOVY!!!!!!!!

 

 

:blink:

 

 

Oh c'mon Puma... You don't get it?

 

 

Oh I get it...I just thought it was rather odd

I wonder how he was allowed to drive a car.

Seriously. Wow. Good for him, though.

Now that he can see, he realized that he signed with the Marlins.

 

Now that he can see, he realized that he signed with the Marlins.

 

 

 

He thought he was signing with the Mariners for 150 mil, soon to find out it was the Marlins for 1.5

Now that he can see, he realized that he signed with the Marlins.

 

 

 

He thought he was signing with the Mariners for 150 mil, soon to find out it was the Marlins for 1.5

150 mil? You are assuming he was so blind he couldn't see his own stuff.

Hahah, well if he has any success, you know he's going to be traded

I wonder how he was allowed to drive a car.

 

Simple enough. He got his license in Dade County.

I wonder how he was allowed to drive a car.

 

Simple enough. He got his license in Dade County.

I call BS... Noone has a license in Miami-Dade.

Now that he can see, he realized that he signed with the Marlins.

 

 

 

He thought he was signing with the Mariners for 150 mil, soon to find out it was the Marlins for 1.5

150 mil? You are assuming he was so blind he couldn't see his own stuff.

 

Well that, and it was also about how the Mariners pay top dollar for mediocre pitching.

 

See: Silva, Carlos

lol interesting stuff, hope this can really be big for him

:rofl

 

This is probably the funniest thread I've every read in my life.

I wonder how he was allowed to drive a car.

 

Simple enough. He got his license in Dade County.

I call BS... Noone has a license in Miami-Dade.

 

LOL Touche.

In keeping with the subtitle of this thread... If this is true, and I have no real reason to question it, how the heck did he ever pass a physical to begin with?

Your absolutely right. If the Marlins, or any team for that matter, are going to give a player 1.5 million, you would think a thorough eye exam would be part of the physical.