So Travis Buck has apparently been diagnosed with an inner-ear infection -- which had been initially misdiagnosed as post-concussion syndrome.
I think it's a logical hypothesis that Buck has been suffering from the infection for far longer than just since his concussion in AAA. That could well explain his prolonged slump this year.
And I'm seriously wondering if there may be a contaminant in the A's clubhouse: recall that both Dan Johnson and Marco Scutaro suffered unexplained bouts of vertigo while with the A's, and DJ eventually developed a rather serious sinus infection.
Could that explain Daric Barton's prolonged 2008 slump? Heck, could it explain Barton's inadvertent shallow-end-of-the-pool head-bonking over the ASB? Dizziness and altered depth perception would certainly contribute to someone misjudging a dive ...
0 recs | 72 comments
Dizziness?
You mean Bobby Crosby?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/03/SPTI124943.DTL
vignette17 - August 4, 2008
Let's try that link again
http://tinyurl.com/6s2djm
vignette17 - August 4, 2008
And after all that
It’s the same link. SWEET!
vignette17 - August 4, 2008
Love the use of the tinyurl
Someone should teach Crosby to eat.
nevermoor - August 4, 2008
Do the A's lead the league in misdiagnoses?
black beane - August 4, 2008
with Buck, there should certainly be some leeway
He hit his head, and was (presumably) showing signs and symptoms consistent with a concussion—and there’s some overlap with ear infection there. Pretty understandable in this case.
But, after having several inner ear/sinus infections in the same small population …
monkeyball - August 4, 2008
...what? They're either sharing infections by:
1. having sex together or
2. diving into the same swimming pool
Off topic: Does anyone happen to know how to cure vertigo in a goat that has multiple STDs?
Nico - August 4, 2008
as far as we know
that’s not off topic. could explain a lot in the A’s clubhouse.
...im not sure i understand what i just wrote.
oakinboston - August 4, 2008
or sitting in the same whirlpool
monkeyball - August 4, 2008
Or sharing the same goat
thejd44 - August 4, 2008
Stupid A's
Learn to use filtration systems.
nevermoor - August 4, 2008
you can set up filtration
for a goat?
5Aces - August 4, 2008
Yea, its called a plastic bag.
jwnewman - August 4, 2008
LMBO!!! QOTM!!
LiZaRdReVoLuTiOn - August 4, 2008
I think they just put it down
Flashfire - August 4, 2008
Hmmm
And it’s all happening just before the A’s start another series in Toronto … Canadian gamblers strike again!
andeux - August 4, 2008
all the vertiginous A's reported the sound of rattling dice in their ears
monkeyball - August 4, 2008
The wheel of Beane turns
and A’s come and pass, leaving baserunners who don’t advance.
of course, the matrim reference is very relevant, since we have no idea whether the A’s offense is alive or dead
eastcoasta'sfan - August 4, 2008
I'm not sure if I should feel relieved that these players have a fairly serious condition
that’s been affecting their play (and they don’t just totally suck), or if I should be pissed off that this team is so inept at diagnosing and treating injuries that these things go undetected for so long.
thejd44 - August 4, 2008
Both A and B
This points out the health hazard that the Coli-seum has become and the urgent need to move to a new state of the art facility in Fremont.
WaddellCanseco - August 4, 2008
Can an inner-ear infection really affect play for so long?
Another question is it just me or did Greg Smith get moved down a spot? Wasn’t he supposed to pitch today?
LiZaRdReVoLuTiOn - August 4, 2008
Gallagher and Smith were switched to give Smith an extra day of rest
An inner ear infection will affect you as long as it persists, and Larry Davis’ leeches are past their expiration date so the infection will take longer to subside. Plus, if your dizziness causes you to crash into a wall, leading to a concussion that you inexplicably play through…You’re probably better off diving into a shallow pool.
Nico - August 4, 2008
SuSlu sez
that it’s tactical and Smith has been complaining of a tired arm lately and he’s trying to give him more rest:
Leopold Bloom - August 4, 2008
Six Man Rotation! Six Man Rotation!
oblique - August 4, 2008
Hell, we've got the
numbers. Let’s just carry 16 pitchers and have a ten-man rotation.
Leopold Bloom - August 4, 2008
And let them bat. Can't do much worse than our offense has.
Flashfire - August 4, 2008
Wait, wait, wait...
Meyer or Gonzalez
WTF? Was Gio called up and I didn’t know about it?
mikev - August 4, 2008
Meyer
Leopold Bloom - August 4, 2008
but they're saying it's
still a TBD for Thursday, I think…
Leopold Bloom - August 4, 2008
If it's not Meyer they're saying that he sucks
WaddellCanseco - August 4, 2008
Which he might, and probably does, but it would be weird to not at least give him one last shot
thejd44 - August 4, 2008
+1
I mean I know Meyer is up, I just thought it was strange that Slusser mentioned the “or Gonzalez” part.
mikev - August 4, 2008
Part of the TBD
likely had to do with the possible need for a long reliever over the weekend. With Braden iffy, they figured they might need to use Meyer for long relief in which case someone else would need to make the start.
DMOAS - August 4, 2008
Instead they used him for 1 inning
Which is just really really weird.
I’d like to see Meyer get some starts. He’s been solid recently in AAA and he had very real talent pre-injury.
nevermoor - August 4, 2008
re: long-term effects of inner ear infections and vertigo...
Yes. I had a serious case of vertigo last August & September that was apparently triggered by an inner ear virus, which I passed to my mom. It hit her much harder due to her age and a couple of other health issues, and we’re both 99.9% over it now, but even I occasionally still have these sort of flare-ups of just feeling like my equilibrium is “not right,” or of spinning while I’m lying down. We’ve seen a couple of ear specialists that have told us that it’s typical to keep feeling like that occasionally, “for quite a while” (maybe even permanently).
Don’t underestimate the power of the ear... ;)
Poppy - August 4, 2008
clearly, AN is the vector
You transmitted the bug via AN to Vertigo Ziggy, who is immune but passed it on to DJ, Buck, and perhaps Barton.
monkeyball - August 4, 2008
"To the vector go the spoils"
Nico - August 4, 2008
If it's spoiled, throw it away
and put it on the list. Nanna will get it when she goes to the store.
Leopold Bloom - August 4, 2008
You sure the "spinning while lying down"
Isn’t alcohol related? It always is for me…
nevermoor - August 4, 2008
This explains a recent conversation I had with Buck
“Do you have vertigo?”
“No, maybe a 1/2 a mile.”
Wait, it doesn’t explain anything and the conversation was with Graucho Marx. Carry on.
Nico - August 4, 2008
Groucho, not Graucho
richwol1 - August 4, 2008
Huh? That guy's dead.
Where have you been?
Nico - August 4, 2008
Condemn the Coliseum!
It must be something from the inside. It’s obviously effecting the Raiders as well as the A’s.
KMoAsFan - August 4, 2008
The Raiders suffer from a different disease
It’s called we suck permanently, or at least until a few years after Al Davis dies
eastcoasta'sfan - August 4, 2008
At least they don't have 17 running backs on the roster still
thejd44 - August 4, 2008
Is that like the 2 QB, Everyone's a receiver offense?
DMOAS - August 4, 2008
Well, good
Because once Dan Johnson’s eye problems were diagnosed, he started hitting.
Wait…
Joey C. - August 4, 2008
Johnson is raking in Triple A
and would have been a significant upgrade over Barton this year. I will admit that this is revisionist decision making as Barton looked like a great prospect coming into the year.
DKNJ - August 4, 2008
Dan Johnson has also always been able to rake in Triple A
Nico - August 4, 2008
Johnson at his worst with the A's
easily outproduced Barton this year. I am a phony here as DJ looked like a low ceiling 1st basemen while Barton seemed on pace for a .280/360/430 year.
The A’s would have scored a lot more runs this year with a squad comprised of Triple A heroes like Cust, DJ, Macpherson, & Nelson Cruz. I actually advocate them trying these type guys instead of the Emil Browns of the world.
DKNJ - August 4, 2008
Scoff - What's the good of all those OBP guys
if you don’t have an “RBI machine” to drive them in? Did you know it’s been statistically verified that a lineup of 9 Emil Browns would have quite a fine April?
Nico - August 4, 2008
I'm coming around to the RBI Machine idea.
It’s counterintuitive that an overall inferior player can be a better choice in certain situations, but it’s starting to make sense to me. Brown is leading the team in RBI and OBI. Cust is actually very bad at this. There has to be a reason.
WaddellCanseco - August 4, 2008
It's pretty simple, isn't it?
Cust walks a lot and those rarely drive in runs. Emil Brown usually puts the ball in play, which means that the times he does bat with RISP or at third with less than two out, his ABs will more often result in runs driven in.
Nico - August 4, 2008
Isn't that a valuable thing?
It’s a pretty stark contrast—
Brown - 16.9% of runners on base driven in, 52nd of 281 batters with min 200 PA
Cust - 11.2%, 238th
This to me makes Cust a top of the order hitter and Emil a middle of the order hitter BTW Emil’s 1st on the team in this, while Cust is ahead of only Suzuki and Ellis.
I’m thinking a team needs both kinds of hitters to be successful—high OBP and one or two high OBI guys as well. Maybe neither Cust nor Emil should be DFA.
WaddellCanseco - August 4, 2008
Are you guys serious
“RBI-Machine” Emil Brown: 52 RBI
“Rarely drives in runs” Jack Cust: 50 RBI
Excuse me while my head explodes due to more irrational Cust analysis that everyone would like me to “respect.”
nevermoor - August 4, 2008
Once Dan Johnson's eye problems were diagnosed,
Daric Barton started hitting like Dan Johnson. Literally – suddenly Barton’s stance and quasi-autistic rocking back and forth … and batting average … are conjuring up memories of Dan Johnson.
Nico - August 4, 2008
He shouldn't have moved into
DJ’s locker. Clearly, DJ left a little memento of his presence behind.
alox - August 4, 2008
A curse, if you will.
Streams Of Whiskey - August 4, 2008
I'm not usually reactionary
But maybe it’s time to fire everyone who’s involved in the A’s health/physical fitness in any remote way and just start over all together. This is getting insane.
jdr - August 4, 2008
Outsource to India!
WaddellCanseco - August 4, 2008
Seriously,
I bet these guys would do better.
Streams Of Whiskey - August 4, 2008
That's pretty representative.
oblique - August 4, 2008
I've been playing too much Nintendo
I see Mario on the left and Luigi on the right…
FormerHuntsvilleStar - August 4, 2008
Shiva has a steady hand
grover - August 4, 2008
Stuck with Crosby again!
Just checked the lineups for today. What is Geren waiting for. Get Crosby out of there!
sacto - August 4, 2008
we need to get Buck to have sex with Crosby and give him an inner-ear infection
monkeyball - August 4, 2008
Just thinking about that gave me an inner-ear infection
in my stomach.
Nico - August 4, 2008
I could print that up on some tee shirts
for us, if you’d like.
Leopold Bloom - August 4, 2008
sumpin like dis...
Leopold Bloom - August 4, 2008
You mean aural sex?
WaddellCanseco - August 4, 2008
tear down the coliseum
it wouldn’t have passed a health inspection back in the 60s, and who knows what all the raiders do in the clubhouse over the winter.
xbhaskarx - August 4, 2008
They don't practice, that's for sure
grover - August 4, 2008
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