For a Seattle Mariners baseball player, this could be it. Reliever Chris Reitsma of Calgary, Alberta (Canada) will be undergoing a surgery on Thursday to fix his arthritic right elbow. The operation procedure will end his career temporarily.
Chris won’t be playing the rest of this season and this would be his second consecutive season off. After a meeting with Mariners team medical director Dr. Edward Khalfayan, it was evident from his face that he is done. However, when asked whether he was done for the season or for his career, his reply was ‘For the season’.
The surgery:
The surgery sounds like a serious deal. The arthritic pain is caused in Reitsma’s pitching hand. The arthroscopic procedure will involve the removal of the scar tissue and exploring the inside of the joint.
The pain is so bad that the player has to shower 10-15 minutes every morning just to activate his muscles. Agrees Reitsma:
I’ve been taking every kind of medicine to calm it down, pain pills.I showered 10 to 15 minutes every morning just to get it moving.
Result and other aspects of surgery:
So, it’s pretty useless to keep him active on the team. Still, Mariners initially had the ball player on a 15 day disabled list. Later he was moved to a free 40 man roster by placing him on the 60 day list. Chris Reitsma is currently being replaced by Ryan Rowland-Smith from triple-A Tacoma.
I think this is a major set back for someone who makes a living out of baseball. To sit down for a whole season and do nothing could cause a ball player loose millions of dollar. Seattle team signed the once ambitious player Chris Reitsma on a $2.05 million USD deal.
Chris thinks his team is disheartened and he is very upset with this surgery. However, the team Manager John Mc Laren was still pretty satisfied with the performance of the 60 year old ball player.
