Sunday, April 06, 2008

Hot Beef Injection

Dmitri Young got a shot (cortisone? elephant gun?) in his back, and should be out for another few days, continuing to handicap Manny Acta. A trip to the DL doesn't seem likely at this point. Remember when Bowden said -- with a straight face -- that Dmitri's extension would actually make it easier to trade him?

I've got sources inside the team, and they've provided me with this exclusive shot of Dmitri's medical treatment. I just wonder if the maple syrup is really an appropriate choice for a diabetic?

posted by Chris Needham at 10:15 AM

20 Comments:

  • I think Babe Ruth did more than a few shots in his day, and they weren't cortisone. Maybe Dmitri should try some of that medicine.

    And, oh yeah - Babe Ruth was fat.

    By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 4/06/2008 11:18 AM  

  • I don't know who your sources inside the team are; but ours are telling us it was actually turkey gravy, not maple syrup, they injected him with.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/06/2008 12:25 PM  

  • With or without giblets?

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/06/2008 12:26 PM  

  • Give it a rest Chris. Young had an outstanding season last year, and was one of the prime reasons we weren't nearly as shitty as every prognosticator said we would be. I'm not saying i don't love having NJ back and that he should of course be the starter0and i am a fan of this blog. But your lame shots at Dmitri have grown tiresome, imo.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/06/2008 12:36 PM  

  • Ugh, sorry, i didn't mean to post a "anon", that last comment was from me. Sunday computer problems...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/06/2008 12:37 PM  

  • Eh. Click on any of those blogs over there on the right. I'm sure they'll be more friendly than me.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/06/2008 12:42 PM  

  • Your right abou that Chris, but I keep reading that Nats FO is just as unhappy as I am about DY and his 300lbs, (and growing from where I sit in the stands) I know Barry is reporting 298lbs but Barry always gives players the benifit of the doubt (Lopez, Patterson, Hill, Chico, on and on).

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/06/2008 1:02 PM  

  • what ever happened to the bonus for DY if he lost weight? I guess there' s no incentive if you already got your $5 mil.
    Maybe they should just Lipo his big ass.

    By Blogger Rob B, at 4/06/2008 1:14 PM  

  • Dmitri's health is bad, of course, and his weight is certainly to blame, but even were he healthy, he wouldn't be responsible for this 3-game series. That rests squarely on the training staff and muscle strains of Dukes and Pena. Player's who've had the right conditioning programs shouldn't be getting those injuries. The fact that Young is out with similar injuries merely underscores the poor conditioning of the team.

    By Blogger Michael Taylor, at 4/06/2008 1:30 PM  

  • Just pointing out how stupid and pointless your blog can sometimes be is all. But apparently you knew that already.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/06/2008 2:03 PM  

  • Yep.

    Writing it is bad.

    Continuing to comment on it when it's stupid and pointless might be worse. Might be.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/06/2008 2:23 PM  

  • I am not understanding why Chris, Manny, the Post, the front office, the fans or anyone else should give DY a break. Because of last year? Somebody needs to explain that one.

    If DY had been in shape, Nats would have had a better chance to win those games in St. Louis. DY has a responsibility to his team to be the best he can be, big contract or small.

    DY only deserves a break if his diabetes prevents him from controlling his weight, no matter how hard he tries. Is that the case?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/06/2008 4:52 PM  

  • "DY only deserves a break if his diabetes prevents him from controlling his weight, no matter how hard he tries. Is that the case?"

    Apparently it is. The medications he's taking to control his diabetes make it harder or impossible for him to drop any weight. You can get on him all you want for getting fat in the first place, which surely helped bring on his diabetes. But to my eye he's no bigger now than he was this time last year. The only difference is that last year he was able to play through it, whereas this year he hasn't. That's too bad, but you know, back pain is not a known complication of diabetes - although I guess it is the lot of many fat people. But many thin people have bad backs too.

    By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 4/06/2008 5:04 PM  

  • Well, it's the excuse HE is using. I'm not sure how valid it is, but anyway.

    You say, "The only difference is that last year he was able to play through it,"

    He didn't, though. He missed a lot of time last year as well, missing a bunch of starts, and being limited to PH-ing only in a number of others.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/06/2008 5:07 PM  

  • OK, we are now getting somewhere.

    When Bowden and Dmitri Young said (upon inking DY to the $10 million deal)that DY would get down to 230 or 240 so he could play some OF and improve his agility overall, they simply forgot that he had diabetes, which (per An Briosca Mor) made it impossible for him to keep that promise?

    If that is the case, we should be OK with DY at 300 lbs.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/06/2008 5:50 PM  

  • "He didn't, though. He missed a lot of time last year as well, missing a bunch of starts, and being limited to PH-ing only in a number of others."

    Yet somehow he managed to make the All Star team (okay, if only because he was the best of a bad lot - but he did at least play well enough to be the best of a bad lot) and hit well over .300. I would say he played through the illness last year. Every player is not going to be Cal Ripken. I suppose you're going to blame the couple weeks at the end of the season last year that he missed after being hit in the head by a ground ball on him being fat, too? Oh, okay, I see. Large immobile target, right?

    Look, I'm not trying to overly apologize for the guy, but you guys really do need to cut him some slack. He didn't choose to become diabetic. Okay, maybe he did choose to become fat, but all fat people aren't diabetic. Diabetes is an incurable disease that at best can be managed so a person can live a somewhat normal life. But the way it's managed is a highly individual thing, not cut and dried one size fits all. He just found out he has diabetes before last season and is still learning how that will impact the rest of his life. I don't hear him whining about it, so why don't you all just give him a break?

    Geez, I'm starting to sound as bad as that person who kept defending Patterson on Svrluga's blog. I'd better quit.

    By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 4/06/2008 7:01 PM  

  • Sure, I'm being harsh. He had six months in the off season to figure out what course of treatment would work for him. He had access to better doctors and better dieticians than you or I would have were we in a similar situation.

    Despite all that, he shows up overweight, and the weight immediately prevents him from taking the field, hurting the team.

    Is it likely that some of the weight issues are diabetes related? Probably. Is it likely that the bulk (no pun intended) is because he's never given a rat's ass about his physical condition? Yep. He admitted that he didn't even bother swinging a bat once this offseason.

    The central question is this: Did he do everything he could do to 1) take care of his personal health and 2) get himself ready for the season.

    I don't think even his biggest defenders could say yes to either.

    He really needs to worry about the answer to #1 before worrying about #2.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 4/06/2008 7:08 PM  

  • The "didn't pick up a bat during the off season" thing is a red herring. When he's been able to come to the plate this year during spring training or the couple of PH ABs he's had this past week, he's hit every bit as well as he did last year. He didn't need to swing a bat at all during the off season to get ready for the season, apparently. You'd have to swing a bat 24/7 if that was all you were doing to try to lose weight, and even then it probably wouldn't do anything except destroy your love life.

    I still maintain that he doesn't weigh all that much more now than he did this time last year. What's 20 pounds more to a 280-pounder? Less than 10% of your body weight. Putting on 10% of your body weight in one year is not going to destroy anyone physically. If anything, he's in marginally worse shape than last year. Where was all the hate then?

    By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 4/06/2008 8:31 PM  

  • Even if you put the fattest spin on this, he's still taking up an acre on the bench all this time and not playing. I'm already tired of watching Willie Harris at-bats.

    By Blogger blovy8, at 4/07/2008 11:24 AM  

  • Okay, now we have another thing to blame on Dmitri for being fat: He's too fat to go on the DL!

    Um, I don't think so. The onus on that one is on JimBo and Manny. They should have put Dmitri on the DL the day he left the team to come back to DC for treatment, and brought up someone like Justin Maxwell to fill the slot. It's not Dmitri's (or Chad's) fault they've had to play short-handed for half the games so far this season.

    By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 4/07/2008 11:53 AM  

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