[新聞] Wang says he won't stumble from the gate

[leddy (耿秋)]

Wang says he won't stumble from the gate
Monday, February 16, 2009
BY PETE CALDERA
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER

TAMPA, Fla. — At its core, Chien-Ming Wang’s lost 2008 season can be traced
to a bad bunt.

With runners at first and second as Wang came to bat last June 15 at Houston,
it was an obvious sacrifice situation. Yet it was an unusual spot for an AL
pitcher such as Wang, who had 10 at-bats and no successful sacrifices in four
years.

Wang bunted into a force play and wound up on first base. He moved to second
on an error, then stumbled around third – and eventually hobbled home – on
a Derek Jeter single.

As he was helped off the field, Wang knew something was seriously wrong with
his right foot. However, "I thought, [in] one month, two months, I could come
back," Wang said.

Instead, Wang missed the remainder of the year with a sprain of the Lisfranc
ligament, and a partially torn tendon.

It was a broadside hit to the Yankees’ postseason chances. Wang had won 19
games in each of his previous seasons, and his record after June 15 was 8-2.

The Yankees won 12 of the 15 games Wang started last season.

"It was a big blow, obviously," said pitching coach Dave Eiland, as the Yanks
patched their gaping rotation hole with Band-Aids such as Sidney Ponson and
Darrell Rasner.

Now, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are in camp, and Wang is pitching without
pain – three huge reasons for optimism at Steinbrenner Field.

Joe Girardi watched Wang throw off a mound Sunday and liked what he saw. "He
didn’t favor the foot," Girardi said. "That’s important."

Brian Bruney suffered a similar injury last April, but was reactivated in a
little more than three months. Wang felt pain through October and said he didn
’t think he could pitch if the Yanks had made the playoffs.

Back in Taiwan, where Wang is a national phenomenon, the Yankees’ season
might as well have ended June 15.

"Wang was pretty much everything to them," said Joseph Liao, a Taiwanese
sportswriter based in New York, who described Wang’s injury as an emotional
letdown in Taiwan. "After he got hurt, there was nothing for them to watch,
baseball-wise."

Even as he rehabbed in Florida, Wang felt a tug of remorse that stretched
from the Bronx to Taipei.

"I couldn’t get on a mound, I couldn’t pitch, I couldn’t provide innings
for the team. I [felt] really bad. I wanted to go quicker in rehab," said
Wang, who turns 29 on March 31. As for his avid countrymen, "I [felt] bad for
the fans. They wanted to see me pitching every five days."

To aid his recovery, Wang hired a personal trainer for the first time. As a
precaution, the Yankees have limited his running. "We don’t want his foot
taking all that pounding again," Girardi said.

But that’s the limit of Wang’s restrictions in camp. Wang went through
normal pitchers’ fielding drills Sunday, and the plan is "to get him in
games rather quickly," Eiland said. "We want him to face as many hitters as
he can."

And if he has to face another pitcher this summer, Wang might be in a better
position to help himself and the team.

The Yankees play only nine interleague road games this year, starting in
June, but already have started to practice bunting technique – a direct
response to Wang’s injury. Guest pitching instructor Ron Guidry attempted to
humorously hammer that point home to Wang as he lounged near his locker.

"If you learned how to bunt," Guidry said, "you wouldn’t have to run the
bases, and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt."


--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 140.130.161.89
推 tigernaxo:Wang says he won't stumble from the gay
→ tigernaxo:我是看到上一篇新聞想到的 別打我 QQ