08/28/2006 10:42 PM ET
Pavano stays mum on rib injury
Right-hander to make rehab start Wednesday in Columbus
By Jennifer Royle / YESNetwork.com
NEW YORK — Carl Pavano knew that injury No. 4 in his Yankee career wouldn't
sit well with the organization. That is why he chose to keep his latest
wounds, suffered in a car accident in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he owns
a home and resides in the offseason, a secret.
Although Pavano was able to walk away from the accident with minor injuries,
the damage to his Porsche is now the least of his worries.
On the morning of Aug. 15, before Pavano made his third rehabilitation
start in Melbourne, Fla., the right-hander, driving in slippery conditions,
spun out of control and hit a parked truck. Pavano was wearing his seatbelt,
but the safety device may have been the cause of his two broken ribs.
Pavano felt discomfort in his ribcage over his last three minor league
starts, but given his history of injuries over the past two years, decided
to pitch through the pain. Pavano thought the injury would heal itself,
but when it didn't heal as quickly as he hoped, he knew he needed to seek
professional medical attention. At that point, he told Columbus pitching
coach, Neil Allen, and athletic trainer, Mark Littlefield, what had
happened. Pavano underwent a CT scan in Columbus on Monday confirming
that he had fractured two ribs.
"Everything feels great except this," said Pavano Sunday night in Columbus. "
I feel like I'm snakebit. Yeah, it's bothering me, but I also know there's
nothing I can do about it.
"They know I want the ball. I told them I was ready, regardless."
General manager Brian Cashman finally got word of the accident and injury
late Saturday afternoon and went into hiding to gather the facts and figure
out how to deal with the situation. Cashman not only avoided the media's
phone calls, he avoided Pavano's as well, leaving the right-hander somewhat
suspicious as to what the GM's reaction would be.
Via conference call Monday evening, Cashman didn't hide his frustrations
with Pavano and the hefty four-year, $39.95 million contract to which he
is bound. While Cashman is disappointed Pavano has barely stepped on a
big-league mound since being signed in the winter of 2004, while car
accidents don't happen on purpose, he emphasized the point that players
are obligated to report any health issues to Yankee officials.
"Of course I'm angry," Cashman said. "But at the same time, I'm not
going to reveal the dialogue. It'll stay right now between Carl and I.
It's frustrating…No doubt about that.
"There are a lot of words that would come to mind. It certainly was a
surprise this weekend when it came up. We were hoping the test would
reveal nothing but they explained why he was keeping it to himself over
the last few weeks."
But nobody is more frustrated than Pavano.
"In my tenure with the Yankees, it's been pretty frustrating for the
city, the team, my teammates, myself, the manager, it's been frustrating
for everyone," Pavano said. "It's one thing after another. I needed a
doctor's opinion to find out what kind of treatment I needed. It wasn't
fair to me and it wasn't fair to the team at all. I had to come clean
with it.
"I wanted to put things behind me so I just had to make a decision that
would be good for everyone but it wasn't good for anyone. It backfired
on me. I take full responsibility for making the wrong decision. At the
time I thought it was right. I still want to pitch."
After the New York Post broke the news Sunday that Pavano was complaining
of an oblique muscle strain, his teammates, who were in Anaheim finishing
their series with the Angels, reportedly began to question his desire to
pitch in pinstripes. However, Pavano isn't concerned about receiving a
warm welcome in the clubhouse upon his arrival.
"I don't feel like I need to say anything," said Pavano, whose closest
friend on the team, Shawn Chacon, was traded to the Pirates in July.
"We're all grown men and we're going to make out our own judgments.
I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me. If some people don't
understand, I don't think I have much control over that.
"Me trying to save face … I'm not that kind of guy. I'm going to go about
my business and I'm not going to make excuses. I give everyone the benefit
of the doubt but not everyone is like that. It's obviously not going to be
good enough for some people but it'll be good enough for others. I'm not
going to worry about it too much."
Pavano, who at times has shut out the New York media and hasn't been
around the big-league clubhouse enough to talk on a regular basis,
takes pride in his relationship with Cashman. Because of their
closeness, Pavano admitted there hasn't been much dialogue with
Joe Torre or any of the coaches.
Aside from this latest incident, Pavano has fully recovered from surgery
to remove a bone chip from his elbow in June. Therefore, despite the
current pain the right-hander is feeling in his ribcage, Pavano is
still scheduled to make his fourth and potentially final rehab start
on Wednesday for Columbus in Durham. Pavano will then be examined by
a doctor and if all is well, Pavano will come off the disabled list
and start for the major league Yankees soon after. If and when Pavano
takes the major-league mound, it will be his first major league start
since June 27, 2005.
"I signed a contract to pitch and to be a part of this team and not a
distraction, and that's how I feel," Pavano said. "The only way is for
me to go out on the mound and live up to what they signed me. After all
the things that have gone on, I can understand (how they feel), but only
I have the answers.
"If I feel like it's something that will hurt my arm or the team win
or lose, those are things I need to take in account. I'm not going
to prove to the world that I can pitch. I have to be smart about it."
Jennifer Royle is an editorial producer for YESNetwork.com.
She can be reached at jennifer.royle@mlb.com.
http://0rz.net/891Nz
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