talk about your bad karma

[Bye!]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by the teacher:
John McDonald's appendix picks now, of all the possible days in his 27 years, to go bad on him... at the start of spring training in the year he's out of options and actually finally has a chance to make the team?

Even a cold hearted SOB like me can't help but feel for the guy.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I don't know for sure if this is true, but I thought that even though they are out of options on McDonald, they could send him down to Buffalo for rehab. Does anybody know?


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[the teacher]

John McDonald's appendix picks now, of all the possible days in his 27 years, to go bad on him... at the start of spring training in the year he's out of options and actually finally has a chance to make the team?

Even a cold hearted SOB like me can't help but feel for the guy.

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Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est

[Alex]

I belive there are medical exceptions, but they probably have a time-limitation.

How ironic, a bad karma topic post just a few days before Alex Escobar's injury.


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Alex

[Alex]

Mac comes back, and he's still got it

03/18/02


Winter Haven, Fla. - They sliced John McDonald open on Feb. 27 and took out his
appendix. Then they told him to stay in bed and forget about baseball.

A week later, he was playing catch. Two weeks later, he was playing in minor-league games.
First, he just swung the bat. The next day, he played shortstop for five innings.He played
seven innings the day after that.

Yesterday it was time to join the big boys. McDonald started his first big-league exhibition
game of spring training.

It wasn't Opening Day at Jacobs Field, but for McDonald it will do. He hit two doubles, drove
in two runs and took part in three double plays at second base. In the third, he stole a hit
from Pittsburgh's Adrian Brown by charging a slow bouncer over the mound and making a
quicksidearm throw to first.

The Indians beat the Pirates, 5-1,and McDonald looked like he'd never missed two weeks
ofcamp.

"That was the Big Mac attack," said manager CharlieManuel. "He drove in a run with a
hit-and-run double. Then he doubled down the left-field line.And he turned some terrific
plays in the field.

"How about that Johnny Mac?"

Not a bad day to do it either. It was St.Patrick's Day.

"I 've got a little Irish in me," said McDonald, the map of Ireland on his face. "I had a little bit
of luck today.The ball bounced right. I'll take it."

McDonald should make the Indians as a utility infielder. He's out of options, meaning he
can't be sent back to the minors without giving other teams a chance to claim him. It's
probably not something the Indians want to do because Jolbert Cabrera, the extra infielder
and outfielder, is still recovering from getting shot in the right buttock when he was the victim
of a robbery in December.

Of course, McDonald could have decided to open the season on the disabled list. It might
have temporarily solved some problems, but he couldn't wait.

"Why not try and get healthy as quick as possible and compete for a job?" he said. "There
are a lot of guys playing well in camp. I wouldn't want to stay on the DL and then try and
play catch-up after the season started.

"I wanted to come in here and compete and have fun with everybody else."

Mike Lansing and Greg LaRocca are McDonald's main competition. One of them could make
the club if Cabrera isn't ready by March 31.

They both swing the bat better than McDonald, but they can't play defense with him. While
Ricky Gutierrez has made the move from shortstop to second base with ease, it's safe to say
McDonald is quicker and has more range at second base. And shortstop is his best position.

The Indians turned a 5-4-3 double play in the second, a 4-6-3 double play in the third and a
6-4-3 double play in the fifth. McDonald made the pivot twice with runners right on top of
him.

"In the fifth, I hung in there too long," said McDonald. "Luis Polonia was right there. I've got
to get out of there sooner."

He doubled home Milton Bradley on a hit-and-run in the second. Then he doubled home
another run in the eighth.

McDonald worked out with Robbie Alomar's trainer for a month and a half in Phoenix during
the off-season.

"I did a lot of abdominal work," he said. "I never knew I had abs before. They cut through
them for the appendectomy, but I think all the work I did during the winter, helped me come
back faster."

The Indians don't play today. On the spring-training treadmill, it's like Christmas break for a sixth-grader.

When asked what he was going to do, McDonald said, "Sleep all day."

Contact Paul Hoynes at:

[email protected], 216-999-5754


? 2002 The Plain Dealer.

--------------------------------------------

Talk about a Rosey view of life,

"they cut up my abs during the appendectomy but because I worked on them this winter I recovered quicker!"

....sheesh!

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[Alex]

It appears to me that if Johnny Mac plays all out and stays healthy, he could be a .260-.275 hitter and a great fielder.

HOWEVER, it appears that Johnny Mac gets injured often enough, and he will keep playing even when injured, and then when he is injured and keeps quiet about it he becomes the worst hitter on the team.

[The Crank]

John MacDonald is a nice little utility infielder. Has a great glove. And a great heart. No one hustles more than he. And he certainly deserves a shot to regain his position as utility infielder during ST.

However, to expect him to magically become a .260-.270 hitter, when here is nothing in his background to show he is capable of it, and he is quickly reaching the point where whatever offensive skills he might actually possess will start to go downhill, is as foolhardy as say moving a catcher who never played the position to thirdbase.

[Alex]

You're rewriting history a bit.

Johnny Mac did hit .250 two seasons ago.

His average last year dropped from .300 once the injury bug hit him. Both his knee and upper back & neck were injured.

He's definitely a .250 hitter, don't know how much more he can crank out his body. And more importantly, it could be it's his durability that keeps his average down more than he's perhaps ever let on.