BOSTON – The biggest series in the 11-year history of the franchise, and the Tampa Bay Rays start a cleanup hitter who freely admits he doesn’t run out ground balls if he doesn’t have to. He has all but given up playing the outfield, too, and more often than not, prepares for a game by finding a good place to sit. “I try to get by with doing as little as possible,” he said. Appalled? Don’t be. It’s a wonder Rocco Baldelli is on a ballfield at all. The 26-year-old designated hitter is playing despite what has been diagnosed as a rare neuromuscular disease known as mitochondrial myopathy, for which there is no cure. That conclusion came after visits to countless doctors, who for months couldn’t offer Baldelli an explanation for why his body was betraying him. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...cB?slug=ge-baldelli090808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Thats why he had pulled his hamstring 6 straight times when he was in AAA a couple years ago. He is actually a very good defensive player and comes in for 2-3 innings in clutch situations, rather him than Eric Hinske but now with Fernado Perez, a speedy outfielder on the 40 man roster, perez will be used more.
That sounds pretty terrible to deal with. It's pretty amazing he can play baseball at all with a condition like that.
