Birdland? How about Absurdland?
Let me get this straight: Brad Bergesen hurt his shoulder filming a Birdland commercial?
The guy who was one of the few bright spots for the Orioles in 2009 (7-5, 3.43 ERA in 19 starts) now misses at least 10 days work in spring training because he cut loose doing a promotional spot for the team?
You gotta be kidding me.
But, no, that's the word from the Orioles, who have to be wondering if the term snake-bitten wasn't invented just for them.
To recap, Bergesen said he was trying to throw at game speed for the commercial. "I was trying to be as realistic as possible with it," he told the Sun.
But this is guy who took a nasty line drive off his shin last July 30 and was shut down by the team for the rest of the year.
This is a guy who didn't pitch for months after the injury, as he and the club wanted to be sure everything was healed before he started planting the foot again and airing out his fastball.
And he's making like Nolan Ryan for a Birdland shoot?
He's throwing gas for the TV cameras? (You can see the commercial here.)
What's the guy thinking?
Look, people are going to rip the Orioles for not having someone monitor Bergesen during the filming. And maybe they should take some heat for that.
But doesn't Bergesen deserve some blame, too?
He's not a kid anymore.
Sure, he's human. And maybe he got caught up in the whole thing, wanting to please the production company, wanting it to look like he's pumped and ready for the season.
But you simply can't do that when you're that valuable to your team and you're coming off a serious injury.
If the strained shoulder heals quickly and Bergesen only misses 10 days and rounds back into form after that, all will be forgotten.
But if he doesn't . . . well, let's just say it could be one of the more embarrassing chapters in Orioles history.
Come to Birdland and end up on the DL -- now that's catchy.
Comments
I get the feeling this guy will be prone to injuries during his career (see Eric Bedard). If I were AM, I'd wait for Bergesen to have a decent year without too much injuries and then trade him just like Bedard. Who knows, we could get another Adam Jones/George Sherill out of it.
Posted by: Ted | February 12, 2010 8:58 PM
I have no doubt this is possible....I did the same thing. I hadn't played baseball since the summer, didn't work on my arm for 3 months, threw a ball really hard with max effort and my shoulder strained. I didn't think it would happen because you don't think about it till it happens. All this negativity caused by this just shows how ridiculous we as fans are and how out of touch we really are. We don't think of these guys as having lives. Like when a guy trips over his dog we dont believe it because we don't think they go home. My dog trips me all the time! As everyone's dog does. People need to get over this stuff. It happens.
Posted by: ravenos | February 12, 2010 9:58 PM
I'm being surrounded BY INCOMPETENCE!
Posted by: Attila the Hon | February 12, 2010 10:32 PM
Poop for brains...the FO
Posted by: Dave | February 13, 2010 12:29 AM
The story does make you feel a little queasy. Is Bergesen going to be the new Hayden Penn?
Posted by: Bethesda Jack | February 13, 2010 8:08 AM
He'll learn -- maybe the hard way.One rotator cuff and a torn AC joint later, I'm still learning...But I know the importance of properly warming up. Whether it's those stupid arm motions or soft toss, you have to warm up. Especially since pitching is not a natural motion.Ted might be right... meanwhile O'Malley is blaming Ehrlich for the injury.
Posted by: Wags | February 13, 2010 10:10 AM
This looks like "idiot fan's obvious reaction." Most athletes do athletic stuff in their commercials. Not that big of a deal.
Posted by: Richard | February 13, 2010 10:14 AM
Just viewed the commercial. A MLB pitcher has the same release whether it's a curve, slider, FB, etc. Those w/out that are tipping their pitches. Watch the commercial. Bergesen is coming across w/the usual 3/4 release for all pitches except the last one. Sometimes they get tired; other times just out of sync. The last pitch drops down to 2/3 to almost side-arm release. This may not have been the last pitch but the video is showing inconsistencies in motion. Where was the brass keeping an eye on the kid!?!?!?!?!?
Posted by: Wags | February 13, 2010 10:16 AM
wasn't it tony gwynn who fell and broke his finger in the shower?
Posted by: Chris | February 13, 2010 10:34 AM
We always knew Orioles commercials were painful to watch, now they are painful to appear in as well.
Posted by: Jeff | February 13, 2010 2:46 PM
Did he ever do a soft-toss warmup before going out there and firing away? That makes no sense at all! Brain-freeze!
Posted by: JonathanTuttle | February 14, 2010 7:32 AM
Blame no one other than the FO. To jeopardize a starter to make a commercial is ridiculous. Show footage from 2009, show him in uniform holding ball, etc.
Posted by: Irony Alert | February 14, 2010 10:26 AM
Comparing a professional pitcher to some weekend warrior who hurt his arm by not warming up is just silly. This guy is a pro, he should know better, and it's scary to me that he doesn't. This shows poor judgment and a shocking lack of understanding of his own body/arm.
I'm predicting a major sophomore slump for Brad this season, and this episode does little to improve the gloomy forecast. Hitters are going to figure out his tendencies, and he doesn't miss enough bats to project much beyond a #4 or #5.
Come July he'll be two or three games under .500, with an ERA around 5.00 and everyone will be blaming this commercial and last year's leg injury.
Ferg
Posted by: Ferg | February 15, 2010 8:14 AM
Kevin - The order of blame for this fiasco in my opinion goes like this:
1) The Orioles (unless this was done behind their back or they weren't told the shoot entailed throwing full speed off of a mound) - How do they agree to allow MASN film this when Bergesen was just getting healthy again? He'd only started running again a month before or less and hadn't thrown off of a mound at all, much less full bore. Were team trainers and physicians consulted? I kinda think not.
2) MASN - Why were they in so much of a hurry to get a this commerical done when they knew his status? It's not like there weren't plenty of other players they could have filmed first.
3) Bergy - What was he thinking in allowing this to take place? Did he consult the team before making his decision? How did he allow himself to get talked into throwing all out when he was still far from ready?
I sincerely hope that this does turn out to be just a minor injury, because the O's can ill afford to lose him for any extended amount of time.
......................
To all parties involved with the injury: I hope you'll learn from this.
Posted by: Ken Francis | February 15, 2010 3:35 PM