Carp calls it a season; surgery for Ankiel “likely” (updated)
PITTSBURGH — Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter will be shut down for the remainder of the 2008 season as a result of a consultation with team doctors, the team confirmed in an official release Friday evening.
That likelihood was first reported in Friday morning’s paper.
Carpenter continues to have discomfort and soreness related to the muscle strain in his right shoulder that put him on the disabled list, and additional exams revealed nerve irritation in the shoulder that has complicated his ability to recover from appearance to appearance.
The nerve issue is not related to the nerve damage that kept him out of the postseason in 2004.
In its weekly medical release, the team was specific to point out that while Carpenter’s 2008 season is over after just four appearances — three of which were starts — the club is optimistic the injuries will not threaten his 2009 season.
“The team is optimistic for his full return in 2009,” a team release stated.
Rick Ankiel met with a specialist in Philadelphia on Friday and, according to a release from the team, is likely to have surgery in the “near future” to repair his abdominal injury. Ankiel met with the doctor who performed a sports hernie surgery on Eagles wide receiver Kevin Curtis. The Cardinals outfielder was diagnosed with what the Cardinals called a “abdominal strain/athletic pubalgia.”
That, in an odd choice of lingo, is a fancy way of saying sports hernia.
A quick history: The “sports hernia” is the new name for a “hockey hernia”, which used to just be known as a groin strain. It is often described as a tear in the abdominal wall (lining) that can cause persistent and irritable pain. This is a more clinical description from an insurance company that does not cover the surgery:
Athletic pubalgia, also known as groin disruption or sports hernia/sportsman’s hernia, has been reported to afflict athletes who participate in sports that entail repetitive twisting and turning while moving (e.g., hurdling, rugby, skiing, soccer, tennis, field hockey and ice hockey). Previously described in high-performance athletes, athletic pubalgia has also been reported to occur in recreational athletes. Athletic pubalgia has been characterized as chronic groin pain in conjunction with a dilated superficial ring of the inguinal canal. However, the term hernia is a misnomer because of the absence of a hernia on physical examination or imaging (e.g., magnetic resonance imaging), and a hernia is not revealed during surgery.
Even as the team balked at the description of Ankiel’s injury as a sports hernia, the outfielder never did. He said he was trying to play through the abdominal strain, but added that he had not ruled out a sports hernia. “I’m not a doctor,” Ankiel said in Houston a few weeks back. “But I know that could be a possibility.”
The surgery will limit him for the first part of the offseason but he should be at full strength and ready for spring training. Chris Duncan, who had the surgery at the end of last season, was ready for spring training. His issues, he said, wasn’t related to health it was related to how he altered his swing because of the hernia.
In additional news: Jason Isringhausen had surgery Friday to repair the torn tendon in his right elbow.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
emc2013,I agree with your point.One of TLR’s biggest faults is his loyalty to his players.Rolen,Izzy,Ankiel,and Duncan are perfect examples.However,loyalty is a double edged sword.The same character trait that leads TLR to stick with players too long,is the same on that gets his players to bust their butts for him.
I second those on these sites that question the Cardinal’s medical staff.There has been an unsettling pattern of misdiagnosis that goes back several years.How much of this is propoganda to appease the fan base,or lack of stubborness on the part of the players,I can’t determine.But the fact remains that the medical staff must except the lion’s share of the blame.
As for Ankiel,one can only cross their fingers.Duncan had surgery for a sports hernia last year,earlier in the season than September,and was supposed to be ready for opening day.He wasn’t the same.How much that had to do with the disc problem,who knows?But I’m at the point where I can’t be overly optimistic.