Mulder: “I would give up anything to have done well in that city”
TOWER GROVE — There were times during his endless rehab from relentless shoulder trouble that Mark Mulder pitched well enough to get through innings, to get by batters. But, he said there was never a moment, not in his final two seasons as a Cardinal, that he was certain he could pitch effectively.
“It was a tough situation … The whole time, all the way through the rehab and making those starts, I was not sure what I really had to get guys out,” Mulder said. “Coming back, never once did I sit there and say, It’s back. I feel normal. I never had things just click.”
The St. Louis Cardinals sent notification to Mulder’s representative within the past week that they would not pick up his $11-million option for 2009. Nobody on either side of the contract believed they would grab the option, and Mulder said the official alert came as somewhat of a relief. He’s free. Not just as a free agent, but free of a timetable, free of a schedule, free of a race to get ready for spring training.
He’s free when he’s still not sure just what it will take to get ready at all.
“It’s definitely on my mind, it’s definitely something I’m thinking about because the ultimate goal is to get back and pitch,” said Mulder (his stats). “I just don’t see that happening without a lot of work and a lot of time.”
Before: Mark Mulder delivers a pitch for Oakland. Notice the location of his elbow.
Mulder talked about the declined option when he called Wednesday afternoon from his home in Arizona. He’s working out with Danica Patrick’s husband, Paul Hospenthal, and he continues to explore new and different and creative treatments to “free up” his shoulder. He’s done some of what he called aggressive stretching to improve his flexibility. He’s done some yoga. In working out in Arizona, Mulder and his agent said he’s discovered just a chain of muscle tightness extending from his left shoulder down through his torso.
He’s working to tenderize those muscles so that he can get his arm to deliver like it used to.
So much of Mulder’s recovery over the past two seasons — while he was on a two-year, $13-million deal with the Cardinals — has been blanket-covered. His attempts to change his arm slot. His attempt to come back as a reliever. His 16 pitches in Philadelphia that ended his season when, once again, his shoulder buckled, his elbow collapsed and he couldn’t comfortably or effectively throw a pitch.
Pictures do better than words here.
After: Mulder delivers a pitch for the Cardinals, and again notice the elbow's location.
Embedded in this blog are two pictures — one of Mulder delivering a pitch while with Oakland, where he was an All-Star, part of the Big Three, and the winningest lefty in the game during his heyday there. The other picture is from his time as a Cardinal. I attempted to find photos that were snapped at about the same time in his delivery. The sag in his elbow is clear. That’s what he has been trying to describe for the past year or so, that feeling of the elbow buckling as he attempts to rotate his shoulder to the high point of the delivery.
Mulder had surgery in September 2006 to repair the labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder. (Though on the disabled list, he was with the team during the World Series run in 2006.) A year and three tattered starts after the first surgery, team doctors went back into the shoulder to shave the rotator cuff and address the area where the initial repair didn’t hold.
He’s started to remember things that happened then that were tell-tale signs he missed.
When he first returned from the shoulder surgery and started pitching in 2007, Mulder said he felt his shoulder tug on his neck, tug his head back and away from looking at the plate. There were times that he thought his delivery was yanking his head away from its focus. The muscles were so tight, he said, that it wasn’t allowing the head to look at the plate while his arm moved back. There were other little he recalls that may have been harbingers of trouble.
“I look back and know now that maybe things weren’t working,” Mulder said. “But I’m beyond looking back. I’m not saying what if anymore.”
It’s all about what’s next.
“I’m not with a team,” he said, “so it’s on my schedule.”
Mulder does not have a red-circled date on his calendar for when he’ll next pick up a baseball and try to make a pitch. It’s possible, his agent said, that mid-November is when Mulder could begin a throwing program. Mulder is of an opinion that he wants to be able to throw consistently from the mound — a few bullpens in a row — and may even be facing hitters before he entertains offers from teams. Some left the 2008 season with the sense that Mulder would be closed off to a return to St. Louis because of the past 2 1/2 seasons.
Not so, he said. He can separate the frustration from the location.
“I would have given up anything to have done well in that city and with that team,” Mulder said Wednesday. “I saw how it was. I saw why kind of teams we had there. It would have been so much fun, so incredible, to have been healthy and pitching like I’m capable. The last few years had nothing to do with the team or with the city. I wasn’t able to pitch for either of them. That’s disappointing.”
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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. 
As a fan of the Cardinals, there were great hopes riding on Mark Mulder. He was expected to pitch and pitch well for the Cardinals. He didn’t, and the Cardinals were forced to make a decision. If he liked the environment, the city, the team, and possibility to reach the World Series again, why not stay. Build and agree to a contract wrought with incentives that pays him as he succeeds. I saw Mark pitch several times his first year as a Cardinal and each time I saw him, he didn’t look the same as when he pitched for Oakland. He’s not the same, but I still believe he can be a very effective pitcher - with a role to play. The Cardinals have a lot of thinking to do about who stays, who goes, and who they want to become. Mark, approach STL and tell them you think you can prove yourself and are willing to “anything” to do well. Start the season expected to be middle relief until you get the confidence and sharpness you once had. You still have “it” and the Cards still need “it.”
Good luck Mark. If you were really concerned about doing anything, call the Cards and tell them you’ll play for the minimum. Take a page out of Ankiel’s book.
it’s too bad this trade didn’t work out for the cardinals..no one in their right mind could of guessed it would work out this bad..it haappens though.. i don’t hate mulder like some cardinal fans do..he tried but was just too injured..not his fault, i hope he does well in the future with whatever team he plays for
DG,
In your 2 pics above: Pic 1 I believe he has a 2-seam fastball grip. Pic 2 looks like a curve grip. So it is possible that these 2 pics might be an apples-oranges situation. Nevertheless, I completely agree that he came back with a much lower arm slot than before though. Just wanted to point it out.
Maybe he should just give up baseball and try to get his PGA card.
I know I’m reiterating what some people have already said, but I couldn’t resist to responding to some of these fans who think Mulder secretly only cares about money just because he had a big contract and was physically unable to play:
1. MLB does not allow players to play for free, no matter how much they insist not to be paid. Baseball is a business and the world doesn’t work like that. If you went to your work world’s best intergrity and insisted on not being paid because you were unperforming or unable to, you would either get paid or lose your job. (Richard)
2. At the time of the trade, Mulder was the best lefty in baseball, so the trade happened, get over it. We’ve had a lot of success. (STL Witchita)
3. He didn’t sign a contract secretly knowing he would be rehabbing for 2 years and get away with “stealing”. No athlete predicts (or hopes) that they endure what he did (Viper/Souget, read what SJ says).
4. It’s not that easy to approach/plead to the organization and assure them you’re trying everything you can and expect a new deal to stay on the roster. What do you think he’s been trying to do for 2 years now? Plus it’s the team’s decision to decline him. (Cards Fan)
Some fans (not necessarily every person noted above) who have this never ending bitterness toward pro athletes who make millions, act like they’d be the next Ghandi if they were in their shoes, when really they would make the same decision Mulder did and sign the extension.
The site below does a pretty thorough analysis of Mulder’s delivery changes between 2004 and 2006 using frame-by-frame video comparisons.
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/mechanics/discussion/lost_foundmulders/
Enough already with the “Mulder should pay back $” stuff. If any one of us had to take disability leave (assuming we had it) and were paid during our rehab, we wouldn’t offer to work for free to make up for it. Mulder did his best at rehab; it isn’t his fault it didn’t work. Now if Mulder had hurt himself while golfing, or was showing up drunk for rehab and not completing his work, that’s another thing. But there hasn’t been a hint of wrongdoing on his part. Sometimes bad luck is just bad luck.
It’s hard not wonder what Mulder could have been if not for injuries. Previous to 2006 he had already amounted 97 wins, and he at that point was only 28 years old. Since 2001 Mulder had been one the best pitchers in the game. His W-L record from 2001-2005: 21-8, 19-7, 15-9, 17-8, and 16-8. This guy was a lock for 15 wins a season.
DG, how much of an affect does the Mulder/Haren trade really have on the Cards front office when they are considering to trade for a elite starting pitcher? When Walt traded for Mulder it was a good deal. I didn’t think Haren would become an all-star and a CY Young canidate, but what I did know is that in 2005 the Cards were the team to beat in he National League in the ‘05 season. They were an elite starter away from winning the World Series, and they traded for one of the game’s best in Mulder.
I just have a tough time believing the Cards front office has continued to be cautious when trying to trade for an elite starting pitcher, because Mulder didn’t work out. Maybe they really do take this one bad deal into consideration when looking to trade, I don’t know?
Good luck Mark. If it doesn’t work so that he gets a shot at pitching in the big leagues again, then he certainly could one day become a manager at some level of pro baseball I would think. He seems like he would make a good manager if he wanted to continue to stay in the game.
Mark: You did “well” for St. Louis if you did your best! We know that you did your best under the painful circumstances of your efforts, and I think you will be remembered fondly by St. Louis fans, who will be pulling for you to be successful once again! Best wishes to you,
chasham
It is hard for me to shed a tear for you Mark, when you took another contract and telling the team you felt good. Have fun sucking on those mocha frappacino’s. Your done and thank goodness.