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. 
Richard, that’s pure ignorance. Welcome to sports and life. Mulder signed a contract, busted his butt to get healthy and it didn’t work. Them’s the breaks. No one is going to work for ‘free’. Please. St. Louis paid Mulder when he was healthy and on top of his game. Things went downhill from there. An organization lost some money and a good kid might’ve lost a career and the opportunity to earn millions more down the road. How about everyone just cuts their losses and attempts to show an ounce of class here, eh?
People can cry and complain all they want, but they ought to remember what Mulder brought to the team before they start whining too much.
One of the most exciting games my wife and I have been to in the past 5 seasons was in May 2005 when Mulder threw 12 K’s vs. the Dodgers (and Albert hit 2 HRs). Man, he was fun to watch when he was on.
Give the guy a break. I’m sure that he did not intend to sign a huge contract and then tank it. I don’t think people realize the stress that pitching puts on the human arm. Go out and try to pitch like a professional athlete and then see how your arm feels…if you even get close to professional speeds. For an ALREADY greatly stressed arm, it makes it even more difficult to rebound from a very intensive surgery. He tried as hard as his body would allow. What more do you expect?
People are also hypocrites. You cannot sit there and tell me that if you were in his shoes, that you would not take the money. Any normal, rational person would take any amount of money offered to them to play a game they love.
I agree that players get paid too much money. If you want to blame anyone for the inflated salaries of professional athletes - blame the team owners, upper management, sponsors, etc. The business part of the equation. They are the ones who determine how fast and how high players salaries will progress from here. The players are just normal people, like us, who are taking money offered to them to play a game. I don’t blame them.
I wish you the best, Mark. Specifically good health, whether you ever throw another fast ball or not. You handled yourself with class and dignity and every true Cardinals fans holds that with the greatest of respects.
To those who cry and moan about the money he should “give back”, please realize this. There is a better then average chance that this man will have long term and chronic problems with his troubled shoulder for the rest of his life. Injuries like this and the subsequent toll that countless surgeries and rehabilitations take on the body are often not realized in the short term. When he is 50 and can’t lift his arm above his shoulder, will you still be asking for a refund? Will the extraordinary effort he gave still not be enough for you? I truly believe he gave his very best effort and that deserves (if not demands) your respect.
Thank you, Mark, for being a true Cardinal and doing “the Birds on the Bat” very, very proud.
The Cardinals gave the money to a 5 time 15+wins(a year)pitcher who didnt miss a start in his career pitty to the poor cardinal fan who though his hignsight says it was a mistake. Where were you in 2005, mybe Carpenter will be next to not recover,will you run him out of town. What has he done besides a Cy Young Award.Carp who only pitched 1 game in the Cardinals two world series apperences. Outside of his long 5 year Cards tenure only 3 15+win seasons and the other 2 on the DL after signing a huge contract in 06′.Mulder now Carp later get the boo birds ready in 09′.You ignorent babeball fans
First, I wish Mark Mulder the best in his future. He was a class act in Oakland, and wanted to be a class act in St. Louis. Just didn’t happen. To those folks that made statements saying he planned it that way or “stole” money, go away and join a Cubs blog or something. I finally saw a post that hit the nail on the head. What is your reaction going to be when Chris Carpenter can’t come back? Of course we all hope he does, but what if he can’t? Are you going to treat him like you’re treating Mark Mulder? Injuries happen to the best players. What if Albert’s elbow injury kept him from playing anymore? Would we run him out of town? Sure, it’s frustrating when things don’t all come together for our team over the course of a season, especially when it comes to pitching, but there is always next season and life does go on. Let Mark go knowing that MOST St. Louis fans appreciated his efforts.
Thanks Mark.. The guy at onetime was the best lefty around..Hopefully he could return to his true form..Still wish we kept Haren..
I too wish you could have been successful in your stay in St. Louis Mark. Best of luck to you and if you find your way back, remember the Cardinal fans.
It amazes me there’s still people out there that are so bitter at people making more money than them that they show so little class. I do have to say that most people on here show class. I hope the census is the same for the overall population of Cards fans. I don’t know Mulder personally, but for most people a lot of money doesn’t dehumanize an individual. Based on this notion and what I’ve seen in the media Mulder handled things with a high level of class. Best of luck with wherever or whatever you end up going in life.
I would like to add something to those of you that say athletes are overpaid. Maybe they are somewhat overpaid, but lets look at this a second. They travel 81+ days out of the year. That’s time away from their family. They play/work nearly everyday during the season. On the field is only a small portion of the day’s work for many of them. Sure they have 6 months off the field, but what you should realize is that for a majority of the off-season they prepare for the season (ex. lifting weights, cardio, practicing, etc.), at least most of them do. Many do community service, which no matter how much money you make that commendable. Don’t get me wrong, other people work just as hard, if not harder, as do athletes. That makes me think, that just maybe, most other professions are underpaid.