March 20, 200620 yr http://suntimes.com/output/sox/cst-spt-sox20.html Hermanson's career in doubt with injury March 20, 2006 BY JOE COWLEY Staff Reporter TUCSON, Ariz. -- Dustin Hermanson is fighting with himself. One moment, the White Sox reliever talks about how the organization will have to "rip the uniform off me'' to get him to retire. Seconds later, he paints a realistic picture that his career might come to an end in the next few weeks. "I'm fighting different thoughts every day,'' Hermanson said. And right now, it's a stalemate. "My preference, if I had a choice with what I could do, I would love to play two or three more seasons,'' Hermanson said. "Am I going to be able to? I don't know yet. I'm looking to take this day-by-day, but it seems to me we're coming to the end of the line here.'' Hermanson's lingering back problems were an ongoing story line in the second half of the 2005 season. After admitting the pain was so bad that he couldn't pick up his newborn daughter last fall, the right-hander did everything he could to prepare himself for 2006. That meant losing 12 pounds to lighten the load on his back, as well as spending the winter working with a specialist for the upcoming season. Early in spring training, it seemed his hard work had paid off, with Hermanson saying he felt as good as ever. In a Cactus League appearance last week, however, that all ended. His back pain returned, forcing him out of a game. According to head trainer Herm Schneider, the back cannot get any worse from an injury standpoint. The only course of action is to treat Hermanson for the pain. He was given the first of three scheduled epidurals last week, with the second slated for Tuesday. But Hermanson, 33, believes this latest dose of treatment could be the last effort. "Now we're just dealing with pain management, so there's not a whole lot to do with the actual injury,'' he said. "Personally, I don't want to continue taking shots because I know that as good as it does to help with pain, it also attacks tissue in a bad way. I want to be able to play with my kids later in life. "I have to think about [retiring]. With what I went through last year and to get ready for this year, I can't be pitching like this my whole career. If these shots can last a few months, I've got a chance. If they only last a couple of weeks, I'm in trouble. I can't continue getting these.'' Schneider agreed, saying: "You can't keep just firing them in there. If it lasts a month or two, or even three, he could get another one in there. Hopefully it lasts six months -- the whole season.'' The first epidural has had good results. Hermanson threw a second consecutive pain-free side session Sunday. He wanted to pitch in a minor-league game over the weekend, but Schneider advised him to wait until he gets the second epidural. "I just know that early in spring training, I'm throwing bullpens, I'm fine,'' Hermanson said. "Then I get in a game, the adrenaline starts flowing, everything gets out in front and that's when everything starts coming back like it was last year. "But I understand [schneider] wants to be conservative and let the shots get in there a little bit.'' The one practice Hermanson wants to stay away from is giving daily updates on his back. Not because he has a problem with the media so much as he believes it weighs on his psyche. "The key is trying to have a positive outlook in this,'' Hermanson said. "Last year, I probably talked about it too much. It was probably in my head a lot more that way. "I know [the media have] to ask, but it's getting tough for me to talk about this. It's tough to talk about injuries, especially for a person who never really had many injuries in his career. It makes it tougher to talk about something that might be career-ending.''
March 20, 200620 yr I had a sick feeling that something like this would happen... I hope a miracle happens and he can pitch this year, but I just don't see it happening. We need BP help and fast.
March 20, 200620 yr It's a really sad situation. Dustin is such a good guy and a real warrior. You know this is has got to be killing him right now. He worked his ass off during the off-season to be ready for '06. Sad.
March 20, 200620 yr I wish Hermie the best, but if they are not going to fix the injury, the pain is not going to go away.
March 21, 200620 yr Who remembers how he first hurt his back or is this just a chronic degeneration over time?
March 21, 200620 yr QUOTE(JoeBatterz @ Mar 20, 2006 -> 08:47 PM) Who remembers how he first hurt his back or is this just a chronic degeneration over time? I think it's just one of those things. He's always had the problem, but it kinda gets worse every year and there really isn't anything to do about it except try to manage the pain. I guess degeneration is a fair way to describe it.
March 21, 200620 yr QUOTE(G&T @ Mar 20, 2006 -> 11:28 PM) I think it's just one of those things. He's always had the problem, but it kinda gets worse every year and there really isn't anything to do about it except try to manage the pain. I guess degeneration is a fair way to describe it. Well this is a bummer. We probably should count him out. That is a painful situation.
March 21, 200620 yr QUOTE(JoeBatterz @ Mar 20, 2006 -> 07:47 PM) Who remembers how he first hurt his back or is this just a chronic degeneration over time? I've read that it's a degenerative vertebrae problem.
March 21, 200620 yr For the sake of Hermie I hope that a) he either pitches pain-free without the shots, or B) he realizes that his future healthy depends on not ruining his back when he's 33. He's a guy that the cliche, "gets by on grit" applies to fairly well. I wish him the best.
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