Wednesday, January 9, 2013

And the Countdown Begins

The Yankees announced yesterday that surgery has been set to repair Alex Rodriguez' torn left hip, finally. The 2-hour arthroscopic surgery will be performed next Tuesday, January 16 at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York by Dr. Bryan Kelly.

For those of you wondering why the announcement of A-Rod's surgery was prolonged, according to Kelly, Alex had to strengthen muscles surrounding the area of his injury in order to speed up his next few months of rehab. Operating earlier would have prolonged recovery because muscles take longer to respond after surgery.

The doctor also reiterated the point he made to reporters earlier in the week--that Alex's injury is not the result of steroid use, but is a "developmental problem." In other words, the grind of 17 years of baseball, coupled with his age, manifested itself in to Alex's ailing hip.

So let the countdown to A-Rod's return begin. Kelly believes that Alex will be back sometime after the All-Star break; that may seem a bit too long for those of you who remember how fast Alex recovered after the surgery on his right hip in 2004, which didn't take place until February. Two things to keep in mind: this injury is a bit more severe than his first, and, Alex was able to bear weight on a healthy left hip in '04 while rehabbing his right. This time around, he'll be bearing weight on a previously injured hip.

Honestly, it would not surprise me at all if A-Rod misses the entire season; we fanatics are just going to have to deal with this if it happens. Fingers crossed.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper

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