Nationals.com and the Nationals Journal both write about the retirement of John Patterson. I'm tempted to crack wise with a line like "how can you tell?" but I won't because I find the whole thing very sad.
I saw Patterson pitch a number of times in 2005. I saw him beat Seattle 2-1 in what I believe was win No. 9 in that marvelous 10-game streak in June. I saw him pitch lights out in Philadelphia and get zippy run support. I had tickets to his shutout against the Dodgers later in the season and couldn't go. My brother went, as did a colleague. Both called me after the game gushing about his stuff. When the guy was on, he was quite fun to watch.
Who knows what is up with his arm? I know there were some questions about his toughness, some thought that it was all in his head when it took forever to come back from what seemed like a relatively minor injury. I'm not a doctor (though I am the son of one) and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night but I don't really subscribe to either of those theories. I've seen it enough in sports over the years. Some guys can get hit by a Mack truck and play the next day. They heal quickly or they just don't get hurt. And some guys - Patterson being one - have no luck in that regard. Odd that he made it back from ligament replacement surgery but this wrist thing proved to be too much.
Patterson always seemed like a good guy, too, though I have no personal evidence of that. Guys I know who covered him said he was a standup guy.
Good luck in whatever is next for him. Meanwhile, I'll continue to dream about what might have been. I really thought for a while he was The One of all The Ones.
5 comments:
I think he pitched well exactly once after 2005 -- a cold, rainy Friday night game early in 2006. I think it was against Atlanta and he pitched both sides of a rain delay.
hey Mike, happy new year.
can you change my link in your blogroll? i changed my blog a few weeks back from Bottomfeeder Baseball to Nats News Network (http://natsnewsnetwork.blogspot.com/)
shame about Patterson, he was very kind to my wife posing for pictures and getting autographs, and always had a moment to stop and talk baseball during spring training.
best,
Dave
Talk about "Colour me shocked" (please note correct spelling)! Have you seen the latest news on nats.com? We aren't going to sign any free agents! I don't believe it. No Dunn, no Hudson, no nothing. NOTHING.
"Unlikely" to sign any major free agents, not "won't" or so the headline says. Though I'm willing to bet won't becomes accurate.
I guess they felt Teix was worth a bundle of cabbage but the others are not. Not sure if I'd pick Hudson or Dunn if I could only take one. I would like to see at least one of them.
Nationals interested in Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher of the Yanks. Doesn't sound too bad to me.
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