The Rites of Spring

42.  That is the number of days before pitchers and catchers report to Cardinals Spring Training in Jupiter.  Days that are being counted with excitement by Cardinals fans.  Spring Training begins in February and this Spring Training for the St. Louis Cardinals is being anticipated by Cardinals fans for more than the usual reasons.  The 2012 Spring Training will look and feel different that it has ever felt in the last decade.  In addition to the excitement of being the reigning world champions, the Cardinals and their fans will be experiencing a whole new look to Spring Training.  For the first time in over a decade the facilities in Jupiter FL will be noteworthy for who is not present.  There will be no Tony LaRussa, the Cardinals’ manager since 1996; also absent will be Albert Pujols, the Cardinals’ most iconic player since Stan Musial, who has been the face of the Cardinals’ franchise during the last decade.  Sadly, the Cardinals will also be missing pitching coach Dave Duncan, who recently took an indefinite leave of absence from the Cardinals due to the serious illness of his wife.  That leave is expected to last throughout the 2012 season and possibly beyond.  The offseason losses have been palpable for the Cardinals.

However, there is one addition to Spring Training that is touted with much anticipation, and I am not talking about Carlos Beltran, the newest addition to the Cardinals’ roster.  I am instead referring to the return of ace pitcher Adam Wainwright, who missed Spring Training and the entirety of the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery.  We lost Adam at the beginning of Spring Training last year, and now we are getting him back.  For Cardinals’ fans it’s like signing the best pitcher in the game during the offseason, or at least it feels that way.  But questions do exist as to just how much of the old Adam Wainwright we will be seeing.

Tommy John surgery, or medically speaking, ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, is performed routinely now on athletes, most often on baseball pitchers.  The surgery was first performed in 1974 by Dr. Frank Jobe on the pitcher whose name has become the surgery’s moniker, former Dodgers pitcher Tommy John.  Essentially, the ulnar ligament is removed and replaced by a tendon from another part of the body, usually the opposing arm, or the leg below the knee.  Success rates for the surgery reach between 85-92 percent for elite pitchers.  While the rehab period for the surgery has often been quoted to be between 12-18 months, with new surgical techniques and rehab procedures, the period is actually closer to 9-12 months.   That is good news for Cardinals fans because with the start of the 2012 Spring Training, Adam Wainwright will have completed almost 12 months from surgery.

There are fans who are expecting the Adam Wainwright of old when he returns.  As a cautiously optimistic person, I think that is unlikely.  But even an Adam Wainwright at say 80% of his former self is nothing to sneeze at.  No doubt the Cardinals will be careful with Wainwright’s reintroduction to pitching, as they should be.  As Cardinals’ fans recall, Jaime Garcia was monitored very carefully after his return from the surgery, and was shut down entirely in the last month of the 2010 season.  While the same may not be the case for Wainwright, a return to 200+ innings pitched in 2012 is a lofty goal that will probably not be reached.  But time will tell, and the anticipation is worth the wait.

I look forward to Spring Training with hope and excitement.  If plans work out for me, I will be attending at least one Spring Training game in March.  It will be my first.  If the Baseball Gods smile upon me, maybe I will get to see Adam Wainwright pitch.   If I do, I will be sure to share everything with my readers here at Redbird Rants.  I can’t wait.  Viva la Spring Training!

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