[Scott Rolen faces a gut-wrenching decision: Have season-ending surgery on his still-ailing left shoulder or try to play into October far below his best with the team that had the major's best record. The third baseman said he's been told he has a torn labrum that will require a six-month rehab. He wants to weigh his admittedly dismal options.] I have a chance of being part of something pretty special, or walk around in a sling, ... One of the questions is, what's my best chance to win a ring as a St. Louis Cardinal? It might be not to play, and that's not an easy decision to say: 'I can't help this team, I can hurt this team — so my best shot at winning a World Series is not to play.' |
A lot of people liked the old place. It had some history. A lot of great players played there. The way the game's going, the trend of the game, is to have new ballparks. |
But that's a good thing. That's a positive thing. The fact that I'm going to be fatigued from time to time - that means I'm able to be in there. I'm only seven months (from surgery). ... Late in spring training I felt I turned the corner. I felt great the first couple weeks. I threw a bunch of games together. To me, that's great news. |
Don't dive for 10 days. I think the doctor pulled that number out of a hat. |
Everything feels normal. No problems at all. |
For an organization and a stadium with the richness and history that it has, to be traded over in '02 and selected to this, it's surprising, shocking and much appreciated, |
For an organization and a stadium with the richness and history that it has, to be traded over in '02 and selected to this, it's surprising, shocking and much appreciated. |
He had good life on his ball. I think if you go around and talk to a bunch of hitters, they'll say they have a hard time picking the ball up. The ball gets on you. He's sneaky. He kept the ball down and moved it around and had good life on it. |
He tested my strength, and everybody has tested the repair itself and the way it was done. Everybody said 'Get out of here, you're good. |
He was throwing 96. I was just trying to look for something to hit. |
He's an eight-time Gold Glove outfielder; I'm certainly not worried about Jim Edmonds. I'm certainly not worried about him at the plate, I'm certainly not worried about him in the field. He's a huge part of this team, and right in the middle of everything. |
He's built pretty well for a hitting streak. He runs well. He can bunt. He can beat out some infield hits, and he switch-hits. That's a nice profile for a streak. It doesn't mean it's easy to do. He's got a good shot to continue it. |
I almost threw up because I had a lot of gum in my mouth, but I feel good about my performance. |
I can take a full swing and once in a while feel a sting, but it goes away. I regain my strength and can finish the at-bat. If that happened last year, I was done for the rest of the game. |
I can't lift my arms, so there's not much I can do about it. I couldn't control what happened and I'm not going to kick rocks at my head about it. |