While some of you may be too young to remember the T.V. series The $6 Million Man which ran from 1974 – 1978, chances are you’ve at least heard of it.
Let’s re-build this air force pilot who took a nasty spill test driving some ill-conceived flying contraption: “We can rebuild him…we have the technology.” So went the iconic opening catch phrase.
Fast forward to 2015 and do we ever have the technology. Blade runners, wounded vets with artificial limbs, heart valves, transplanting vital human organs, and more have all resulted from man’s pursuit of technology. Also benefiting are professional athletes, who possess the much needed talent that lines the pockets of their billionaire bosses, and when those owners see and need that talent, they are not shy in opening their check books, especially when they already did with guaranteed contracts or even when a prospect is worth the risk.
Currently the O’s have three high profile “Steve Austins” in Manny Machado, Matt Wieters and Dylan Bundy – two with Tommy John surgery and Manny with his knees.
We know that coming back from TJ surgery is very doable. After Nationals hurler Jordan Zimmerman had his surgery in August of 2009, he came back with shaky 2010 and 2011 seasons, but over his last three he is 45-12 with an ERA around 3.00. I see this as nothing but a positive for Bundy, but can he rise to the occasion? He’s been highly touted, and even now analysts are digging the way he’s looking, though not quite as much as pre-TJS – but that’s to be expected.
If you’re an O’s fan, hope is the key word, not hype. We’re past the hype, now comes the hope. We’ve waited, we know what a beast he was in his late teens, and now we want a taste in the bigs.
Wieters had the same surgery, but let’s face it: Matt only has to play catch and throw long accurate fastballs across the diamond a couple times a game. His arm shouldn’t be a major concern and I’m hoping his bat meets and greets all the hype we’ve given him. There are those two words again, hype and hope. Matt has a track record of moderate success and we’re hoping he builds off the hot start he had in 2014, when he finally began to become the offensive force we had been promised.
Then there’s Manny. Our new “Brooks.” Seems to me he already had the bionic surgery on the cannon he possesses to go along with a swing as smooth as the new Sports Illustrated swim suit cover. He needed to have those chicken legs redone because the way they went south to me says they were never built or conditioned to take the twisting and turning pro athletes put on their joints. Both injuries were freakier than Bruce Jennifer…I mean Jenner. No home plate collision with Pete Rose, just a tad off center.
I hope he lives up to the potential he has shown. No hype here for Manny, however, as we all know what this kid is capable of.
So when we ask, “will the real ‘Steve Austin’ step up?”, I HOPE all three of these guys take a big step forward, and if they do, so will the O’s.
submitted by Jeff Kief
