| Leslie Monteiro. 11th August, 2006 - 2:08 am
 Shannon Stewart left July 15th's game against Cleveland with a foot injury when he ran to first base in the fifth inning. He was limping after he was out at first and was sent to the disabled list, with the odds that he will likely not play again this season because his foot has been hurting him all season. This also means that he has likely played his final game in pinstripes.
His chronic injuries are one of many reasons why the Twins will not re-sign him, but more importantly because they will need the money to sign Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau to long-term contracts as they enter arbitration. Also, the Twins want to play Jason Kubel everyday at left field next season.
Stewart has been battling plantar fasciitis since 2004 and has not recovered from it. Minnesota sports fans have had a good knowledge about plantar fasciitis considering they saw former Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss and former Timberwolf Wally Szczerbiak suffer from the same injury.
This type of injury is not easy to play with and the foot will always be in pain whether the player walks or runs. It has prevented Moss and Stewart from performing at a high level, with Moss being the best receiver in football for the first few years of his career, but never becoming that dominant receiver he was before he had that injury.
Stewart’s numbers in recent years have been affected because of the injury and his numbers this year are not what he normally produces. His batting average, home runs, and runs batted in are clearly down and he is a liability in the outfield because he is slow to the ball considering he can not run anymore with that pain in his foot. He does not steal bases anymore like he used to with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in his career.
He tried to play through the pain when he came back from the disabled list, but it simply became too much to bear. There is no point for him to come back this season. It did not work out at all and there is no way that it can work out again. He is better off just taking it easy so that he can be ready for next season. One has to wonder if he is going to be playing after this year considering that pain will likely not go away as long as he is playing baseball. That would be unfortunate because he is a productive player when he is healthy.
Twins fans should be very thankful for his contributions. He is the reason why the Twins made the playoffs in 2003 thanks to an awesome second half. They were sputtering offensively for the first few months of that season as they were falling apart players began pointing fingers at each other for the team’s problems.
In an attempt to jumpstart the team, Twins GM Terry Ryan decided to go make a trade by acquiring Stewart from the Blue Jays. He had wanted him for years, going back to 2001 and he finally got his guy and he saw what he envisioned out of him. Stewart improved the team’s offense by getting on base, stealing base, and getting the base hits. Twins' fans can make a case that he was the team’s MVP that season considering he always stepped up when he had to that year. He was also a leader as he would tell guys like A.J. Pierzynski , Doug Mientkiewicz, Luis Rivas, Cristian Guzman, and Torii Hunter how to take great at-bats. He did everything that was asked out of him. He was the only one that performed in the 2003 American League Division Series. He will be forever remembered for making that catch at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the Division Series as he robbed a home run that prevented the Yankees from tying the game in the ninth inning. His performance made him an attractive free agent to other teams. Ryan had to find room to sign him, so he traded Eric Milton and Pierzynski and let Twins setup man Latroy Hawkins and Twins closer Eddie Guardado leave as free agents. Stewart was eventually resigned. Unfortunately, he had that injury in 2004 and never recovered from it.
He should be remembered fondly for the good things that he has done for the Twins and not for being hurt. Injuries happen to all athletes. There was nothing he or the Twins could have done to prevent that injury. It has to hurt for him that he can not display his talent.
What happens to him remains to be seen. Will any team take a chance at him? Will he be forced to retire with that nagging injury? It will be interesting what happens to him in the off-season, but it would be a shame that he will not finish his career in Minnesota based on that unfortunate injury on May 17th of the 2004 season.
If fans want to give any feedback or comment on this article, email Leslie Monteiro at monteiro_07024@yahoo.com |
