During my radio show yesterday I mentioned how Jim Edmonds OBA and slugging percentage fell off this year. I speculated it was just him getting older, but now we know the real reason:
St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome Wednesday, one day after leaving a game because of dizziness and blurred vision.
Edmonds underwent an MRI on Tuesday night that showed normal brain function, then had a battery of tests Wednesday to rule out other possibilities such as diabetes, nutrition deficiencies or an infection. Trainer Barry Weinberg said all the tests were normal.
“We’re just going to keep it under the category of post-concussion syndrome and we’ll just go day by day and see how he feels,” Weinberg said. “He’s got to just give me the input every day.”
The concussion happened nearly two months ago:
Edmonds sustained what was described as a slight concussion on June 21 when he crashed into the wall in Chicago trying to rob White Sox third baseman Joe Crede of a home run. Edmonds said he’s had intermittent bouts of dizziness and blurred vision along with nausea since then, feelings that have intensified after a couple of diving attempts in the last week or so.
“The last four or five days I’ve just really been clueless,” Edmonds said. “I started to notice it the most when I tried to catch two fly balls on Saturday night and both of them almost came out of my glove.”
But he said Tuesday was “terrible” and the “worst day.”
Edmonds mentioned to assistant trainer Greg Hauck that he was having difficulty focusing and had blurred vision before taking the field for the fifth inning. He was removed before a pitch was thrown after the news was relayed to manager Tony La Russa and Weinberg, who met Edmonds on the field.
Until he woke up Wednesday, Edmonds had thought it was only the second inning when he came out.
“You don’t really know what’s what,” Edmonds said. “I couldn’t believe it was the fifth inning.”
The Bridwatch apologizes. Dwight Schrute can sympathize.
Update: Added missing link to article.
Mike Matheny has been out most of the year trying to recover from his concussion. The Giants shut him down saying that he won’t be returning at all this year.