HE'S 206

Today is Will Carroll's birthday. He's already beat cancer, so his birthday wish list is running short. He did speak of wanting"to be recognized as a professional baseball writer". Funny how the Baseball Writers' Association of America works. You could write two books, contribute to dozens of others on baseball, write a daily column for years and simply because the Biggs Bugle Tribune Picayune/Springfield Shopper, Times, Post, Globe, Herald, Jewish News and Hot Sex Weekly did not have you on staff - you're not a professional baseball writer.

Nuts to that.

Will points out the article by Susan Slusser (Slusser must sleep outside Byrnes' front door - or Byrnes is the biggest media whore since, well, Barry Zito). Slusser describes Byrnes' recent trip to the physician's office, where the physician supposedly wasn't in. Byrnes had X-rays on his bruised right shoulder after a collision with the rightfield wall Sunday (Byrnes often confuses running into walls with hustle).

Upon viewing the X-Rays Byrnes had no idea what he was looking at.

"The assistant didn't know and the doctor wasn't in the office, but Byrnes explained Tuesday, "I drove an hour, I wanted to see what was going on."


He had an inspiration and requested an X-ray of his healthy left shoulder for comparison's sake. When he held up the X-rays, the shoulders looked the same. "

This is where common sense should have prevailed over ignorant athlete and hack sportswriter.

Medical Assistants do not have the legally ability to provide medical advice; reading X-Rays would be right out. As just a small aside, do you really think the A's should have to pay for the second set of X-Rays?

Byrnes, rather than looking in the office for a physician, intern, resident, medical student or qualified health care provider decided he was fit for play. Byrnes was in Oakland. Why not take the X-Rays to Larry Davis over at the Coliseum? Why not get on a phone and call someone and make an appointment to have the X-Rays read (rather than just showing up - or claiming there were no doctors around)? How about asking a front office MOSC if there was a provider associated with the clinic using Relay Health? I'll wager donuts to dollars, again, that the X-Rays were available on a web-based radiological site and any physician in the western hemisphere with an internet connection could view the X-Rays and send Byrnes on his healthy or in harm's way in 15 minutes.

But, no. Byrnes must always make the spectacle of himself. And to show how bright the A's brain trust is below the Front Office, they allowed Byrnes to play on Tuesday night where he went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strike out.

Byrnes was out of the line-up last night, but that is easily dismissible as the Mariners threw right-hander Ryan Franklin at the A's. With Gil Meche going today, Byrnes will most likely see another day off.

The question remains, is it just a slight bruise to Byrnes' right shoulder or is there structural damage? Are the A's in danger of hiding an injury to a tradable commodity? Will Byrnes trade value slip if the injury causes him to miss significant time or a trip to the DL?

Eh.

More than likely Byrnes stays out of the line up a few more days and the shoulder heals.