Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Too Much of a Good Thing
Posted by Aaron GleemanSan Diego prospect Tagg Bozied (who I've been keeping close tabs on since the Twins drafted him and he didn't sign with them) hit a walkoff grand slam for Triple-A Portland on Monday night. As he got to the plate, he did the old jump-on-the-plate-right-before-everyone-slaps-my-helmet celebration, only to have his left knee give out on him when he landed.
It's a tough break for Bozied, who is expected to be out for the year. A third-round pick of the Padres back in 2001, he has had an up-and-down career. Last season, he hit just .273/.331/.431 with 14 homers in 119 games at Triple-A. This year, however, he was doing extremely well through his first 57 games, hitting .315/.374/.629 with 16 homers, 17 doubles and 58 RBIs.
I'm not sure what the lesson here is. Do you say players shouldn't celebrate by jumping? And if Bozied hadn't homered to win the game, would his left knee has just given out the next time he put a lot of pressure on it? I suppose the one obvious lesson is that you should sign with the Twins if they draft you, but I think everyone knew that one.
Aaron Gleeman is a freelance writer whose work can also be found regularly at AaronGleeman.com, Fox Sports, Rotoworld, and Insider Baseball. He welcomes comments, questions, and suggestions via e-mail.