ON THE MARK.

BRETT LAWRIE:  AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN?

The sports landscape is littered with the potential of young men and women who were expected to have long and illustrious careers, but never reached their full potential.  More times than not, it was because of injury.  How good would Bobby Orr have been were it not for all those knee injuries?  Could he have played 15 years?  20?  We'll never know.  Bill Walton was one of the most dominant players in the NBA, but suffered through broken feet and wonky knees.  Oh, what could have been.  My worry now is that Brett Lawrie of the Bluejays may fall into the above category.   Great player.  Terrific potential.  Injury-prone.
    My grandfather would've loved Brett Lawrie.  He really took a shine to guys who played all-out.  In fact, one of his favorite players was a centrefielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers named Pete Reiser. The original "Pistol" Pete, according to my grandfather, was the greatest centrefielder ever.  That was before he started getting hurt.  In his rookie season, 1941, the 22 year old Reiser led the National League in hitting (.343), runs scored (117), doubles (39) and triples (17).  Of course, that was the year that Ted Williams hit .406 and Joe DiMaggio put together a 56 game hitting streak, so Reiser's accomplishments were overlooked. Reiser was a switch-hitter, had a cannon for an arm, and could run like the wind.  The only problem was:  he went all-out on every play, no matter what the score of the game, no matter where the Dodgers were in the standings.   Remind you of any current Bluejay?   
      Because of his hell-bent-for-leather style, and the fact that all outfield walls in those days were either concrete or steel fencing, Reiser injured himself quite often chasing down flyballs.  There was not a ball he didn't think he could get to.    He suffered a fractured skull five times, and was carried off the field on a stretcher a record 11 times.  Concussions?  Too numerous to mention.   Why do you think all outfield walls are padded now in the major leagues?  It's because of "Pistol" Pete.   Alas, his major league career only lasted 10 years, and even though he had a .295 lifetime average, played in 3 allstar games and won a World Series, the "what if's?" are many.    His one-time manager with the Dodgers, Leo Durocher said in his autobiography, Nice Guys Finish Last:  "There will never be a ballplayer as good as Willie Mays, but Reiser was every bit as good and he might have been better.  He had more power than Willie.  He could throw as good as Willie.  Mays was fast, but Reiser was faster.  Willie Mays had everything.  Pete Reiser had everything but luck" .
     Now let's look at Lawrie in 2013.  He's young.  He's strong.  He's probably a lot like Reiser was at the same age, all full of piss and vinegar.  He only knows how to play one way:  full out.   Something has to change, though.  Lawrie seems to get hurt on plays where he tries to do too much, like tumbling into photo bays at Yankee Stadium.    Am I wrong here?   Did Wendel Clark not come into the NHL and hit everything that moved on every shift?  Did he not suffer a series of serious injuries (knee, back, shoulder) because of his style of play?    Lawrie is 23 years old, and he's now got 2-3 weeks of rest and re-hab before he'll be allowed to play again.  If I'm the Bluejays, I make certain that Lawrie is not only 100% healthy, but that he understands 100% that if he doesn't turn it down a couple of notches, he'll end up being the next Pete Reiser, and we'll always wonder what could have been.   Remember, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything.