Vance Wilson needs surgery

Wilson's injury a torn ligament
Catcher has long road back to Majors after new development

DETROIT -- Tigers catcher Vance Wilson expected he was simply taking a pause in his rehab when he came up to Detroit this homestand. As it turns out, he has to hit the reset button.

What was initially thought to be a tear in scar tissue that had stopped Wilson's rehab from right elbow ligament replacement surgery last month was actually a torn ligament. He'll have to undergo another surgery -- probably next week -- and begin the rehab process all over again.

It was a clearly disheartening development for the veteran backup catcher, who had been an underrated presence on the Tigers' 2006 World Series team and had originally hoped to be back in action when this season started.

"At least I know what to expect," Wilson said. "But in the same sense, the rehab is so mentally grueling. It's like you're just kicked in the head every day. So to think about going through that again, it's tough. But in the same sense, what else am I going to do?"

Wilson missed the entire 2007 season when troubles throwing the ball in Spring Training were eventually pegged to a ligament tear. He had surgery last June and spent the rest of the year and offseason rehabbing before coming to camp this spring. His progress came slower than hoped in Spring Training, especially throwing, and he stayed back when the season started.

He began catching in extended spring games last month when he felt a pop in his elbow. The expectation was that it was a tear in scar tissue, another part of the process, and the Tigers used the time to bring him back up to Detroit.

Once he started trying to resume throwing this week, his elbow still wasn't responding well.

"Just playing catch, it still wasn't right," Wilson said. "Once I got back to 50 feet, I had popping and grinding. I could just tell my elbow was loose. And they say after you pop scar tissue, it's like five to seven days [before it feels good throwing again]. Well, it's been three weeks, so I kind of knew something was probably going on."

An MRI exam from Dr. Stephen Lemos revealed the tear.

At age 35, the news leaves Wilson with a decision to make. He's in the last season of a two-year contract, so any comeback might have to take place under a Minor League contract with a club, whether it's Detroit or somewhere else. Regardless, Wilson plans on having the surgery.

"The only thing you need the ligament for is to throw a baseball," Wilson said. "Even if I don't come back and play, I imagine I'll do something in baseball. I want to be able to throw. And I also have an 8-year-old girl who plays softball. So for quality of life afterwards, I'd get it for that."

I was really counting on him this year, too .

That poor guy

bobrob2004 wrote:

I was really counting on him this year, too .

:haha:

I got all kinds of people mad at me at Tigers.com when I said not to count on him. They all said "they're saying he'll be back in mid-April". Yeah, mid-April 2010 maybe. I still say he never plays again. He's old and is going to miss 2 straight seasons.

I didn't think he would ever come back either

Bye, bye Vance. I will miss you.

He was always nice to me

mrsrabelo wrote:

Bye, bye Vance. I will miss you.

He was always nice to me

I saw him hit a HR off Dan Haren.

Tigers better start looking for a backup catcher! Hopefully one of those draft ones can take Dane Sardinha or Nick Trzesniak's place in Toledo so one of these guys can join the team next year!

Either that or re-sign Pudge at a lower salary for another year!

hmmm... seems throwing Rabelo in to that deal was a bit... umm... DUMB

SoulRat wrote:

hmmm... seems throwing Rabelo in to that deal was a bit... umm... DUMB

I second that!

They had to of known that Vance wasn't going to come back 100%.

mrsrabelo wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

hmmm... seems throwing Rabelo in to that deal was a bit... umm... DUMB

I second that!

They had to of known that Vance wasn't going to come back 100%.

Hell, I knew it. I still can't figure out why they got rid of Mike so fast Idiots

SoulRat wrote:

mrsrabelo wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

hmmm... seems throwing Rabelo in to that deal was a bit... umm... DUMB

I second that!

They had to of known that Vance wasn't going to come back 100%.

Hell, I knew it. I still can't figure out why they got rid of Mike so fast Idiots

I would guess FL insisted on a catcher, since they needed one, and DD was scheming all along that Inge would accept the position, since they said nobody wanted him. Now I wonder if they really did try to trade Inge??

I doubt it. And Florida probably did insist on him since their last years catcher sucked bad :haha:

SoulRat wrote:

I doubt it. And Florida probably did insist on him since their last years catcher sucked bad :haha:

But wouldn't it make sense to just not go ahead with the trade? That way we would still have a left handed pitcher and a back up catcher? Brandon Inge would've still been our 3rd baseman and we could've just kept Sean at first OR Carlos and Thames could split 1B.

Honestly I think I just need to manage the team...

mrsrabelo wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

I doubt it. And Florida probably did insist on him since their last years catcher sucked bad :haha:

But wouldn't it make sense to just not go ahead with the trade? That way we would still have a left handed pitcher and a back up catcher? Brandon Inge would've still been our 3rd baseman and we could've just kept Sean at first OR Carlos and Thames could split 1B.

Honestly I think I just need to manage the team...

I totally agree with this entire post

SoulRat wrote:

mrsrabelo wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

I doubt it. And Florida probably did insist on him since their last years catcher sucked bad :haha:

But wouldn't it make sense to just not go ahead with the trade? That way we would still have a left handed pitcher and a back up catcher? Brandon Inge would've still been our 3rd baseman and we could've just kept Sean at first OR Carlos and Thames could split 1B.

Honestly I think I just need to manage the team...

I totally agree with this entire post

Thank you. It seems as if us fans have more common sense than the Tigers management...

mrsrabelo wrote:

Thank you. It seems as if us fans have more common sense than the Tigers management...

Because we do

But then the Tigers wouldn't have won today's game...

This is the door opening for Vance. It's time for him to go.

bobrob2004 wrote:

But then the Tigers wouldn't have won today's game...

Sure if all of the changes never happened we might of lost todays game, but there is also the possibility of winning some of the other games we lost.

mrsrabelo wrote:

bobrob2004 wrote:

But then the Tigers wouldn't have won today's game...

Sure if all of the changes never happened we might of lost todays game, but there is also the possibility of winning some of the other games we lost.

What she said