ChiefsPlanet - Injuries may force Sweeney to retire

Injuries may force Sweeney to retire
But captain hopes to get healthy soon, return to lineup
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star
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MINNEAPOLIS — Royals captain Mike Sweeney might be doing nothing more than venting frustration over his latest injury, but he now acknowledges a willingness to think about retirement at the end of the season.

“If this thing lingers on through the summer,” he admitted, “it’s something I’d probably consider. But right now, I owe it to my teammates and ownership to make every effort to get healthy and get back in the lineup.”

Sweeney, 33, is expected to miss several weeks after being diagnosed Tuesday with another bulging cervical disk in his upper back. A similar injury caused him to miss 45 games in 2003 and 40 games in 2004 when he was forced to the disabled list.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I still have some fight left in me. Hopefully, it will be only a couple of weeks, and I can get back and help my teammates turn this thing around.”

The current problem involves a disk two levels higher than the one that troubled him in 2003-04.

Sweeney suffered the injury Monday night on a swing that produced a grounder to third in the seventh inning of a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers. He described the feeling as “a lightning bolt going through my shoulder and down my (left) arm.”

Confirmation of the bulging disk came Tuesday morning after Sweeney returned to Kansas City for an examination by Steve Joyce, the club’s head physician. Sweeney then received a cortisone epidural as the first step in his treatment.

Tentative plans call for him to receive another epidural injection in two weeks.

The injury is the latest blow in a miserable season for Sweeney, who missed much of spring training because of a foot injury and is batting just .176 with two homers and six RBIs in 21 games.

His on-field struggles also made him a focal point for criticism by fans during the club’s disappointing start.

“It wouldn’t be human,” he admitted recently, “to say that being booed in my home stadium doesn’t hurt. But I understand.”

The Royals officially placed Sweeney on the 15-day disabled list before Wednesday’s series opener against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome. They filled his place on the roster by recalling first baseman Justin Huber from Class AAA Omaha.

Sweeney is in the fourth season of a five-year contract that pays him $11 million a year. He previously indicated he might consider retirement after next season.

“You know what’s most frustrating?” he asked. “I’ve done everything in my power to be healthy. I’ve worked so hard. I’ve changed my lifestyle and my diet. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in for at least seven years.”