Pete and Eloy

Well, he did it again. White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez ran into another fence yesterday and had to be helped off the field. This marks four times in two seasons plus a spring training that Jimenez’s awkward outfield play has risked serious injury. Yesterday’s jump for a homerun ball clearly beyond reach was so egregious it prompted Sox announcer Steve Stone to deliver a lecture on the need to stay healthy. When Steve Stone turns on you, Eloy, it’s serious. Fences, nets, fellow outfielders—Eloy doesn’t pick favorites. Yesterday, it was a fence. Next week or next month, who knows? It would be nice if during this latest timeout for recuperating (discomfort in the left shoulder, they say), someone tells young Mr. Jimenez the story of Pete Reiser, the superstar who never was. Reiser was Eloy before Eloy, a gifted hitter who seemed hellbent on self-destruction while wearing a glove; somehow, it seems fitting he played in Brooklyn. From what I’ve read, Reiser suffered at least three possible concussions running into walls and, according to Wikipedia, was carried off the field on a stretcher eleven times. One head injury was so bad, a priest gave Reiser Last Rites under the stands at Ebbets Field. Each injury claimed a little more of Reiser’s talent until he just wasn’t a starter anymore. And that’s going to be Eloy Jimenez if he’s not careful.