I pick myself up off the ground

SOMETIMES the fates get it right. Kyle with his World Series ring in April 2008. Taken by Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.

If I went through all the emails I have received over the last year, I’d find that the subject most mentioned is Jon Lester.  (I get a lot of “You pick on him too much” emails.  Occasionally I get a “I so get why you call him Crabcakes” message.)  Kyle Snyder would come in at a close second.  At least once a week I get a message from someone asking me if I have any news on Kyle.  Most of the folks who read this blog seem to be like me…once they become fond of a player, that fondness lasts a very long time.

Until today the last piece of news I had was that Kyle had been released by the Mets organization.  Turns out there was a good reason for that.  Last week, Kyle had shoulder surgery (his fifth arm surgery overall).  My understanding is the post-op reports were good but that Kyle won’t be able to pitch off the mound until just around the time the season is winding down.  Maybe that means he’ll get another shot at winter ball?

This makes three shoulder surgeries and two elbow surgeries for Kyle.  This Gordon Edes article from 2007 gives some good background to what Kyle has gone through.  The mention of Curt Schilling in that piece reminded me of a comment Curt left on my blog when I was at WEEI.com:

Cyn,
Disagreements aside, I can assure you, as someone that has known Kyle and been very close to him for the past 6-7 years, there are few if any better human beings in the world than this guy.
Kyle is about the nicest human you’ll ever want to meet.
Curt

Those “disagreements” Curt referenced were, I thought, enough to keep Curt away from my blog so I think it’s telling that he chose to comment on the subject of Kyle.  Telling in that there was nothing to compel him to comment except to reassure me that Kyle was, indeed, a good guy.  His comment was in response to this:

Being true to my word, I took the opportunity to ask Ron Johnson about Kyle Snyder. Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? I get up to RJ and thank him for being there, congratulate him on last season and then pop out with, “So, RJ, what do you hear about Kyle Snyder?”. He paused for a moment, seemingly taken by surprise at the question and then he looked a little confused and said, “Well, I know we haven’t re-signed him. But I really don’t know what’s going on with him. I need to give him a call.” I told him that he certainly did have to give Kyle a call and he laughed and said, “You know, he’s really a good guy. A really good guy.”. Which was nice to hear. I mean, I have no doubts he’s a good guy, but it’s always nice to hear it.

I was genuinely grateful for Curt’s two cents in regard to Kyle.  It’s always good to hear that the perception you have of someone is pretty much how they actually are.  The fates have had their way with Kyle (good and bad) and it seems like every time things start to go well for him they throw him a reminder that life wasn’t meant to run smoothly.  (But come ON fates, 5 surgeries?  I think he has the idea!)  By the time he’s ready to get back on the mound this year, Kyle will be 33.  Not quite one of the old guys yet, but time isn’t a friend to most pitchers so I’m hoping that there is still plenty of it left for Kyle to get back to playing ball.

Given the fire alarms that went off the last time I shared my sources, let’s just say my source on this one is unimpeachable (and special thanks to said source!).