Nati Harnik / AP

The injury to Joe Nathan presents the Twins with a serious problem.

In my effort to get back on the field, I pitched too much, too soon. Little did I know that I was tearing muscle fibers off the bone. Once I started throwing, the pain was still there. Then, in my fourth start of the 1982 season, I threw a pitch and felt the muscle completely pop off.

Recovering from the injury was difficult, and it took me a good year and a half to get back to the point where I could throw and not think about it. Even in 1983 I didn’t come back well. I hurt my shoulder because I was favoring my elbow, and ended up going 7-10 with a 3.91 ERA. It was two years of frustration, and wasn’t until 1984 (19-7, 2.87 ERA) that I finally felt right.

Up until that injury I had never iced my arm, and I never worried about anything. I never had any soreness in my arm or body. Then, all of a sudden when I had an injury, it was like I wasn’t the same guy. Mentally it was so frustrating. Now I have to ice my arm? I thought that ice was just you use to keep the beer cold.

You go through a lot of different changes in your career. You should enjoy every minute of it because it can be taken away from you at any second.

Kirby Puckett enjoyed the game, and he enjoyed life. It is an honor to play baseball, and that’s the attitude you have to have.

It’s sad to say, but injuries are a part of the game. Just when you think you’re on top of the mountain, baseball will knock you down. That’s why it’s such a great game. To be successful as a franchise, you need other guys to step up as an organization. What the Twins players do with this opportunity is up to them.

There are 750 of the best players in the world filling up the rosters of 30 big league teams. But waiting in the wings for their chance to shine are 10,000 minor leaguers. That’s the game. You wait and you wait, and the window of opportunity just might open up. When it does, you have to be ready to step in there.

The game will keep on going. It will always be the same, just the faces change.

More news

Tony Gutierrez / AP

More heroics from Hamilton

Josh Hamilton fights off illness to hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 13th inning, lifting the Texas Rangers to an 8-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Angels win as Pujols HR streak up to 3 games

SEATTLE (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a home run in his third straight game and pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo came through with a grand slam in the sixth inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

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