good news about scott card, manager and pitcher for the past three years on the over-38 yankees: he's upright, in good spirits, walking about and even hitting the drums.
i called him last night after hearing not long ago that he'd been in the hospital. i learned just how serious his trips there were: he's had two heart surgeries since the season ended - one to put a pacemaker in, and the second to fix it after it wasn't working right. scott said he's feeling fine now, "terrific," in fact. he's having his monitor checked regularly and taking medication (including a children's asprin [81 milligrams] a day, a good idea, i've found from personal experience for anybody over 40.)
scott also said the doctors told him he could resume normal activities. all of that is good news.
but scott, who's 44, said he's going take it easy for a year. he's giving up baseball for at least next summer, and spending more time with his wife and daughter. for his sports fix, he'll take his maxflites out of the garage and work on his golf swing.
scott has also been playing the drums for some time in a rock band called "ten year vamp," and he has resumed that. in fact, he said, the group just cut a new cd. (you can check out their web site and see a list of their next concerts at www.tenyearvamp.com.)
scott brought a lot of talent to the league. the yankees he took over three years ago won the title then and have finished in at least the top five - if memory serves - for those three years. scott was always a tough pitcher to face - he changed speeds and hit corners beautifully, upsetting the timing of more than one hitter, this one included. he also brought a light spirit to the game: the last time i pitched against him, in early august at cba, he fouled about three pitches in a row over the backstop. after the third one, he smiled at me from the batter's box and said, "another chinese home run. i think i lead the league in them."
it's never fun to realize that an upcoming season will be absent certain welcome faces and some fine players - there's a real loss there. here's hoping scott continues his recovery and some summer very soon he'll be back.
