For Sinclair Tartan Pride catcher Corey Throckmortan, 2009 marked the first time in 18 years he failed to play a full baseball season.
“Baseball is something I’ve done every year of my life since I was three or four,” Throckmortan said. “Last year was the first year I couldn’t play and that was down for me.”
Throckmortan led Sinclair with a .384 batting average in 2008, and said he was expecting an even better season last year before injuring his elbow.
Elbow injury and reconstructive surgery
Throckmortan said the injury occurred while playing first base before a game in West Virginia. He went to field a ground ball and throw to second base, but failed to turn his body completely, causing him to throw side armed, tearing his ulnar collateral ligament. This ligament stabilizes the inner elbow as a player accelerates through his throwing motion. The same injury has happened to major league pitchers John Smoltz and Kerry Wood.
“I was putting too much pressure on my elbow and it snapped,” he said. “You could actually hear it tear. As soon I felt it I knew exactly what happened.”
Throckmortan said his arm went numb following the injury.
“Once I regained the feeling back in my arm, I tried to throw a couple more balls, but there was nothing there. They just floated; I couldn’t put anything on (my throws),” he said. “It was the worst pain in my elbow that I ever felt. I was just thinking, ‘how am I going to play’ because I knew I didn’t want to come out of the line up.”
Throckmortan played the rest of the three-game road trip as designated hitter, collecting three hits in eight at-bats. He visited Cincinnati Reds team doctor, Timothy Kremchek, after the road trip. Kremchek specializes in arm care and has performed surgeries on MLB all-stars Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin. Kremchek confirmed the UCL ligament tear in Throckmortan’s elbow, which ended his season after only three games.
“(Dr. Kremchek) told me he wanted me to get in surgery right away just so I could be prepared and ready for the upcoming season,” he said.
Throckmortan had UCL reconstructive surgery five days later. During that surgery a ligament was removed from his wrist and woven into his elbow, replacing the old one. Throckmortan said it takes 12 months of rehabilitation for full recovery.
Rehabilitation
I was going to Dr. Kremchek’s office three days a week, just doing different movements for my elbow and shoulder to strengthen my arm,” he said.
After five months, Throckmortan said he began to softly toss baseballs from 15 feet into a wall to get his throwing motion back. He said his doctors told him he progressed quicker than most kids they treated.
“I had to keep my arm at a 90 degree angle without moving it for the first six weeks of rehab before they started stretching it out more and more,” he said. “In a week and a half, I went from being 28 degrees from being straight to only being six degrees from being straight, which was really good.”
Return to baseball
Since Throckmortan only played three games last season before his injury, he was given a medical red shirt by the NJCAA, which gave him an extra year of eligibility at Sinclair. He was cleared to resume practice with the Tartan Pride in February after 11 months of rehab. He said his arm feels fantastic, but admits to holding back a little on his throws for fear of tearing the ligament again.
“It would take me throwing someone out at second (base) before I know I’m all the way back,” he said.
Throckmortan said he expects to play mostly catcher this year, but he also expects to see time at first base. The self-described “gap-to-gap hitter” said his goal is to hit above .400.
“Making it back (from injury) is something that feels normal to me because (baseball) is something I’ve always done,” Throckmortan said.