By Tom Keppeler, Shoulder1 Staff
If you don't think that baseball is tough on the shoulders, ask Seth Etherton, Rick Croushore, Bobby Jones, or even Yankees star Derek Jeter.
Etherton, who was recently traded from the Anaheim Angels to the Cincinnati Reds, was scheduled for arthroscopic surgery Tuesday to remove bone spurs and repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, according to the Associated Press. Team doctor Timothy Kremchek has had a full schedule looking after the shoulders of the Reds' right-handed pitchers; Etherton joins Elmer Dessens and Leo Estrella on the list.
Rick Croushure and Bobby Jones, two pitchers for the New York Mets, have also had their share of shoulder woes. Croushure, a 6-foot-4 right-hander who recently signed a $255,000 deal with the Mets, played in his first Spring Training game on Monday. A sore rotator cuff has plagued him since the start of the season. Jones will miss two weeks with tendonitis in his left (throwing) shoulder.
Derek Jeter, the all-star shortstop for the New York Yankees, has also been unable to escape shoulder injury. Jeter was sidelined at the beginning of the season with inflammation of the AC joint, where the roof of the shoulder (acromion) meets the collarbone (clavicle).
Repeated throwing takes a toll on the shoulder joint, weakening the rotator cuff and AC joint, putting straining the labrum, the gasket that helps keep the arm bone in the shoulder joint, and the capsule, the thick band of ligaments that keeps the joint together. If not given time to rest, the shoulder will eventually break down.
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