Posts tagged PatNeshek at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

I was watching the Twins and White Sox last Thursday when Pat Neshek hurt his elbow. It came the way you never want to see a pitcher get hurt (save for maybe a line drive off their head): Just throwing a pitch. Neshek has always had one of the oddest deliveries I've ever seen from a pitcher, and it has the kind of spastic motions where I felt it was only a matter of time before something went wrong.

Well, when Neshek threw a slider during the 8th inning of the game on Thursday, something went wrong. Neshek immediately clutched at his elbow, and was walking off the field shortly after. The injury is as bad as it looked, as Neshek won't be pitching again this season.

Neshek will not be allowed to throw for a minimum of three months, which means the injury has effectively ended his season. But he said he won't need surgery.

The ulnar collateral ligament is the same ligament that pitchers have repaired when they undergo Tommy John replacement surgery.

"Obviously it's really bad, but it's good I can come back and rehab this and not have to go through surgery and sit out for a good year," Neshek said after Friday's game, his arm fully wrapped.

Neshek's loss is a big on for the Twins bullpen, as they'll now need to find somebody else to get the ball to Joe Nathan. Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier will probably take over Pat's spot in eighth inning.

There was no word on how the injury will affect Pat's blogging.

Twins reliever Pat Neshek might not have the most visually appealing site, but hey, he sure is fan friendly. Neshek responds to e-mails, riffs on baseball card collecting -- all and all, he seems like a swell fellow.

So when fans asked to see a video of Neshek taking a ball off his face freshman year of college at Butler in a game against Wichita St., Neshek provided it for them. Even uploaded it onto YouTube himself.

I've got to say: that looked nasty. But Neshek seems to take it in stride like a real man. If that was me, I would have been on the ground crying my eyes out. And I wouldn't have uploaded it to YouTube.

I've always wondered how often professional athletes read what other people write about them on the internet. Cole Hamels (in a highly-entertaining interview with Bugs & Cranks, btw) says that he hasn't Googled himself since high school and has no interest in finding out what blogs are saying about him.

Pat Neshek, though, is on the exact opposite end of the spectrum, which isn't a huge surprise considering he has a blog himself. Earlier this year, Neshek used the blog to beg for All-Star votes. Now, he's doing what most bloggers do time and again: vent about the mainstream media:

It always amazes me at how much emphasis people place on the media and that's why I think blogs are going to be the place where people start turning for in depth analysis because you can only find (most of the time) sensationalism in print media or one sided views that have players like me shaking their heads unable to defend themselves. For better analysis I recommend turning to blogs like aarongleeman.com, sethspeaks.net, twinkietown, stickballguy, Lavelle's and Joe C's blog or just go to mngameday.com and they have all these blogs in one spot. These guys back up their comments with reasons that make sense and not ridiculous things like (they are figuring him out or lefties own him). For example if Aaron Gleeman would write something with the headline "The League is Figuring Him Out" I know he would have concrete stats detailing things like BA during second time facing player, 3rd time, 6th time, 100th time. I know he would then go out and do some crazy statistic adding up the entire leagues 2nd, 3rd, 4th at bats against me and lay it out and I would read it and go man, this guy is right.

What do you know, Neshek is a bona fide sports nerd just like us! Clearly, this is a man of discerning tastes, proving he knows way around the Twins' not-so-little corner of the sports blogosphere and name-checking some of the best baseball blogs out there. (And I mean that -- the only reason I stumbled across Neshek's post is because Aaron Gleeman is one of my daily reads.)

On Tuesday, Tom Fornelli told you about Twins reliever Pat Neshek and his quest to grab the final All-Star spot, as voted on by the fans. He wanted the spot so badly, that he implored, dare I say begged fans to vote for him through his blog. You have to root for a dude as quirky as Neshek.

But, as Denton just told you, Boston's Hideki Okajima ended up nabbing that final spot. Neshek finished a disappointing third.

No worries though, folks. Even though Neshek didn't win, this New York Times story certainly indicates he'll keep blogging away. Comic sans for life!

And just for fun, here's one of the many YouTube videos fans made for the "Pitch In For Pat" campaign.



Previously At FanHouse:
Pat Neshek Is Begging For Your Votes
Pat Neshek Has the Interests of a Ten-Year-Old Boy (Yes, I was a little harsh on him here. That was mean of me.)

The fans have spoken: Red Sox pitcher Hideki Okajima will represent the American League as the 32nd member of the 2007 All-Star team. Okajima's 4.3 million votes gave him the spot over Jeremy Bonderman, Pat Neshek, Kelvim Escobar and Roy Halladay. Not too shabby.

Okajima is 2-0 with a microscopic ERA of 0.88 in 38 appearances out of the Red Sox bullpen. He's picked up four saves in his 41 innings, striking out 37 batters along the way. His WHIP is a ridiculous 0.78 and hitters are batting just a buck-fifty-six against him.

The Red Sox have done well in seasons past through fan voting: Johnny Damon in 2002 and Jason Varitek in 2003. The news was posted on the scoreboard at Fenway during the game and Okajima received a standing ovation.

If you go to the Minnesota Twins homepage you'll be bombarded with the "Pitch In For Pat" campaign they're putting on to get Pat Neshek into the All-Star Game. He's one of the five finalists in the AL's Final Vote in which we, the fans, choose the last member of each All-Star squad.

Pat wants to be on the team so bad, he's even taken to begging on his blog.

I need all the help you guys can give me. In the off-season I was a proud advocate of the VOTE FOR RORY NHL campaign (look it up) and although Rory came up short we had a fun time in the process and that's what it's all about. I'm calling on all Myspacers, all Facebook Users and even the most skilled of You Tube Directors to help me out, the funnier the better!

In an earlier entry, Pat also wants you to know that if you vote for him, he'll make it worth your while.

But man I need you guys to vote, vote and vote, it's unlimited voting...tell everyone you know and come together and get creative we have like 5 days or something! We need everyone, all Minnesotan's, all graphers, fans of baseball and yes everyone in Yankee Nation ( and we know why!) I seriously would like to promise everyone All Star balls or jerseys for voting but it might be a stretch...I will promise this, if you guys can get me in I will write about everything that goes on... multiple updates each day letting everyone know what the heck goes on behind closed doors, I will always inscribe anything with All Star 07...dont even have to ask, I will try my best to get lots of giveaways and give them away on here and if I get an extra jersey like they did last year I will give it away in a contest not an auction. I don't know what else to say it would be the greatest feeling in the world to be voted in by you guys. Please tell everyone to vote multiple times:)

Sometimes I think the most fun that surrounds the All-Star game is getting to complain about who didn't make the team. With that in mind, I'll be taking a look at players from the AL Central that just weren't pretty enough to make the American League team. Considering that Jeremy Bonderman is 9-1 with a 3.58 ERA this season, it's a crime that he didn't make the team. He won't be on the list though because he's qualified for the final vote, and I'm hoping that you are smart enough to put him on the team. I know he's getting my vote.

Curtis Granderson: Detroit Tigers. There are already five Detroit Tigers on the roster, but there could be eight, and Granderson was definetely deserving of an All-Star nod. His .289 batting average is rather pedestrian, but there's something about that OPS of .906 that just screams, "Pick me! Pick me!!" We're only at the halfway point of the season, and Grandy already has 22 doubles, 15 triples, and 11 home runs. Every single one of those numbers, besides home runs, are higher than Grady Sizemore, who did make the team. Oh, and his defense isn't half bad either. If that's not enough for you, he's also a blogger! What it comes down to is the fact that each team needs to be represented, so as a result we get Carl Crawford over Granderson.

Gary Sheffield: Detroit Tigers. The Sheff may be getting noticed more this season for some of the things he's said, but that doesn't take anything away from the season he's having on the field. As if the Tigers' offense wasn't dangerous enough last season, Sheffield's added 18 home runs and 52 RBI to the mix, all while getting on base 40% of the time he steps up to the plate. What's even worse about Sheff being left off the team? Since his own manager was the one that snubbed him, he probably think's The Black Lung is a racist now.

You may or may not know Pat Neshek of the Minnesota Twins. I wasn't all too familiar with the righty reliever until I read this Page 2 interview with him today. Among other things, I found out he's a fellow blogger. So the dude is A-OK in my book, even though he has a guestbook and his font face for posts in Comic Sans. (Ugh.)

I also found out he's a big fan of "The Simpsons" and an avid collector of baseball and hockey cards.

P2: Back to card collecting. You're 26 years old -- wouldn't that make you more likely to grow up with video games than baseball cards?

Neshek: When I went to college, I had a teammate who was a serious collector, and he'd also sell stuff on eBay. So he'd say, "Hey, you want to go see the Pacers tomorrow? We can get their autographs." And I'd say, "You can't get the Pacers' autographs, there's no way." We'd go, and everyone would sign, and I thought, "Holy cow, this is awesome!" I really got into it that way.

I always said if I ever played in the minors, and especially if I made the majors, I'd let people in on it as much as possible. So when I started the site, I found that I could do trades with people, use my own cards and help my collection, and also make it fun for them.

Wow, the last autograph I got excited for was Mickey Mouse when I was eight. Pretty much, Neshek is a mini-Curt Schilling, perhaps even more dorky than him.

Which, still makes them 3,000 times more cooler than me. So, I'll just go back to my Dungeons and Dragon set now, thank you very much.

Previously at FanHouse:
Curt Schilling Is 'Scythehands Voxslayer,' Defender of the World's Geeks