Top Comebacks for 2000 - baseball players

Baseball Digest, Nov, 2000 by George Vass

The most impressive recoveries from 1999 injuries or sub-par seasons include Andres Gararraga, Jim Edmonds, Frank Thomas, Moises Alou and Jason Kendall

IT WOULD BE JUST WASTING words, space and the precious time of readers to skirt around the self-evident when it comes to selecting the leading candidate for Come-back Player of the Year for the 2000 season.

No one else approached the drama of the resurgence of the Big Cat, the Atlanta Braves first baseman who overcame a frightening bout with cancer in 1999 to play a leading role in the team's bid to retain its National League pennant.

To imitate what a poet said of the virtuous Abou Ben Adhem: "And lo! Andre Galarraga's name led all the rest."

"The rest" includes the other nine worthy candidates for mention in an honor roll of position players and pitchers who achieved exceptional comebacks last season. All these players shook off the blight of major injuries or sadly inferior performances in 1999--or over an even more extended period--to re-emerge as solid contributors.

Here are our 10 nominees for comeback of the year honors:

* Andres Galarraga, Atlanta Braves first baseman

* Jim Edmonds, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder

* Jay Buhner, Seattle Mariners outfielder

* Frank Thomas, Chicago White Sox first baseman-DH

* Jason Kendall, Pittsburgh Pirates catcher

* Moises Alou, Houston Astros outfielder

* Kerry Ligtenberg, Atlanta Braves relief pitcher

* Darryl Kile, St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher

* Travis Fryman, Cleveland Indians third baseman

* Cal Eldred, Chicago White Sox starting pitcher

It's worth emphasizing that comebacks by seven of these players were crucial to their four teams' strong bids for playoff berths in 2000. This is especially true of the White Sox, Cardinals and Mariners. As for the Braves, while they might have been in contention without Galarraga and Ligtenberg, as they were in 1999, the pair's return to productivity was certainly a huge boost.

What was most astounding about Galarraga's comeback was its totality, as if he never had been away for an entire season during which he underwent treatment for a potentially life-threatening form of cancer.

"When I heard the word cancer, I thought I would be dead the next day," Galarraga confessed when he reported to the Braves' spring training camp to prepare for the 2000 season. "But here I am."

Despite undergoing intense and enervating chemotherapy and radiation treatments for months after the lymphoma was diagnosed early in 1999, Galarraga began camp the next spring without a hitch. He reported in excellent physical shape, swung the bat as well as ever and displayed the fielding skills that had earned him the nickname of "Big Cat."

"We never in our wildest imagination expected him to be in that kind of condition," Braves manager Bobby Cox said of Galarraga, who was remarkably agile despite bis bout with cancer and his 39 years. "But the first day of camp he was hitting the ball 450, 500 feet. I just wasn't prepared for it."

Galarraga obviously was prepared for whatever the Braves asked of him right from season's beginning. On Opening Day in Atlanta, he made a diving catch to thwart a Colorado Rockies bid with the bases loaded. In the next inning, he hit a home run to lead the Braves to a 2-0 victory.

"That's my best day in this game, no doubt about it," said a joyful Galarraga. "It was like a movie." The reel kept rolling from that point on, though after a hot start which saw him bat .302 with 24 HR and 84 RBI in the Braves' first 130 games, Galarraga dropped back a bit. Nevertheless, he entered September still having a fine chance to finish the campaign at around .300 as well as with 30 home runs and 100 RBI.

Most important, a physical check in August indicated he was entirely clear of cancer and in excellent health over all.

"I think God put his hand on my body to help me," Galarraga, a religious man, said of his frightening experience.

Galarraga certainly helped the Braves, who could not have had great expectations of his ability to return to anywhere near the form which had enabled him to hit .305 with 44 HR and 121 RBI in 1998, the season before his illness was discovered.

It had been his third consecutive campaign of more than 40 HR and 100 RBI, the first two with the Colorado Rockies. He also won a batting title with .370 in 1993, the expansion Rockies' inaugural season, after many teams dismissed him as washed up.

Like Galarraga, Ligtenberg also provided more help than the Braves could reasonably have expected. The relief pitcher was sidelined the entire 1999 season after undergoing elbow surgery that March.

As a rookie in 1998, Ligtenberg took over the closer role and rang up 30 saves with a 3-2 record and 2.71 ERA to help the Braves to another division title. Then elbow problems cropped up to jeopardize his promising career near the very outset.

Fortunately for him and the Braves, Ligtenberg was able to return to action in 2000 and do a workmanlike job as a closer when John Rocker and others faltered. He was careful not to overly tax himself while making a recovery.