Sunday, April 16, 2006
Whenever Clark Turns Around, There's Ricky Weeks
When Brady Clark goes into the bathroom each morning, there's Ricky Weeks. When he gets in his car to drive to the park, there's Ricky Weeks. When Clark steps into the batting cage, works out in the weight room, eats his dinner, goes to the bathroom, it's always the same: Ricky Weeks, Ricky Weeks, Ricky Weeks. When Brady Clark went to bed last night, rolled over and saw Ricky Weeks, that was the last straw. Well, not the exactly the last straw. The last straw will be when Brady Clark goes to center field one day soon and Ricky Weeks will be there waiting for him, and Brady Clark will go to the bench. It may not happen this month, maybe not the next or the next, but one of these days sooner or later, expect the Brewers to move Ricky Weeks to the outfield. The more chances coaches have to observe Weeks' sometimes dazzling sometimes erratic play at second base, plus consider Weeks' type of highly productive offensive play, the sooner the switch will be made. It's just a matter of deciding whom to move where and when in a high-stakes game of musical chairs.
Doctor X -- the 'Baseball Medic' -- is an anonymous U.S. government trauma specialist with a Duke University sports medicine background and more than 20 years experience in emergency medicine. From time to time he considers MLB rumors, events and news reports as they pertain to baseball players' injuries, illnesses and various other disabilities, both on the field and off.
MLB Rumors editor Greg Fieg is a former sports news editor and award-winning writer whose bylines have appeared on the wires of the Associated Press and in numerous publications, including San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio Light, Houston Chronicle and Philadelphia Bulletin. He formerly was posted in various positions on the U.S.-Mexican border with Freedom Newspapers, and was a regular, independent contributor to United Press International.