TEMPE, Ariz. – Mark Mulder serves as a reminder for the harsh reality of sports.
Every great story is a moment away from a horrible ending.
Out of the majors for five years, Mulder was excited as a kid on Christmas morning with the way he’d been feeling as he attempted a comeback with the Angels. Then one misstep during a routine agility drill ended it all.
“It was one of the more difficult days,” Mulder said Sunday morning, sitting in street clothes with a protective boot on his left foot, surgery on a ruptured Achilles awaiting him. “My kids, my parents, everybody was excited, because they knew how excited I was. They knew how good I had told them things were going.”
Now? Not so much.
Mulder will meet with a surgeon on Monday and learn what lies ahead. The projected rehab time is 5-8 months. After that, Mulder will have to decide if he wants to continue his comeback. He turns 37 in August.
“I’d love to say yes,” Mulder said when asked if he will try to pitch again, “but to be honest I don’t know.”
Mulder has been through disappointing medical news before. A two-time All-Star, his career was cut short by shoulder problems that nagged him for years. He finally retired in 2010, having last been an effective major league pitcher in 2006.
It was a bit of a fluke – a new position for his hands, discovered watching Dodgers lefty Paco Rodriguez on television – that allowed Mulder to finally feel good again about pitching.
Mulder was so good, hitting 92 mph and sitting at 89-90 in extensive bullpen sessions over the winter, that the Angels signed him to a minor league deal. Although the Angels guaranteed him nothing, they shared his optimism for the possibilities.
“He was legitimately throwing the ball close to where he was in his prime,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We were really excited about it.”
Mulder was about to throw his first bullpen session of the spring on Saturday when it all ended. Backpedaling in a simple agility drill, his foot gave way and he felt a pop.
“It looked bad when it happened,” Scioscia said. “Right away our strength and conditioning guys knew it was something serious. Mark did too. He knew it was not good.”
Mulder said the disappointment hit him the hardest when he got home and looked in the face of his 6-year-old son, Xander. He didn’t get to see his father pitch in the majors before, and he was excited for the chance this time. When he saw Mulder in a boot, he started to cry.
“When he started crying a little bit, I did too,” Mulder said. “It was tough.”
NOTES
David Freese was among the position players who checked into camp, two days before the mandatory reporting day. Freese, who had back trouble early last season, said he’s now 100 percent. …
Andrew Romine said he has gained 20 pounds this winter. Romine is out of options, competing with John McDonald for a utility infield job. …
Tyler Skaggs said his first bullpen session of the spring felt good. He had lost some velocity during a disappointing season in 2013 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. “I felt I was getting out there with a long stride, throwing strikes,” Skaggs said of his first bullpen session. “I think (the velocity drop) was a mixture of a lot of things, a long season, pitching in a lot of different spots and mechanics. It was a perfect storm last year.”
Contact the writer: jlfletcher@ocregister.com
