Can anyone verify about Koyie Hill?

[Shox2]

Koyie Hill

Koyie's story is amazing. To see what his hand looked like after surgery, it is a miracle he is even playing again, let alone in the majors.

[KC Shox]

I'm giving much props to Koyie for not giving up and to his Dr. for what he did as well.

I'm hoping Koyie rebounds next season. 11 K's in 19 AB's in his last 10 games is not good. I hope the Cubs don't give up on him.

[shockandawe08]

KC,

Give up? The Cubs?
What could possess you to say such a thing? :shock:
I swear I don't know where you get your information. ;-)

[Snapshot9]

I can only imagine what the medical bills were for attaching 4 fingers back to his hand. My mother recently had a 'simple surgery' done to have a pacemaker put into her, and the total medical is over $28,000. She was in the hospital for 1 night.

[Rosewood]

I can only imagine what the medical bills were for attaching 4 fingers back to his hand. My mother recently had a 'simple surgery' done to have a pacemaker put into her, and the total medical is over $28,000. She was in the hospital for 1 night.

This is what insurance is for. I'm sure he just paid his deductible and specialist fees.

[Ta town]

I'm giving much props to Koyie for not giving up and to his Dr. for what he did as well.

I'm hoping Koyie rebounds next season. 11 K's in 19 AB's in his last 10 games is not good. I hope the Cubs don't give up on him.

The cubs have Soto who is a rookie and a stud and "Hank White" (Henry Blanco) as thier backup. I believe he signed a multi year deal last year. So while they may not give up on Koyie, he will be a AAA player for the most part or at least until Blanco's contract expires which is two years away I believe. (might just be thru 09 though, not 100% sure).

[Shox2]

Actually Ta Town your facts are incorrect. Blanco signed a two year deal with the Cubs after the 2006 season, with a mutual option for 2009. Therefore if the Cubs and Blanco are not in agreement, Blanco will not be with the Cubs next season. In other words, if the Cubs would rather have Hill instead of Blanco, there are no ties to Blanco after this season. So your comment about Hill "will be in AAA next season" is not true.

[Aargh]

Dr. Mark Melhorn did the surgery. He has The Hand Center in Carriage Parkway. He is that good. A lot of people who know about these kinds of things consider him the best hand surgeon in the region, and the region includes KU Med Center in KC.

He's also very busy. He gets incredible numbers of referrals from other doctors, and has for 20 years.

Wood saws make pretty nasty cuts in muscle, tendons and bones, otherwise Koyie would have full use of all his fingers. The amazing part is that there wasn't enough left of 2 fingers to allow them any flexibility, so Dr. Melhorn had Koyie put a baseball in his left hand to see how he gripped a ball when he threw it and put the fingers back on in a position where Koyie can grasp and throw a ball.

I don't have facts about which fingers don't move, but it looks like middle finger and ring finger. He's hitting with just his thumb, index, and little finger on his right hand on the bat. He's also throwing out baserunners with only those fingers working.

Jim Rome did a piece on Koyie a couple of weeks back. Koyie will be a legend for returning to the major leagues after losing four fingers. E-mails from listeners were of the "man amongh men", "brave", "courageous" variety. Words seldom used to describe baseball players.

[Ta town]

Actually Ta Town your facts are incorrect. Blanco signed a two year deal with the Cubs after the 2006 season, with a mutual option for 2009. Therefore if the Cubs and Blanco are not in agreement, Blanco will not be with the Cubs next season. In other words, if the Cubs would rather have Hill instead of Blanco, there are no ties to Blanco after this season. So your comment about Hill "will be in AAA next season" is not true.

calm down guy...

didn't say hill sucked or anything. i thought he signed that deal last year. i obviously was wrong. Geez don't let reality hurt your feelings. truth is as long as Henry Blanco decides to hang around then Hill is a "AAA" player by default. if blanco and the cubs don't agree to something then hill looks to be the backup. i bet they take that option though. he is a veteran and pretty solid backup. please don't take any of this the wrong way I hope hill makes the club next season but as long as blanco is there i can't see it happening.

now with his age and with the position im sure there will be a few times during the season that soto or blanco is down and hill gets called up.

[1972Shocker]

Dr. Mark Melhorn did the surgery. He has The Hand Center in Carriage Parkway. He is that good. A lot of people who know about these kinds of things consider him the best hand surgeon in the region, and the region includes KU Med Center in KC.

Dr. Melhorn just did some wrist and elbow surgery (carpal tunnel/ulnar nerve) on my wife. Both her left and her right arm.

I told her to ask Dr. Melhorn if he thought she could play MLB once she has rehabbed.

He said, he was good, but not that good.

Props to Dr. Melhorn and to Koyie. Unbelievably good story.