SURPRISE, Ariz. - • Outfielder Vincent Sinisi broke his left arm, contracted a dangerous staph infection and had seven operations in nine months.
Vincent Sinisi's world went from almost perfect to nightmarish last year.
It was a fast fall.
Sinisi was on the verge of a promotion to Double A Frisco; less than a year into his professional career, he already was one of the Rangers' top minor league prospects. Then, on June 13, the left-handed outfielder broke his left forearm in a collision with Stockton teammate and shortstop Joaquin Arias.
Less than seven months later, Sinisi lay in a hospital bed awaiting his seventh operation since the collision, wondering if his baseball career was over.
"Looking back at it, I'm glad it didn't get to the worst-case scenario," Sinisi said. "I just thank God I'm able to play again."
Sinisi developed a staph infection several weeks after the initial operation to insert a plate in his arm. The infection involved a potentially deadly bacteria -- methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (or MRSA) -- that is not easily treated by antibiotics.
MRSA is typically spread in hospitals, though a recent Sports Illustrated article described its rising prevalence among sports teams. Frisco hitting coach Ronnie Ortegon was hospitalized with MRSA this spring.
Rangers minor league medical coordinator Kyle Turner said he had never thought about MRSA before, "but that's going to have to be in our minds with everything that we do now."
Sinisi said he never feared for his life. His arm was another matter.
"For a while, I was hoping I was going to get to keep my arm," Sinisi said. "Not keep my arm, but get to play. It got pretty bad where we were pretty much down to the last thing: the bone graft. I'm kind of thankful that they caught it early enough. I don't think it ever got to this point, but [MRSA] is a deadly thing. You can die from it."
Dr. Don Sheridan, a wrist and hand specialist in Phoenix who is the Arizona Diamondbacks' team physician, performed several surgeries to clean out the infection site. Two months after the fifth operation, Sheridan performed a biopsy on Sinisi's arm to see if the bone, which had been sawed down to install the plate, was growing back properly. A few days later, he grafted some bone from Sinisi's hip and grafted it onto his forearm, which now has a bright red scar that runs from near his elbow to his mid-forearm.
That last operation was seven weeks ago. Sinisi is here in Surprise going through rehabilitation, lifting some weights and doing cardiovascular workouts. The organization hopes to have him playing games around the All-Star break, but that will depend on the results of a mid-April CT scan.
"It's a setback, but you try not to dwell on it too much," Sinisi said. "You just try to move on and hope for the best, just hope things heal."
Sinisi and his family back in The Woodlands near Houston hope the worst is over. After hearing of several people who died from MRSA, they feel fortunate that his health problems involved only his arm.
Said Sinisi's dad, Vinny: "I'm a pretty optimistic guy. He's a much better individual than he is a baseball player, and he's a pretty good baseball player. He's a great kid, he's good-looking, he's smart, he's got a lot of athletic ability, and he's got a lot of money in the bank. Wouldn't you like to have those problems?"
Vinny Sinisi can joke about it now, because he's no longer concerned about his son's health. It wasn't that easy several months ago.
Early indications are that the bone graft on Sinisi's arm was successful and that there will be no long-term effects. The one thing he cannot regain is time. He turned 23 in November and has played only 78 games (all for Single A Stockton) since the Rangers drafted him in the second round in 2003.
An All-American first baseman at Rice, Sinisi was projected by many to be a top-10 draft pick. He had batted .428 in 2002 and was the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, then helped lead Rice to the NCAA championship in 2003 with his .338 average and 59 RBI. Sinisi dropped in the draft because having Scott Boras as his agent raised signability issues. The Rangers gave Sinisi $2.07 million to sign, more than they gave 2004 first-rounder Thomas Diamond.
"I am 100 percent optimistic that he will return to the player we saw in the draft and in the first year of his career," Rangers director of player personnel Dom Chiti said. "I think it's an unfortunate thing, as far as the timing is concerned. ... But this guy's a quality hitter that has all the things that you look for in a big league hitter."
Which is exactly what Sinisi hopes to be one day soon.
IN THE KNOW
The Vincent Sinisi file
Position: Outfield
Age: 23
Ht./wt.: 6-foot/195
Bats/throws: Left
Resides: The Woodlands
2004: Hit .306 with 13 doubles, seven home runs, seven stolen bases, 39 runs scored and 40 RBI in 64 games for Class A Stockton.
2003: Played 14 games for Stockton, hitting safely in nine for a .258 average; had four hits in second pro game.
College: WAC Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003, helping Rice win the national title in '03. In '02, he hit .428 with 22 doubles, 11 home runs and 80 RBI. In '03, he hit .338 with 10 homers and 58 RBI.
Source: 2005 Texas Rangers Media Guide
