“Curt seems to be forgetting that there are just as many differences between physicians as there are between ballplayers.

He’s said he prefers Dr. Morgan’s approach. This doesn’t surprise me in the least: Curt is an aggressive ballplayer, and he identifies with a surgeon who likes to get in there and FIX THE PROBLEM, just like he likes to get on the mound and GET THE WIN. I know many orthopedic surgeons like this.

And the truth is, you can ALWAYS operate. Always. But it doesn’t mean it is going to solve the problem.

Surgery is a risky undertaking, no matter what the body part. If that shoulder has been cut up a bunch of times in the past, it will be a messier surgery each time they go in… Surgery isn’t just “go in, throw some stitches, close up”–it is very complicated, especially if the details of the diagnosis are unclear going in.

Unlike rehab, there’s a chance Curt could come out of surgery with a shoulder in worse shape than when he went in: a misstep, a repair that doesn’t quite hold as well as they would like, or just a bad estimation of how the joint would move during the surgery could leave it in terrible shape.

Orthopedic surgeons are not known for their recommendations not to do surgery. They love surgery. It’s their life. They love to cut. So when two orthopedic surgeons are saying, “don’t operate”, that would mean something to me, even if it meant going against my impulse to get in there and fix it.

None of the doctors advising Curt and the Sox are wrong. Not a single one. But like the difference between players’ stances at the plate, they’re going to have different ways of approaching a problem. Surgery isn’t always the answer…

In any case, I think there’s a chance that what the Red Sox don’t want to say is that surgery is not going to be able to fix him completely, that the damage is too extensive… In fact, it has been said that surgery or rehab, after this kind of injury, people really only regain 70% of their strength there– it is possible he wants the surgery in order to have a functional arm in the future… but surgery doesn’t mean he can pitch.

That being said, the procedure they recommend–a subpectoral biceps tenodesis–is pretty reasonable and not hugely high-risk or intrusive in my mind. If you want an in-depth explanation of what is going on, I’d be happy to provide it.

If I was on that medical team, which I am obviously not, I would say they should do an arthroscopy of the shoulder to really see what’s going on before mucking around. In fact, I’m a little surprised they haven’t.

I also would stop putting it between 3 doctors and open it up to more, probably get a case conference going with Morgan, the team docs, the Sox FO, and some guys from New England Baptist, the Brigham, other hospitals, maybe other teams/sports, that sort of thing. Actually pool some brainpower and come up with a solution–I have a hard time believing the choice is a clean-cut surgery or rehab.”

Like I said, I can give more details on the medical stuff if people are interested.

I will say this: Curt believes that Dr. Morgan’s opinion is the right one. He doesn’t at all appear to be trying to game the Sox or bilk the ownership out of money. He really believes Morgan’s diagnosis. Now whether Morgan’s recommendation is correct is another matter entirely…

I’m sure he may have wanted to invite them but he had to make his point.

I think not inviting the Globe was totally fair… if they’re going to publish the crap that CHB churns out, they have to accept the consequences, in this case, restricted access at the player’s discretion. That being said, I feel bad for Gordon. Can you imagine having CHB as a coworker?