Silence of the Lambs for a few more days

Laguna Hills, CA – The earlier post of a few powerless situations around the game almost made me feel somewhat clairvoyant but for all the wrong reasons. The frailty of sports and injury which sometimes need to take pause from competition is truly the greatest powerless condition to any player, team, management, staff, family and the organizations fan base. By now many realize that my son has been placed on the disabled list for elbow discomfort following his last brief performance in Tulsa, OK against the Drillers. Professional baseball players make every attempt to avoid a status change which takes pause in their respective careers but this recent change to my son’s season literally brought tears to most eyes of family and close friends. Until further evaluations are performed by doctors appointed by the Kansas City Royals, silence of the Lambs will continue for a few more days. Our family has endured similar issues back in February of 2008 and until competent doctors have fully determined the basis for the discomfort and established a plan to treat the effected area of the arm it serves no value to speculate over the elbow discomfort.

John Lamb (1-2, 3.09) left his 50th start of his professional career last Thursday during a Texas League appearance after throwing just 7 pitches in the first inning. The household was holding breathe during the broadcast after the first pitch to the third batter in the first inning. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Double-A affiliate of the Royals, radio announcer Stephen Davis helped us breathe a little later during the broadcast with the clubhouse announcement about John’s condition. Trying to make every attempt possible to stay positive with my son during a call after the game I focused on the fact he ended the day with a strike, 1 strike out, 0 walks and 0 hits. Great work out of the bull-pen but not the length of time any starter desires during their professional baseball career. Rather than waiting for another start in 5 days John Lamb is taking pause for further evaluations.

So for now, silence of the Lambs is due out of necessity until all the facts are in and announced through the proper channels of the Kansas City Royals. No matter how many personal phone calls, emails or texts we receive, just like the 2008 experience, we must respect the situation until decisions have been completed. Again, I’m very proud to have my son involved with the Royals organization and I have complete confidence in their desire to move forward with helping my son return to the mound. It serves no value to speculate around the current situation or feed into the rumors which are already out of the bag. There’s no dad that enjoys seeing their son take pause in a professional baseball career but many are forced to digest the powerless conditions of athletic competition. Our family has been down this dreaded path before and believe me it’s no walk in the park with or without roses.