Ross in good spirits in first visit since hip injury
PHOENIX -- D-backs outfielder Cody Ross returned to Chase Field for the first time since he dislocated and broke his right hip running to first base Aug. 11 and said he expects to be back in action during Spring Training next year.
Ross hit a routine grounder to third base in the first inning of that game and the injury occurred as he neared first base.
"I'm running down to first base and I know I'm out so I started to shut it down," Ross said. "And right before the bag, my cleat caught, and when that happened, I started to fall forward. Instead of rolling, the bag was right in front of me, so I tried to catch myself and I put my foot out and my leg just hyperextended. I heard a crack and a pop and fell to the ground."
Mets first baseman Ike Davis and D-backs first-base coach Steve Sax were the first to be at Ross' side.
"They were asking me if I was all right and I said, 'No, I think I broke my hip,'" Ross said. "Not really even thinking about what happened, that was just the first thing that came out of my mouth. Then I started thinking about it and I was like, I think I dislocated it, because I felt the bone."
Ross actually had done both. The hip came out of the socket with such force that part of the wall that holds it in the socket broke off. Had a non-professional athlete hyperextended his knee in the same way, Ross said he was told, it would have caused the knee to completely blow out. But because he had strong knees and quadriceps muscle, all the force went to the hip.
"Tough injury, freak deal, but all is good," Ross said. "My spirits are up. I know I'm going to come back from this and be good and ready to go next year."
Ross had surgery to insert two metal plates and "five or six" screws into the hip. He was told not to do any weight-bearing activities for three months.
Initially Ross was concerned the injury could end his career, but doctors told him it was different from the hip injury that forced Bo Jackson to retire from pro football and also impacted his baseball career.
"The doctors reassured me that I should be able to come back and play at just as high a level," Ross said. "They said hopefully be back by Spring Training, middle part of Spring Training. That's the goal."