Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 22, 1993 TAG: 9301220051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
BO SAYS HE'S HIP TO PLAY
Is Bionic Bo ready to go?He's got an artificial hip, and he's preparing for one final comeback with the Chicago White Sox.
Bo Jackson was impressive Thursday, fielding grounders and taking swings in a batting cage. He topped that by running four 120-yard sprints to the controlled time of 20 seconds a sprint.
"There's no limp, no pain; the difference from last year is night and day," said Jackson, who did not play an inning last season after having a hip replaced last April.
The Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn, a professional superstar in football and baseball, injured his left hip in a 1991 NFL playoff game for the Los Angeles Raiders.
The Kansas City Royals, for whom he hit 32 home runs and drove in 105 runs in 1989, released him in the spring of 1991 when doctors said he would never play again.
The White Sox gambled and signed him. After torturous rehabilitation, he played in 23 games in September 1991, hitting three home runs and driving in 14 runs.
Last spring, the pain became unbearable, and he had the hip replaced with a plastic-metal prosthesis. Deciding to give baseball one more shot, he went into rehabilitation with hip replacement trainer Mack Newton in Phoenix and White Sox trainer Herm Schneider in Chicago.
"Actually, it feels like I've never had any problems in the past," Jackson said. "There is no fear factor. That was over after surgery."
Schneider, who has kept the time of the sprints down intentionally, said he expects to let Jackson go full speed sometime in February.
"We are in uncharted waters," Schneider said. "If something happens, I don't have the answers. We are trying to prevent soreness. He has paid a dear price."
Jackson's routine includes light workouts in the morning, then hitting and fielding sessions at a gymnasium followed by the heavy work with weights every afternoon.
Why the effort when it all could end with one slight breakdown?
"When my mother passed away last year I promised her I would play baseball again and I would get my degree," Jackson said. "I have one more class left."
When he decided to return, Jackson was told the dangers.
"I told them it was my hip, my decision," Jackson said.
And if it doesn't work out?
"I won't sit around and mope," he said. "You have to face reality. I'll go to spring training, and if things don't work out, I'll go home and become `Bo Jackson, businessman.' "