Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Splendid Splint(er)

New Padre slugger undergoes surgery to receive Ted Williams' unfrozen lower half.

The hip bone's connected to the - hit bone…
The hip bone's connected to the - hit bone…
UnKemped: the homer-happy hitter won't have to worry any more about his arthritic hips. C'mon baby, and do that twist!

When the Padres snagged Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers, it was the biggest deal in the team's history. But when the word leaked out that a recent medical exam had detected arthritis in both of Kemp's hips, General Manager AJ Preller began to worry that "biggest deal" might turn into "biggest debacle."

"Kemp has already had trouble with his shoulder and ankle," admitted Preller, "but we figured we could nurse those along with a gradually increasing regimen of physical therapy, off-season surgery, and weapons-grade painkillers. I mean, it's only five years. But arthritic hips? That was a potential disaster. We dealt for Kemp because of the speed and power of his bat, and as every hitter since Ted Williams has known, batspeed and power come from the turn of the hips. Without that, I remember thinking, you're just slapping at the ball, spraying singles here and there — the way Tony Gwynn did before Williams talked to him in '92."

Sponsored
Sponsored
"Nobody likes to be stuck on the bench — unless that bench is on the patio at a Front Porch Retirement Community!"
Kemp's first tweet following the trade announcement, which was quickly deleted.

His concern started to border on panic when he learned that Kemp's team had finagled a last-minute clause into his Padres contract, one that guaranteed the 30-year-old a dedicated suite at the Casa de Manana retirement home in La Jolla. And then came the infamous post on Kemp's Twitter account, in which he stated that San Diego would be "a great place to retire. I mean, play."

Fortuitously, it was that thought about Gwynn and Williams that inspired Preller's next move. "Ted Williams, as everybody knows, was frozen immediately after he died. His son was big into cryonics, which involves freezing people in the hope that someday, science will come up with a way to bring 'em back to life. So they sawed old Ted's head off and put it on ice. But what everybody doesn't know is that they also froze the rest of him. The body of the greatest hitter of all time — the hips of the greatest hitter of all time — just sitting in a tank of liquid nitrogen in Arizona. I was already on the hook for millions of dollars. I figured, what's a few more? And so I started making some calls. Two days later, Matt Kemp was feeling like a new man — well, half a new man, anyway."

Details are still forthcoming about both the procedure and the deal surrounding it, but Preller says that everybody walked away happy. "Especially Kemp. Because for the first time in years, walking away didn't hurt a bit."

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
The hip bone's connected to the - hit bone…
The hip bone's connected to the - hit bone…
UnKemped: the homer-happy hitter won't have to worry any more about his arthritic hips. C'mon baby, and do that twist!

When the Padres snagged Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers, it was the biggest deal in the team's history. But when the word leaked out that a recent medical exam had detected arthritis in both of Kemp's hips, General Manager AJ Preller began to worry that "biggest deal" might turn into "biggest debacle."

"Kemp has already had trouble with his shoulder and ankle," admitted Preller, "but we figured we could nurse those along with a gradually increasing regimen of physical therapy, off-season surgery, and weapons-grade painkillers. I mean, it's only five years. But arthritic hips? That was a potential disaster. We dealt for Kemp because of the speed and power of his bat, and as every hitter since Ted Williams has known, batspeed and power come from the turn of the hips. Without that, I remember thinking, you're just slapping at the ball, spraying singles here and there — the way Tony Gwynn did before Williams talked to him in '92."

Sponsored
Sponsored
"Nobody likes to be stuck on the bench — unless that bench is on the patio at a Front Porch Retirement Community!"
Kemp's first tweet following the trade announcement, which was quickly deleted.

His concern started to border on panic when he learned that Kemp's team had finagled a last-minute clause into his Padres contract, one that guaranteed the 30-year-old a dedicated suite at the Casa de Manana retirement home in La Jolla. And then came the infamous post on Kemp's Twitter account, in which he stated that San Diego would be "a great place to retire. I mean, play."

Fortuitously, it was that thought about Gwynn and Williams that inspired Preller's next move. "Ted Williams, as everybody knows, was frozen immediately after he died. His son was big into cryonics, which involves freezing people in the hope that someday, science will come up with a way to bring 'em back to life. So they sawed old Ted's head off and put it on ice. But what everybody doesn't know is that they also froze the rest of him. The body of the greatest hitter of all time — the hips of the greatest hitter of all time — just sitting in a tank of liquid nitrogen in Arizona. I was already on the hook for millions of dollars. I figured, what's a few more? And so I started making some calls. Two days later, Matt Kemp was feeling like a new man — well, half a new man, anyway."

Details are still forthcoming about both the procedure and the deal surrounding it, but Preller says that everybody walked away happy. "Especially Kemp. Because for the first time in years, walking away didn't hurt a bit."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader