Travis Hafner, who missed 20 days after being hit in the face by a pitch, can relate t the struggles of Minnesota's Justin Morneau, who has been out since early July because of a concussion.
Travis Hafner, to a degree, knows how Justin Morneau feels.
On July 16, 2005, Hafner was hit in the face by a Mark Buehrle fastball in the first inning at Progressive Field. He did not play again until Aug. 4, sidelined for 20 days with concussion-like symptoms and damage to the small bones in his inner ear.
He returned to have one of his best seasons with the Indians, hitting .308 (140-for-454) with 100 runs, 31 doubles, 42 homers, 117 RBI, a .408 on-base percentage and a .595 slugging percentage.
The memories remain as he has sympathy for Morneau, the Twins' first baseman who has been unable to play since July 7 because of a concussion.
"You're sitting around feeling fine and ready to go," said Hafner. "Then you get up and start riding the stationary bike or taking a few swings and all of a sudden you're dizzy.
"Physically you don't feel like there's anything wrong, but your head isn't right. A lot of times you feel cloudy mentally. You get dizzy really easy. You're sensitive to sound and light."
Initially, the Indians treated Hafner for a concussion. In his conversation with doctors and other medical experts, Lonnie Soloff, Indians head athletic trainer, was told that Hafner might be suffering from a vestibular problem where the small bones in the inner ear might have been damaged from the force of Buehrle's pitch.
"It affects your balance, your visual responses as well," said Soloff. "We think Travis had more of a visual issue than concussion per se."
A series of neck exercises were recommended for Hafner.
"We did some neck exercises that seemed to help out more than anything," said Hafner. "I don't know if I had a straight-up concussion, but the exercises seemed to line everything up in the neck. By far, they helped out the most."
Morneau has a history of concussions from his days as a hockey goalie and basketball player growing up in Canada. In April 2005, Seattle pitcher Ron Villone hit him in the head with a pitch. Morneau missed 13 games and complained of headaches.
Hafner does not have a history of head injuries.
Concussions come in different degrees. Tribe first baseman Matt LaPorta suffered a mild concussion on July 5 when Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus accidentally elbowed him in the back of the head while beating out an infield hit at first base. LaPorta went through a series of tests for three days before he returned to the lineup. On May 29, Alex Rodriguez hit Indians left-hander David Huff on the left side of a head with a line drive that landed in right field for a double. Huff was taken off the field on a stretcher, but suffered no concussion.
Morneau was sliding into second base on July 7 trying to break up a double play against Toronto when second baseman John McDonald, turning the double play, accidentally kneed him in the head. Morneau has missed 51 games through Friday and still doesn't when he'll be able to play.
The 2006 AL MVP was hitting .345 with 18 homers and 56 RBI at the time of his injury. Michael Cuddyer has filled in well, and the Twins still lead the AL Central by four games, but there's no doubt they miss him.
Morneau had progressed to taking batting practice, but when the Twins returned home Aug. 31 for a nine-game homestand, doctors told him to stay home for a week.
"I haven't made it through a day yet without symptoms," he recently told Minneapolis reporters.
The Twins are taking the proper precautions with Morneau. In spring training, MLB makes every team take baseline brain tests of all players so they have a comparison if those players suffer a traumatic injury during the season.
When Hafner returned to the lineup, it was not so much the anxiety of getting back into the batter's box that concerned him, it was the question of whether he was fully recovered.
"It's scary because you don't want to be in the box with a baseball coming at you at 95 mph and you don't feel you can get out of the way or react," he said. "Until you're right, you're pretty uncomfortable."