Where in the World is Jacoby Ellsbury?

We were watching the game last night.  The camera panned the Red Sox dugout during a time of lucidity and focus of the boys and myself.  Upon seeing Josh Beckett in a Red Sox warm up jersey, my 6 year old shrieked "Josh Beckett!  I didn't know he was still on the Red Sox!"

My 8 year old then inquires about Jacoby Ellsbury, who is noticably absent.  "Dad, is Jacoby Ellsbury still on the Red Sox, too?"

I find it strange that Josh Beckett is with the team on a night like this, but noone has seen Jacoby Ellsbury.  "Yes he's still hurt.  He broke his ribs."

"What has it been, Dad?  4 months?  I think he's just being lazy and he's just faking!"  My 8 year old states.  I can't say I blame him for feeling this way.  It seems as though Ellsbury has been on his own schedule for the last six weeks, probably at the direction of his super agent, Scott Boras.  Incidentally, I don't point out to the boys that he returned for a couple of games at the end of May before landing back on the disabled list.  They seemed to be enjoying all of the Ellsbury-bashing.  "He's so stupid!" my six year old concludes.

But exactly where is he, and why is he not with the team?  The answer is Athletes Performance Institute in Arizona.  Does he have cracked ribs or is looking into cryogenics or retirement communities?  Ellsbury has always made an impression that he is a little soft - good or bad - that's our impression.  My 8 year old thinks he's faking his injury for crying out loud.  He should be with the team and rehabbing his injured ribs in Boston.  So what's really going on?

The answer might be in that very-telling ESPN article referred to above.  As the story goes, The Red Sox Team doctor, Tom Gill diagnosed cracked ribs.  After discomfort continued, Ellsbury received a second opinion (on the advice of Scott Boras thinking about arbitration eligibility).  What was discovered was a nother crack in the posterior side of the ribcage.  While everyone was saying the right things, the quotes from the ESPN article suggests that Dr. Gill missed the posterior injury.  Because of this, Ellsbury will end up missing at least half of the season.  Boras and Ellsbury, upset that the team's doctors misdiagnosed the injury, just as Ellsbury's earning power was increasing, took the dog and pony show to Dr. Lewis Yokum and API.  Now Ellsbury won't show up until he is perfectly healthy.  We'll see if it's the right move.

Because the Red Sox are playing well.  Despite numerous injuries in the Outfield, unknown players such as Darnell McDonald and Daniel Nava and career bench players Bill Hall and Eric Patterson are putting up numbers that are not dissimilar to those that Ellsbury would be producing.  I hope Ellsbury gets healthy, but I agree with my 6 year old's assessment. "We don't him, Dad, we have good outfielders already!!"  The Red Sox win-loss record would suggest that that's right.

photograph courtesy of squidoo.com