Newz Forum: BASKETBALL: Hoiberg unsure if he will try to play with pacemaker

Fred Hoiberg had off-season surgury to repair a tear in his aortic root. It is extremely amazing that he is even considering this move, IMO.

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That leaves three possibilities, Hoiberg said. He can return to play this season, take the rest of the season off and try to make a comeback next year, or retire to avoid further health risks.

"The good thing now is I've done all my testing, I've seen all the doctors I need to see," Hoiberg said. "Now it's up to my family and myself to try to make the right decision on what's best for us. It's going to be a very tough decision."

[Edited on 1/21/2006 by Gibbs Baby!!!]

Freddie, The Mayor of Ames. He is a Cyclone and us Clone fans love this guy. I wish him the best of luck and health. He is such a great guy and plays hard, being a role player in a league full of ball hungery, money hungery babies can't be easy.

Any ideas why so many ballers are having heart problems. I still remember Reggie Lewis, although sources told me his death was more coc aine related (sorta like Len Bias). Anyway, how can these players keep going with such a risk? Sure the money is there to set them and their families up for life, but what good is it if the guys heart gives out.

Dear Gibbs and Kwy,

I realize the NBA has never had anything like baseball's ridiculous "reserve clause," but I would like to throw in the following famous (among baseball historians) story to offer a little perspective here:

Mickey Cochrane is widely regarded as one of the five greatest catchers in MLB history. If you include Josh Gibson in the mix, he almost certainly is #1 and somebody has to be dropped. Also, there is a lot of controversy about how high Fisk should rate, simply on the basis of his longevity. For those who care, I acknowledge Gibson as the greatest, but limit it to MLB players and rate the catchers like this:

(1) Campanella;

(2) Berra;

(3) Bench;

(4) Cochrane; and

(5) In the ultimate proof that a great hitter is simply more important than a great fielder, Mike Piazza.

And NO historian would tell you it's absurd to rate Cochrane that high (or a notch higher), even if he/she puts him at #6 or whatever. That's how good he was. He was one of the most fleet-footed catchers who ever lived, batted .320 for his career, and, in the really big stat, had an awesome career on-base percentage of .419, just two points below that of a far greater and more famous Mickey who patrolled the most famous center field in MLB history.

Cochrane was also a winner. Although Lefty Grove is (rightly, in my view) perceived as the main reason Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's took three straight pennants from the Ruth/Gehrig/etc. Yankees in 1929-1931, Cochrane helped a LOT (as did Simmons and Double X). Then, when Mack traded Cochrane to Detroit for $100,000 (and a player who couldn't carry his jock) after 1933, Detroit came within a game of winning its first W.S. in 1934, then DID win it in 1935. Gives you an idea just how great this guy was, huh?

BUT....

Early in the 1937 season, after an injury-shortened 1936 season, Cochrane was hit in the head with a pitch. It fractured his skull, put him in a coma and left him near death for days. When he came out of it, he naturally wanted to play again. You don't get to be THAT great unless you were born with Babe Ruth's talent (which Cochrane for sure wasn't) or you're a maniacally intense competitor (which he, like a lot of modern athletes we all know was).

This was one time the reserve clause was a good thing. Detroit's owners, apparently actually being decent people and not caring about the bottom line of wins and losses, told Cochrane that they didn't care THAT much about winning. Having been told by a doctor that another pitch to the head, even if far less severe, would KILL Cochrane, they told him he was now retired, though welcome to stay on as manager. He hated it, but he had to accept it.

GIBBS, I have read your quote. It is obvious the doctors told this guy he is taking a real risk, or he would not have said what he did. They've probably had him sign a waiver of liability where they're concerned. And I would imagine his life insurance company has done the same with regard to any further heart attacks suffered while playing or practicing basketball, right?

But how long is this guy signed for? Couldn't the team just put the guy on I.R. for the next 3 or 4 years? You know, pay him and keep him somewhere where his competitiveness and bad judgment (like Cochrane's) won't get him killed? The baseball owners of the 1930's were mostly slavedrivers, and if THEY cared enough to do that with a great player whom they obviously needed so badly in their lineup, can't these guys do the same thing?

Baseball History Nut

Fred's already in his early 30's, so I doubt that they would keep paying him for 3-4 years. And with the money that athletes make today, he should be taken care of enough, IMO. He was a good player, but this should be acall for him to retire. On a side note, I'm the same age, and I'd love to be retired right about now...

GIBBS,

Yeah, good point. As sick as this makes me, Hoiberg has probably made more money in one season, even adjusting a lot for inflation through the decades, than Mickey Cochrane made in his life. In fact, you may be interested to know that when Ty Cobb died of diabetes and cancer in 1961, he was taking care of Cochrane--and a bogus Hall of Fame catcher named Ray Schalk--financially, because both had fallen on very hard times. They were the only two former major leaguers at his funeral. Cochrane died the next year.

For my edification, just how good a player was/is Hoiberg? I've never heard of him, but that doesn't mean much. I didn't know much about Ron Artest until that famous brawl. Please enlighten me about Hoiberg and his career thus far. (Since I know Gibbs isn't exactly a world-class NBA fan, either, your help would be appreciated, too, Kwy and others.

B.H.N.

Hi B.H.N

Fred Hoiberg was drafted in the 2nd round by the Pacers. He went on to play for Chicago and then Minnesota. He was a solid player, but never put up exceptional stats (highest PPG was 9.1). During the 2003-2004 season with Minnesota he led the league in 3 pt. accuracy. I also wish him the best of health and hope he can retire and live comfortably.

-Kwyjibo

Former Minnesota Timberwolves guard Fred Hoiberg announced his retirement Monday, nearly 10 months after open-heart surgery.

The 3-point specialist has taken a new job in the team's front office, he said at a news conference.

Hoiberg, a standout at Iowa State who played 10 seasons in the NBA, had an operation last June to repair an aneurysm in his aortic root. He was fitted with a permanent pacemaker.

In January, doctors told Hoiberg he was OK to play. But Hoiberg said his family was too important for him to take the small risk on the court.

He was a Wolves' special assistant this season.

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