"Back then, they amputated.”

Brian Bruney is done for the year.

He suffered a "Lisfranc," which is the George Will way of saying his dog is barking bad.

Lisfrancs are a bitch. They take time. In the old days, as Joe Girardi said yesterday, Bruney would return on a peg.

For a long time, we at IIH-IIF-IIc used Bruney as a punch line. The body, the tattoo, the jowls, the lead-off walks -- he symbolized our annual bullpen collapse.

He came to camp this year changed. He'd lost weight. He'd gained discipline. It showed on his face. It showed in his pitching.

He became the one guy on our roster who seemed to have risen to a new level.

(Maybe, after all, Robinson Cano never will.)

Now this.

Well, life sucks. You play the cards you're dealt. We wish Brian Bruney the best. He leaves as the guy who saved himself. We think he'll be back, and when he does, he'll have a fine career.

He deserves our support. He deserved better than this.

No more Bruney jokes. Of course, we now have Chris Britton.

I wonder if he's been watching?