Carl Pavano nearly died shoveling snow

Jeeze Louise.  The guy slipped on ice, fell on his shovel and put a divot into his spleen. If he hadn't gone to the E.R. when he did, the Twins would be wearing black arm-bands this year.

They removed his spleen. He's lost a lot of weight. He's vowing to return. I dunno.

Hard to think about Pavano, considering all the pain he brought upon the Yankiverse. Remember when he broke a rib in a car accident with his hot model girlfriend, and he didn't tell anybody? Remember when he pulled a buttock covering first? Remember our Yankeeography: The Bronx Buttocks?

If he were going to lose a spleen, we wanted it to come from a line-drive off Jeter's bat. But when you look at Pavano's life, it's quite sad. There is only one period in the fossil record when Pavano totally sucked: While a Yankee.

Take away those four years, and the guy had a nice career. But in NY, he won just seven (7) games.

Imagine: If Pavano pitched the way he did before and after the Yankees, he would have won 64 games in that stretch. Considering that we scored a lot of runs, he might have won 20 one year. He'd now be chasing his 200th victory - not Hall of Fame material, but not shabby.

Also, he was a post-season workhorse for Florida and Minnesota, with a 2.51 ERA. Can't help but think he might have won a game for us in the 2005 or 2006 playoffs, maybe changed Yankee history. If we'd gotten anything from the guy - anything - who knows how popular he might have been? 

I say this not to forgive the guy. He sucked for us. You can hate a player, while not  hating the player. Let's hope he comes back, so we can shell him a few more times. Jeeze Louise. A few hours delay, and we'd be reading his obit. Didn't want that.