Minneapolis, Minnesota This season, Royce Lewis’ locker in the Twins clubhouse has a new addition: a tiny, hand-painted panel depicting a young child yelling with a baseball glove, head back, and mouth open. The child has a small heart on one side and a frowny expression on the other.
Lewis claimed to have painted it himself during a date night he spent with his fiancée, Sam Hobert. He interprets it as a metaphor for his conflicted feelings toward baseball.
At the moment, it is hate.
He observes his pals enjoying themselves and trying to break the club record for wins. After suffering a right quad strain on Opening Day, he feels as though he is recovering. However, while he waits, the Twins aren’t providing him with much information about his progress, and he no longer enjoys speaking with physicians because it appears like they only have terrible news to share about his continued inability to play baseball with his buddies.
Lewis remarked, “This is the most difficult rehab I’ve ever had.”
And that from someone who had to recuperate from two separate ACL surgery on the same knee for the better part of two years.
Lewis claims that even though his recovery from this injury will only take weeks rather than months—especially since he is jogging on the warning track, taking up to 80 swings in the cage each day, and doing some light fielding—it will be much more mentally taxing because there is no set timetable for it, so he must manage it on his own.
Lewis remarked, “I feel like I’m really not a part of the team when they’re on the road.” That is quite difficult. It’s wonderful when they’re home. I get to spend time with my pals and appreciate their presence once more.
He knew what the goals were and when he should expect to reach them when he was recovering from the ACL tears: nine to twelve months the first time, twelve to fourteen months the second time.
Lewis remarked, “Having a carrot hanging over your head makes it much easier on you.”
He is currently waiting for the doctors to give the all-clear to play, though. He is unsure of the exact date. He’s been in for five and a half weeks out of what was supposed to be, at most, two months, though that will depend on how quickly he recovers. Although he feels OK, he grudgingly admits that he is still waiting for the damaged muscle to heal.
The physicians are just taking care of him, and he understands the twins. His expectations may be influenced by the fact that he has historically healed quickly.
However, even the sanguine Lewis is beginning to tire after all the time lost.
“That hurts emotionally, that’s just a fact of how I feel,” Lewis remarked. “I adore this game,” I’m eager to participate in games. All I miss is the game. To play every day, like I did when I was a tiny child, I would stop at nothing.
Love should be at the center of Lewis’ relationship with baseball and the world in general.
All he can do is wait, and wait, for the pendulum to swing back that way.
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