NewsMyers scratched from rehab start
Phillies righty embarrassed by reason for eye injury
By Todd Zolecki / MLB.com
08/15/09 9:10 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies scratched Brett Myers from Saturday's rehab appearance with Class A Clearwater after a bizarre story that changed once, but ultimately left his left eye completely swollen shut.The club said early Saturday that Myers suffered an eye injury while playing catch with his 4-year-old son, Kolt. But a short time later, the Phillies said Myers changed his story. He actually injured his eye when he fell out of his truck Friday night.
"I know exactly what people are going to think," Myers said in a telephone interview Saturday evening with MLB.com, referring to alcohol use.
Myers, who is recovering from surgery on his right hip, said he and his wife, Kim, went to dinner with two friends and their nanny in Jacksonville, Fla., where Myers lives in the offseason. Myers planned to drive to Clearwater on Saturday afternoon for the 6:30 p.m. ET game. Myers said he had two or three beers at dinner.
He said he sat in the back of his wife's Escalade while their nanny drove everybody home. Myers said when he tried to get out of the truck, he got caught on some of his children's toys and fell into the armrest on the car door.
"I couldn't catch myself," he said. "My face just smashed the side of it. I basically rolled out of the car, and I said, 'I need a little help. I can't get up.' It knocked me silly. It looks like I went 12 rounds with [Mike] Tyson.
"I wasn't drunk by any means. That's why I feel so stupid right now."
And that's why Myers said he initially told Brian Cammarota, who is the team's Minor League athletic trainer and rehabilitation coordinator, that he got hit in the eye with a baseball. But Myers said soon after the first call to Cammarota, Kim urged him to call Cammarota back with the true story.
"I'm an idiot," Myers said. "I've never felt so embarrassed in my life. I feel like a total geek."
Myers said he is uncertain when he will be able to continue his rehab, but he hopes it is soon.
"As soon as I can see, I'm ready to go," he said. "I don't care if I'm black and blue or not."
"It was an unfortunate accident, and Brett should be back pitching once the swelling goes down around his eye and our medical people clear him to pitch," said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.
Myers will be evaluated Sunday by the team's medical staff in Clearwater.
Todd Zolecki is a reporter for MLB.com. Associate reporter Adam Rosenberg contributed to this report. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
