Healthy again, Pirates' Walker ready to return

It was a tough final two months for the Pirates and, in particular, second baseman Neil Walker. Walker suffered a dislocated finger and then injured his back. He was hurting. But more painful, he said, was the anguish of watching helplessly as his club‘s once-promising season again melted away.

“To go from an everyday player and to contribute both in the clubhouse and on the field, to have to sit and watch for the entire last month when we were playing meaningful baseball, there was nobody more frustrated than I was,” Walker said recently at PirateFest.

On Aug. 15, as the Pirates‘ second-half skid was unfolding, Mark Ellis of the Dodgers slid hard into second base in the first inning and toppled Walker, who landed on his right hand. His pinky bent out of shape, Walker left the game and also missed the next three. Later in the month, with the losses piling up, a herniated disc sidelined Walker for 15 games. He tried to come back but had trouble running and moving in the field. The club shut him down in late September.

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