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 'Doctors only tell half the story' Medical marvel Cone a defining face for Yankees
Posted: Sunday July 18, 1999 10:17 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- He's glib, he's hip and now he's perfect. He's a medical marvel, and at 36, the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game since Cy Young in 1904. David Cone may be the defining face of this decade's New York Yankees, too. "He's the type of guy everyone says, 'When is his arm going to fall off?'" Derek Jeter said following Cone's perfect game Sunday against Montreal. "They keep doubting him, but he keeps proving them wrong." David Brian Cone overcame an aneurysm in his pitching arm and a bone spur in his shoulder to be part of two World Series champions and to pitch in two more All-Star games. The Kansas City, Mo., native, a third-round draft pick by the Kansas City Royals in 1981, has been a New Yorker for some time now, living in the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan, unlike most of his teammates, who prefer the quiet of the suburbs. A month ago, a taxi hit his car while he was driving to the ballpark. He still made batting practice on time. Nothing seems to faze him. Whenever there's a stressful moment, he's the player teammates turn to for guidance and stability. He's a union leader, mentioned as a possible successor to Donald Fehr, and a clubhouse leader, too. "He's definitely the guy on the team we all look to," Chili Davis said. Last year, the right-hander became a 20-game winner for the first time in a decade, the longest gap in baseball history between 20-win seasons, and now he's 10-4 in 18 starts with a 2.65 ERA, second in the American League. A five-time All-Star and 1994 AL Cy Young Award winner, Cone is 178-97 in his career with a 3.14 ERA and three Series titles. He's still probably short of Hall of Fame numbers, but his worth goes beyond stats. It's his grit. "He leaves his heart on the mound every time he goes out there," Chuck Knoblauch said. Even when he's having an off day, Cone manages to win or at least keep it close. "Think about what he's been through, with the surgeries and the aneurysm," catcher Joe Girardi said. "You look at a handful of players in each sport and say that they get the most possible out of their ability, David Cone is one of those players. Physically and mentally, he's a special player." Following last year's World Series sweep of San Diego, the Yankees weren't sure whether to re-sign Cone, even after he went 20-7. Finally, on Nov. 11, he haggled out an $8 million, one-year contract that gives him the chance to earn an additional $100,000 for each start from 17 through 31. New York had confidence in his heart, if not his arm. "The questions are valid if you look at the MRIs and the X-rays," Cone said Sunday. "The MRI and the X-rays only show so much. Doctors only tell half the story." On May 10, 1996, after missing a start for the first time in nine years, Cone was diagnosed with the aneurysm near his right armpit, an illness some thought might be life threatening. Doctors took a one-inch vein from his left thigh and used it to repair two arteries in his right shoulder. Less than four months later, he made a most amazing return, pitching seven no-hit innings at Oakland before manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre decided 85 pitches were enough. "If Joe was going to leave the decision to me, I'm going back out there and throw caution to the wind," Cone said at the time. "I think Mel and Joe did the right thing, trying to protect me." With the Yankees down 2-0 to Atlanta, he turned around the World Series by winning Game 3. He went 12-6 in '97 but by October, when Cleveland battered him in a playoff start, it was clear he needed another operation. After an arthroscopic surgery cleaned up the shoulder that December, the Yankees babied him in the spring of 1998. Turned out, the best of his career was still to come. "There's more
to pitching than medical history," he said.
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