Cleveland Sports Forum

Oversize cards at the ballpark last night for fans to sign :

Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona had a cardiac ablation: Here's what that is

Update on Tito's health
Dave "Dino" DeNatale , WKYC 7:30 PM. EDT July 07, 2017


CLEVELAND - Today's news that Indians manager Terry Francona underwent a procedure called a 'cardiac ablation' to correct an irregular heartbeat hit close to home for me.

In 1994, I was just starting my sophomore year at Bowling Green State University when suddenly I was not feeling right. It felt like I had a bad cold, maybe bronchitis.

When I went to the doctor, a chest x-ray showed something rather horrifying: my heart was enlarged. I had a condition known as viral cardiomyopathy. In layman's terms, my heart was weakened, making it more difficult to pump blood to the rest of the body. In some cases, it can lead to heart failure.

Viral cardiomyopathy also caused my heart to have an abnormal rate or rhythm. Those irregular rhythms led to a condition called atrial fibrillation. Basically, my heart quivered and was prevented from pumping blood through its chambers as it should, allowing blood to collect in the heart. That puts you at risk for everything from a stroke to heart failure.

My cardiologist, Dr. James Hodsden at Akron General Medical Center, put me on a regiment of medication designed to keep my heart beating in normal sinus rhythm. On occasion, the atrial fibrillation would rear its ugly head and bring back an irregular heartbeat.

When that happened, I would undergo a procedure called cardioversion.

It's just what it looks like in this diagram. You are put into a light sleep, and doctors administer a shock to the heart to try to jolt it back into normal sinus rhythm.

Usually, this worked for me.

In 2010, it didn't. The atrial fibrillation finally got to be too much for me. I was having issues with fatigue, light-headedness, and sweating and had to find a new solution. Dr. Hodsden suggested that I undergo a cardiac ablation.

So what is a cardiac ablation? What did Terry Francona undergo on Thursday afternoon?

As defined by the American Heart Association, an ablation is a procedure that uses radiofrequency energy (similar to microwave heat) to destroy a small area of heart tissue that is causing rapid and irregular heartbeats. Destroying this tissue helps restore your heart’s regular rhythm.

Doctors run a line from the groin straight into the heart, they locate the site of the irregularity, and then send radiofrequency energy directly into the abnormal cells, destroying them.

The procedure can run anywhere from 2 to 6 hours depending on the extent of the abnormal heart tissue. Recovery really is just about making sure the site where the doctors made the puncture to run the line is healed and the heart is responding well.

Just to put it in perspective, I had my procedure on a Wednesday, and started my new job at ESPN Cleveland the following Tuesday. So I have every reason to be optimistic that Terry Francona will be back in the Tribe dugout when the Indians open the second half of a the season next weekend.

So I hope I've explained this well enough for you to understand what Tito went though. Please feel free to interact with me on Twitter at @dinocleveland or on email at ddenatale@wkyc.com if you have any questions.

How about Mike Clevinger?

Out-duels Verlander twice this week.

In his last 5 starts he is 3-0 ... 27 IP ... 15 H ... 5 ER ... 1.67 ERA ... 28 K.

I think we can say he is our #3 starter now

Oh, and TFIR, that Chisenhall guy is doing pretty OK too!

Clevinger looks to me too like he's earned the No. 3 spot in the rotation. He still uses up too many pitches so he can't go more than 6 innings most of the time, but he's great at getting himself out of jams and pretty solid at not getting into them either. Bauer and Tomlin hold up the back of the rotation until Salazar finally gets it back together --- It's been a full year now since he was any good -- or Morimando or perhaps Merritt earns one of those spots. I'd like to see the M boys get some shots to show their stuff in the second half.

Kipnis has been placed on 10 day DL. That is a dang shame, he was just starting to hit the ball good.

Well, while he's resting that hammy hopefully he can beat down the door of the chiropractor and get that neck problem fixed too. Come back 100% ready to finish season strong.

The futures game is on MLB channel right now. Mejia about to hit.

Oh, and BTW, Urshela was called up to replace Kipnis. Yandy still in and out of lineup at Columbus with a strained calf.

when they do a brief callup, they often seem to prefer the guy they think less of for the long-term: Yandy benefits more by playing everyday than sitting on the Indians' bench.

At the time I posted that yesterday Yandy was not in starting lineup in Columbus, so I assumed that calf was still bothering him. But he ended up coming in late as a replacement and getting 2 AB's, and he has now played like 2 weeks straight. So I think he is fine and I am quite sure you are right, Civ.

Survey from Cleveland.com:


Which position would you like to see the Indians focus on at the trade deadline?

Starting pitcher - 52.75% (730 votes)


Catcher - 14.67% (203 votes)


Outfield/DH - 3.32% (46 votes)


Bullpen - 3.32% (46 votes)


No major trade needed, keep their prospects - 25.94% (359 votes)



Total Votes: 1,384

Danny Salazar had another rehab start tonight.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Danny Salazar (W, 1-0) 5.0 2 0 0 2 7 0 0.00

His only successful rehab start to date, and it was in short season NYPL A ball. Thank God he done well here, or his next start might have been in the Dominican Summer League against teenagers.

TONIGHT AT 7:30
ON MLB NETWORK:

'The Dynasty That Almost Was': Documentary showcases the heroics, heartbreak of the '90s Cleveland Indians

By Zack Meisel, cleveland.com

zmeisel@cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Until some other Tribe team captures that elusive Commissioner's Trophy, the '90s Indians will remain the modern-day standard.

And even then, it might prove impossible to nudge that era from its pedestal.

Those teams are eternally adored, yet not free from fault. Time has made almost any individual associated with that period an icon, yet time has also exacerbated the group's lack of a championship.

It's difficult to shake that comforting nostalgia when recalling one of Albert Belle's moon-orbiting blasts or Kenny Lofton's Spiderman-like scaling of the center-field fence. It's difficult to wrap your head around how a doormat of a franchise, with a small, mostly apathetic following, and an abandoned cavern of a stadium, could so quickly blossom into the must-see show and the hottest destination in town.

The Indians quickly became larger than life. But it's difficult to consider what they accomplished, how much fun they had doing it and how much fun was had by those who watched them without also lamenting the lack of a title.

MLB Network will air its documentary, "The Dynasty That Almost Was," at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. For Clevelanders, it will evoke a series of emotions. Many who viewed a screening at Progressive Field a few weeks ago walked away with tears in their eyes, smiles on their faces, or both.

Corbin Bernsen, who played Roger Dorn in "Major League," narrates the tale of a franchise that ditched its role as doormat on its way to annual World Series contender status. But no film can cover the '90s Indians without highlighting a heavy dose of heartbreak.

It's far from an unfamiliar saga for Indians fans, but the film does offer some fresh perspectives in between episodes of amusement and sorrow.

The documentary displays never-before-seen, eerie footage of the Indians' clubhouse during the late stages of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. There's the trophy and the champagne, the plastic sheets hanging from each locker, a group of antsy team staff members and reporters watching Jose Mesa slug through the ninth inning.

Of course, there's plenty of more pleasant clubhouse footage. Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga and Mesa -- an impressive get by the producers, especially considering he criticizes Mike Hargrove's Game 7 meddling and revisits his feud with Omar Vizquel -- sing Montell Jordan's popular hit, "This Is How We Do It," more than 20 years after they shouted the lyrics during champagne celebrations.

The documentary revisits the 1995 season, one defined by comeback wins, a lethal lineup and the club's first postseason berth in 41 years. Members of the organization offer frank opinions of the strike zone during the World Series matchup against the Braves, with detailed footage of some of the calls to support their claims.

The story peaks with the downtown Cleveland parade, thrown even after the team fell short in the Fall Classic. Everyone assumed it would be the Indians' turn the next year. Or the year after that. Or the year after that.

It wasn't. The documentary's title includes the word "almost," after all.

Belle refused the producers' requests for an interview, though he did grant them permission to use one quote, which he delivered in a surly voicemail that will leave viewers' eyes wide. Belle wasn't thrilled with how John Hart operated the franchise after 1995. Hart responds with his vantage point on the topic in an agonizing, somewhat chilling, yet fitting, scene. He even details potential blockbuster trades that fell through that would have landed the Indians a long-desired ace atop the rotation.

Hart was always tinkering with the roster. Baerga shares his thoughts on his departure from Cleveland. Lofton discusses the deal that relocated him to Atlanta.

It might be revisionist history to saddle the front office with all of the blame for the team's ultimate shortcomings. That same group must be credited with transforming an embarrassment of a franchise into a force.

That said, there will always be finger-pointing. Fond memories and finger-pointing.

It's bewildering how an era can be simultaneously defined by delight and disappointment.

Did I just hear right. Cubs traded their top two prospects for a guy who is having a mediocre season in Quintana?

We may just have to go with what we got. I wouldn't trade our top two prospects for starters available that are having better years.

I heard "CUBS acquire White Sox ACE Jose Quntana in Blockbuster Deal" Win 2nd world series in a row.

"In a stunning move the World Series Champion Cubs make the biggest trade of the season getting Dominant Ace." All other trades are paltry

"The Chicago White Sox have built their future in one fell swoop replinishing their farm system in what is knows as the trade of the Century"

Other cities with baseball teams did things but none of that matters because CUBS