The injury

By Times Staff
Published May 22, 2006

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After the Bryan Bass situation, Scott Miller figured things couldn't get much worse.

He was wrong.

On April 4, ace Ryan Dixon had surgery to replace a torn labrum of his right shoulder, ending his season.

Dixon was a preseason All-American pitcher, according to Baseball America , but had been slowed by the injury in the early going in 2001. As the team's designated hitter, however, he still was devastating: 25 hits in 48 at-bats, with five home runs and 23 RBIs.

But because there was no guarantee that swinging a bat wouldn't make the injury worse, the decision was made to shut him down.

Dixon was a can't-miss pitcher as a kid, regularly hitting 94-95 mph in the late innings as a 16-year-old.

Medical advances have eased the recovery from elbow injuries, with Tommy John surgery now highly successful. The same can't be said of a torn labrum, which some teams now view as the more serious injury.

NOW: Dixon came back throwing in the low 90s, but he never was able to regain his earlier dominance. After two seasons at Miami, Dixon transferred to Stetson and served mainly as a reliever. In 2004, he was 4-6 with a 4.84 ERA; in 2005, he was 5-6 with a 5.42 ERA.

He signed with Johnson City (St. Louis Cardinals) after his senior season and was released after one season. He is currently playing for the New Jersey Jackals in the independent Can-Am League.