So as I was listening to the first part of the game tonight, I heard Vin mention that Chad Billingsley is having a form of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy to help his ailing elbow.  I happen to know a little about PRP, as I’m set to undergo the procedure myself in just under two weeks.  Important note: I am NOT a doctor…this is a layman’s assessment of PRP for the purposes of this blog post and nothing more.

For me, I have a degenerative tendon in my knee that just isn’t healing through traditional physical therapy.  I also love to run, and being in my early 40s and not able to do so just isn’t an option that I want to consider right now.  Fortunately my sports medicine doctor (who also happens to be a team physician for the Seattle Mariners) knows the PRP procedure, and we decided it was something to consider after much discussion.

Here’s what it is (per the info I’ve received from my doctor’s office): “PRP is an emerging treatment in a new health sector called ‘Orthobiotics.’ The philosophy is to merge cutting edge technology with the body’s natural ability to heal itself.  Blood is made of RBC (Red Blood Cells), WBC (White Blood Cells), Plasma and Platelets.  Platelets were initially known to be responsible for blood clotting.  In the last 20 years, we have learned that when activated in the body, platelets release healing proteins called growth factors.  There are many growth factors with varying responsibilities, however cumulatively they accelerate tissue and wound healing.”  With PRP, blood is drawn from the patient, “spun” until it’s rich in the good healing platelets, and then those platelets are injected back into the patient’s ailing part (in my case, my tendon).

Interestingly, PRP was initially used over 20 years ago in the dental field to enhance wound healing in cancer patients with jaw reconstruction.  Soon afterwards its applications extended across many fields of medicine from cardiovascular surgery to orthopedics.

It’s not a treatment that works 100% of the time (and it apparently hurts a lot), but it doesn’t take a lot of time, has a relatively quick recovery period when compared with surgery and is popular with many pro athletes.  In addition to Bills, I read today that David Ortiz is having a version of this treatment done.  Other athletes that are reported to have had similar treatments include Kobe Bryant, Rafael Nadal, Hines Ward, Alex Rodriguez and Tiger Woods, among others.  Jonah Lehrer at Grantland and Elizabeth Lopatto at BusinessWeek both wrote great overviews of PRP that I highly recommend.

Anyway, this is probably more information on PRP than you really wanted, but given Billingsley’s treatment and the popularity of it among pro athletes, I suspect it’s something we’re going to be hearing a lot about in the years to come.

Oh, and I’ll also keep you posted on my experiences with PRP in the coming weeks…it should be interesting!

Yesterday the CBS affiliate in Dallas had a great story on Bobby Patton, one of the five partners of Guggenheim Baseball Management that now own the Dodgers.

The piece has some detail on Patton’s life in Fort Worth, Texas, but what really comes through is that he seems like a regular family guy who loves his sports teams (he’s a lifelong Rangers fan, loves the Texas Longhorns and has Dallas Cowboys season tickets). There were two parts of the article that me smile and realize how refreshing this ownership group really is.  The first was when Patton asked if would have to pay for parking, or if there was some perk that came along with being an owner:

Perhaps the fact that, as a MLB owner, he can walk into any ballpark in the major leagues makes up for that.  That’s certainly a good perk but, ever the thorough businessman, he was curious about parking.

“I was a little bit embarrassed when I asked this question.  ‘What about parking?  Is there a parking aspect of this?’  A fella looked at me and said ‘Well, most of the owners usually have a driver’.  I was like ‘oh, well I knew that. I was just asking,” he says with a smile.

The other great moment was when he was offered one of Matt Kemp’s bats during a tour of Dodger Stadium:

At the heart of it, Patton is first and foremost a fan of the game.  The new owner was even reluctant to take home a souvenir from one of his first tours of Dodger Stadium.

“The clubhouse manager said ‘if you want to take a bat home to your kids you can.’  I was like ‘I can’t take Matt Kemp’s bat’ and he said ‘No, you really can.’”

His son and daughter now have Kemp’s and Andre Ethier’s bats hanging in their rooms.

All in all, it’s great to see an ownership group that has a little humility.  Can’t wait to see who Patton roots for if the Dodgers meet the Rangers in the World Series.

Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers 2012

If you’re a Dodger fan, you probably read Roberto’s stuff from time to time. There is no better person for sourcing Dodger appearances or discovering hidden gems of content out there than Roberto from Vin Scully is My Homeboy. He has some great videos up from the MLB Fan Cave with Matt Kemp talking about the story behind some of his tattoos, thoughts on working out, and more.

Read his post here and watch the videos