WEEKS' 2009 SEASON OVER: Former Southern standout slugger Rickie Weeks, currently the starting second baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers, off to the best start of his six-year Major League Baseball career, was lost for the rest of the season Monday because of a tear in his left wrist.

Weeks, who was hitting .272 with nine home runs and 24 RBIs, had a similar injury to his right wrist in 2006. He hurt himself while striking out Sunday in St. Louis. An MRI exam Monday in Arizona revealed the extent of the damage. He'll have surgery this week, with a recovery time of four to six months.

"We're going to miss the guy," Brewers' Manager Ken Macha said before Monday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. "He was having a tremendous year, a great start."

The Brewers had won 11 of 13 games and led the NL Central Division by 2 games Tuesday, recovering from a 4-9 start with Weeks as a catalyst.

"I was enjoying myself watching him play," Macha said. "This is one tough guy, a grinder, very intense. It's a shame."

Weeks' homer total ranked second among NL second basemen behind Philadelphia's Chase Utley, who had 10. Despite batting leadoff for the Brewers he was tied for the team lead in home runs, total bases (76) and runs scored (24) and was third in RBI (24).

General manager Doug Melvin said Weeks had a torn sheath, which keeps the tendon in place in his wrist, and will likely have surgery this week. Recovery time is four to six months and surgery is likely on Wednesday.

"Rickie was making progress. He was showing he could be the kind of player we all thought he could be," Doug Melvin said. "You feel bad for the team, but you feel bad for Rickie, too," he said. "He put so much work into it."

Melvin noted Weeks was on a pace to score 100 runs and have 100 RBIs this year. Weeks, the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft, had a career-high 46 RBIs last season, helping the wild card Brewers reach the playoffs for the first time since 1982. Weeks was hurt on his final swing in the first inning Sunday.

"I just felt a little pressure, a little tug on it," he said after the 8-2 win over the Cardinals.

Weeks missed the last two months of the 2006 season after undergoing surgery for a tendon injury to his right wrist. He was examined by Dr. Don Sheridan, who performed that operation as well as one on his left thumb in 2005.

At Southern, Weeks was a two-time SWAC Player of the Year and two-time all-American, while leading the nation in hitting in both seasons. He was the recipient of the Dick Howser Trophy, the Golden Spikes Award, the Rotary Smith Award and was named the Baseball America College Player of the Year following his 2003 season.

Weeks's former Southern teammate, Fred Lewis of the San Francisco Giants, is also off to a good start. Lewis, in his fourth season, is batting leadoff for the Giants while playing left field and is currently hitting at a .294 clip with nine doubles. He batted second for the first time on Friday night and had a double, his first home run and two runs scored against the New York Mets.

© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.

Return to Front Page