His last start: 9 IP, 3 hits, 0 runs. All on a torn meniscus.
Johan Santana had surgery on his left knee, and had been playing through pain for the last month. He did not alert the team to the situation, nor know how bad the injury actually was, as he did not want to cause a stir.
I've been through this same injury, on my right knee. I haven't been able to find if they were able to sew the meniscus back together, or if they had to cut it out. For me, they had to remove the damaged part. The sewing back together led to a longer recovery time, so it's something we may be able to find out if he makes any appearances with the team.
Hopefully they repaired it, as any team would want their $137.5 million investment to be playing with all his normal body parts.
The pain of a torn meniscus is something you can cope with. It's a dull, stinging pain as you put pressure on the leg, at least where mine was torn. Walking was fine for me, but anything quicker than that, even a light jog, brought the pain back. I couldn't imagine what pitching must have been like. Ouch.
What a gamer. The more I know about Santana, the more I respect him. As David Lennon wrote, the "Santana legend grows."
