The Kansas City Royals released Jackson last week because of a hip problem that the team doctor said made his return “uncertain.” By releasing him before the waiver deadline, the Royals relieved themselves of the obligation to pay all but one sixth of his $2.4 million annual salary. The L.A. Raiders said they fully expected Jackson to return as a running back. But no baseball team claimed Jackson, who as a Royals outfielder hit .272 with 28 home runs last season, off the waiver list. He is now a free agent, able to negotiate with any team that is willing to gamble on his future. One of the few optimists on the scene is Dr. James R. Andrews, a Birmingham, Ala., orthopedic surgeon who has treated Jackson, and, who seemed to imply that a few months’ rest might restore the patient to his role of dual threat. But remarks made by other doctors who had seen the Royals medical report had an ominous tone, saying Jackson’s real problems were a loss of cartilage and a deterioration of the femur, the bone in the thigh. Jackson wouldn’t return to either sport unless his recovery takes “a miraculous course,” says Dr. Clement B. Sledge, a specialist in hip surgery at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Things started to go wrong on Jan. 13, when Jackson sustained what was described as a “fracture dislocation of the left hip” in a play off game against the Bengals. The injury caused little comment the joint slipped back and Jackson hobbled off more or less on his own. Jackson’s agent, Richard Woods, insists the bone was never fractured, and that Bo is “excited about playing with a new baseball team.” But complications have obviously developed. Jackson never played with the Royals this spring; when he left camp, saying “I know deep down I’ll be back playing baseball this year,” he was still on crutches. Nike says it will stand by its man - not a tough decision since it must pay him about $5 million over the next two years anyway. Woods says he sees a silver lining: “All superheroes need a time when they are in trouble, so that they can emerge victorious.” Bo, though, needs to consider whether he has gone about as far as a body can go.
