Three weeks after undergoing brain surgery, Brandon McCarthy stepped back onto a major league field Friday, accepting the A’s nomination for the Roberto Clemente Award, and he said he plans to resume throwing Saturday.
CSNBayArea.com has the quotes.
“Now I can be in the dugout. I can be around the game atmosphere again,” McCarthy said. “I think it’s really what I need to get my mind off everything.”
McCarthy said he still suffers from boths of “mild cloudiness” after he was hit in the head by an Erick Aybar liner on Sept. 5, but he’s feeling better every day.
“I try not to get down with anything,” he said. “It’s just the way my brain works, it tries to find the humor in anything.”
McCarthy has been ruled out for the rest of the season, even should the A’s make and go deep into the playoffs, but he intends to pitch next year and he hopes to be back in Oakland. He’s a free agent at season’s end, but he wants to stay.
“Going through something like this, where you see the reactions, not only from the fans and teammates, but the way the front office handled it was beyond first class,” he said. “It truly shows you the family system that’s in place. I’d like to be back here.”