Archives: 2015

Art Shamsky was a member of the 1969 World Series Champion New York Mets, and is a recent SPEAR Physical Therapy patient. In this exclusive video interview, SPEAR President, Dan Rootenberg (also a former professional baseball player) gets to hear from this Miracle Met about the differences in professional-level performance in the 60s and 70s versus today. (Spoiler Alert: Physical Therapy has resulted in dramatic performance improvements.)

Dan: Hi, I’m Dan Rootenberg, Owner and Co-founder of SPEAR Physical Therapy, and we’re here having a conversation with Art Shamsky of the 1969 Miracle Mets.

Art, we’re really happy to have you here. Maybe you could tell us a little bit about what that year was like for you.

Art: Well, the only thing you missed in the intro, Dan, was that it was the Miracle World Champion New York Mets. And the year was fantastic. There’s no doubt about it. We’re coming up on a big anniversary very soon. It changed my life when we won the World Series on Oct. 16, 1969. My life really changed and I’m still in New York because of it.

Source: ArtShamsky.com

I feel like all of us that were part of that team, our names will live on forever. I always tell people it wasn’t the best team to win the World Series, but it certainly was the most memorable. The cast of characters that were together, the fact that the New York Mets for many years even before I came over from the Cincinnati Reds were known as the Lovable Losers. Nobody ever thought we could win a division—that was our first year of division play—and certainly win the pennant and then the World Series against a terrific Baltimore Orioles team.

It was an incredible time of my life and people today still talk to me about that team. Also remember that particular year, the New York Jets won Super Bowl III in January, we won the World Series in October and the New York Knicks won the NBA championship in May of 1970. So you have three teams winning World Championships all for the first time in their history. That period of about 15 months in the City which was going through some awful times, with the social unrest and political upheaval and a war in Vietnam that was tearing the country apart, these three teams were brightening the spirits of many New Yorkers. For me to be part of that “trifecta,” as I call it, was very, very special.

Dan: So you came up with Cincinnati. And you had a pretty well-known roommate. What would you say it was that made Pete Rose the player that he became? Because when you look at him, he doesn’t look like he would be the best athlete. He doesn’t look like he would be the guy that ends up with the most hits in Major League history. So what was it about him that was so special?

Art: When we first played together back in our first year in 1960, he really couldn’t do anything but run hard to first base after a walk. He had trouble in the field, he had trouble hitting, he was just a hustler and really determined.

Source: metsfansforever.com

Then the next year they kept him back in Class D to work on his skills and then we were together again in 1962 in Macon, Georgia, and the next year he was in the Big Leagues, Rookie of the Year 1963. He had developed his skills in a period of about two years to really work on things that helped him become a better player. And he was really versatile–he played All Star in four or five different positions in the big leagues.

But there really wasn’t a big secret about his success. He worked hard at it and I think it’s very important to understand he stayed relatively healthy all of his career and that was my particular case, as well.

You know I’d have these periods when I was out on the disabled list because of a back injury and if you’re not healthy, you’re not playing every day to get in the continuity of the game. He stayed healthy for all those years and was able to put up the numbers and knew that he was going to be playing every day. It was just determination and wanting to be the best that he could be.

Dan: Maybe we can talk specifically about the ‘69 Mets team. Were there any injuries that year for you or your teammates that might have occurred that year?

Art: I came up in the era of professional baseball where it’s a little different than it is now. The trainers and techniques and equipment and treatment that they would give players is totally different than it is now. I had a couple of operations on my left hand due to baseball…and of course I had a really bad back that I injured in 1969 which cost me the first month of the season on the disabled list.

Back then when you hurt your back— I went to various doctors and they told me it would be a year of recovery from an operation. And now they’ve got you walking the next day after an operation.

Back then when you hurt your back— I went to various doctors and they told me it would be a year of recovery from an operation. And now they’ve got you walking the next day after an operation. So my life went full circle that year not knowing if I was ever going to play again to being on a team that won the World Series.

Dan: How much guidance were you given back in that time with your back injury? How much did they help you?

Art: Well it’s interesting, when I hurt myself in Spring Training, when I went in and told the trainer I hurt my back, he said, ‘Do you think you can continue to play?’ And I was one of these guys who was always was going to say yes. You never wanted anybody to know that you were really hurt and you couldn’t play. I continued to play and I injured it more. So I took two aspirin and you know, we’ll see what would happen.

Source: NYPost.com

But back then there were team physicians and there weren’t specialists. So you dealt with a team physician who was basically an orthopedic surgeon and he treated you for whatever problems you had.

I remember they sent me to the hospital I would stick my hand in some wax paraffin and all I would do is put my hand in for about a second, take it out and then I’d end up with a big coating of wax on my hands. That was the only thing I did. I did no other physical stuff. Who knows how long it would have taken me if I would have had somebody like you working with me to strengthen my hand?

The second time I got operated on when I was playing minor league baseball, I missed a couple of months during the season. Who knows if I would have been back two or three weeks later? Instead of two months, it might have been one month.

But the physical care that you get now with physical therapy and doctors’ care and the medicines that they have now I think is so much more in tuned to longevity in somebody’s career and certainly if it’s not a professional athlete, somebody who is going to be physically fit and be able to go back to work faster or lead a normal life faster. It’s not only limited to professional sports, you know. People have lives to live.

Dan: Were pitchers babied as much back then as they are today regarding pitch counts and how much rest between starts? What was it like back then?

Art: I think the pitchers were babied but they still made them throw many more complete games back when I played in the big leagues. They were counting pitches, but it wasn’t so specialized that they forced pitchers to leave games if they reached a certain level. They just wanted to be on top of it.

You know, it’s interesting. When I was playing they didn’t wasn’t us to lift weights, and now every locker room has a weight room. It’s so specialized—you have a dietitian, you have a physical therapist on call, you have all these specialists which I think absolutely helps the players.

Pitchers back then just iced their arms down after the game. Ice afterwards and then maybe a rub down by a trainer just to stretch it out, and now it’s totally different. You’re cared for in a much more specialized way.

I think the difference today is that players are much more in tune with making sure that they’re physically okay so they can have a longer career. And the teams that have invested all this money in the players are making sure that they’re getting the best care possible.

You also have to understand that professional sports teams have a much higher investment in players in terms of dollars and cents that that’s why they specialize so much more in terms of treating. Also back when I played, they really only wanted you to see their own team physician and now players have their own traveling people coming with him sometimes, whether it be acupuncturists or physical therapists.

Also you have to remember when we stopped playing ball we weren’t making any money so we had to do other things in the winter and that was either to work or just do something to make some extra money. I think the difference today is that players are much more in tune with making sure that they’re physically okay so they can have a longer career. And the teams that have invested all this money in the players are making sure that they’re getting the best care possible.

Dan: When you hit, concentration and focus, as you know, is really such an important aspect of being able to lock in on a pitcher. How much of that is affected if you have an injury?

Art: Hitting is all about concentration and focus. If you’re not zeroed in on that pitcher and you’re not thinking about trying to hit the ball hard somewhere, the pitcher’s right on top of you. In the big leagues they’re throwing 95 miles an hour or whatever it might be, and he’s not 60 feet, 6 inches from you. After he let’s go of the ball, he’s less than that. So you have to focus. And whenever you have an injury or are even thinking about anything else when you’re up trying to hit, it’s almost impossible.

It’s the kind of thing where you have to feel mentally alert and focused. I always tell young kids that I work with that concentration, balance and a comfortable stance are three of the most important things in hitting—and concentration is probably right at the top. If you’re not focused on watching that ball come out of the pitcher’s hand, you’ve got basically no chance.

Dan: Is there any other advice you would give to young people today, or kids, or even athletes that are trying to make it in today’s game?

Art: If you’ve got any aspirations of going to higher levels, whether that be from Little League to high school to American Legion to professional baseball – and I’ll use baseball as an example because I’ve done it and I know it – I think it starts with the basic premise that you have to work at it from a physical standpoint in terms of developing your skills and concentration when you play. Understand that baseball is a game of percentages and you’re still going to fail more than you succeed. You’re still going to be a star, so to speak, if you get three hits in 10 at-bats.

Nobody ever said to me, well you should start watching what you eat because that’s going to have a direct effect on you as you grow older and later in life. You need to be working out three or four or five days a week developing your upper body and your lower body, just working on things that are going to make you stronger.

But there are other things that have to come into consideration. It’s taking care of yourself, its dieting, its exercise—it’s all the things that nobody ever talked to me about when I was a kid. We went out and played baseball and that was it. Nobody ever said to me, well you should start watching what you eat because that’s going to have a direct effect on you as you grow older and later in life. You need to be working out three or four or five days a week developing your upper body and your lower body, just working on things that are going to make you stronger.

But if you’ve taken care of yourself and you’ve done the things that are going to make you the best that you can be physically, any injuries will heal faster and they’ll be able to get you back on the field faster than ever before.

At the same time, with physical therapists like yourself helping that process along with the techniques that you know, with the modern machinery, the modern techniques that help somebody come through an operation or what have you. That combination of your help—a physical therapist’s help—and their ability to have taken care of themselves up to that point physically is certainly going to make the process that much faster.

Dan: Thank you so much. It’s really been great having you.

Art: It’s always a pleasure. Thanks for taking care of me with my injuries.

SPEAR was recently pulled in by the recovery story of one of our dedicated patients, competitive sailor Glen Dickson. And we weren’t the only ones inspired to write about him; his recent sailing win at the 2015 Eastern E-scow championships was covered in a local upstate New York newspaper, the Jamestown Post-Journal.

A deep and abiding love for sailing took hold of NJ native and freelance journalist Glen Dickson when he was little more than a toddler, and has kept him afloat ever since. As a teen and an adult, he has raced both lasers (single-handed dinghies) and E-scows (flat-bottomed boats designed for 3-4 people) at the national level, even winning a national E-scow championship in 2010.

The inevitable x-ray and MRI indicated a complete tear of his scapholunate ligament, an injury frequently seen in athletes (gymnasts, boxers) who cause trauma to their hands and wrists.Now in his forties, sailing is still a key element of his identity. So in April 2014 when he felt a pop in his left wrist during a practice sail, Glen brushed it off —taping the wrist, popping Aleve, and living with the pain.

Glen Dickson, SPEAR and HSS patient who’s back to Championship sailing form.

Having committed to race the summer season, Glen was eager to get his wrist back in sailing shape, but the odds were poor for a full recovery. One doc told him some 75 percent of scapholunate repairs fail, and that arthritis and significantly reduced range.

“None of this sounded good,” Glen recalls. “I was 43…and was planning on sailing small boats hard for at least another 20 years—if not another 30 or 40. This was not really acceptable.”

A second opinion promised better range of motion, and Glen was prepared to sign on for surgery when his insurance changed. At this point, he had done a journalist’s research, and he knew what path to take. He sought the expertise of Dr. Steve K. Lee, Associate Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS).

New Procedure is Game Changer

HSS’s Dr. Lee, who developed the cutting-edge SLAM procedure and performed it on Glen.

For several years, Dr. Lee had been performing a cutting-edge procedure called the SLAM method. It is similar to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair of the knee, using a tendon from the arm and a screw that Dr. Lee himself developed, plus two pins to keep everything in place while the tendon graft heals. Glen consulted with Lee, and to his great relief, the surgeon confirmed he was a candidate for the SLAM.

He finally underwent surgery on January 7, 2015, and wore a cast for the six weeks following. Having his arm immobilized proved wearisome for the always active sailor.

“Every day life was pretty hard,” he says. “I have a four-year-old that I take to preschool and pick up every day. Getting his snow boots on with one arm all winter was pretty frustrating. In the beginning, I just had this atrophied little monkey arm that I couldn’t really do anything with.”

Once the cast was removed, Glen’s former PT from a previous shoulder injury introduced him to Phaeleau Cunneen, Certified Hand Therapist at SPEAR Physical Therapy’s 44th Street location. They began their work together, taking it slow due to the splint and the pins in his hand. Once the pins were out, Glen worked like an animal—three-four times a day—both with Phaeleau and at home.

Phaeleau recalls Glen’s dedication to healing. “He showed up early, stayed late, did his exercises. He had a goal. He wanted to get back to sailing this year by the time the season started.”

Glen concurs. “I was planning to be back sailing by June come hell or high water. We had a good year last year. We won Easterns [for the E-scow]. And we were coming back this summer, sailing for a skipper who was 60 years old and going for his eighth Eastern title. It was kind of a big deal to come back and try to win that again. I was committed.”

In Dr. Lee’s experience, dedication to recovery makes all the difference. Only one-third to one-half of all SLAM Axis patients experience full recovery.

Only one-third to one-half of all SLAM Axis patients experience full recovery.

“You have to have the right person,” says Lee. “There are patients you can tell are motivated and want to get better. That has a lot to do with recovery, the person’s psyche.”

Glen rehabbed with Phaeleau twice a week from March through May, always with his eye on the prize. He credits the therapists at SPEAR for keeping the therapy fun and positive, and surprisingly creative.

For example, when Glen expressed to Phaeleau that he was worried about tearing his hands on the boat’s ropes, he suggested Glen bring in ropes to attach to the machines.

Glen loved this idea. “I started showing him what I did on the boat. One of the things I do is I hoist the big spinnaker, pulling on a line really hard and fast. So we hooked up the ropes and at first I could only pull 10 pounds with my left hand on the rope.

“By the time I left him, I was pulling 100 or 110 pounds hand over hand on a nautilus machine. That was in a span of a couple of months.”

Sailing to Victory

After getting the green light from Dr. Lee, Glen sailed again for the first time on Memorial Day, and played with his son in the ocean on the same weekend. He was rusty and weak, but happy to be back. By the end of July, he stopped therapy to avoid stretching the repair. The only reminder of the injury is a splint he wears when sailing. Aside from never putting weight on his open palm, Glen has no limitations in his everyday life.

On Aug. 7, Glen sailed the boat Showtime in the 2015 Eastern Class E-Scow Association championship on Chautauqua Lake in Lakewood, NY. He and his crew were defending champs in what turned out to be a surprisingly hard regatta with an unusual easterly wind on the bay.

“We did just well enough to win the regatta by one point,” Glen recalls. “We defended our title and our skipper [Erik Johnson] won his eighth title for the record.

“It was pretty gratifying after all the work I did in the winter,” says Glen. “I thought I was going to be the weak link this summer, but I’ve been okay.”

Glen and the crew of Showtime will compete again this month in the E-scow Nationals in Beach Haven, N.J. How does he see their chances this time? Given the way they’ve been racing this summer, he thinks they have a pretty good shot at the win. There is nothing to hold them back.

“The last couple of weeks of sailing I haven’t thought about my wrist at all,” says Glen. “I’m 44, so there are other things that are sore—but not my wrist.”

Elite athletes are experienced, dedicated and above all, goal oriented. The same can be said for Dr. Jeremy B. Crow, PT, Director of Clinical Education for SPEAR Physical Therapy. It is these defining characteristics that have him living his dream, volunteering at the training facility in Colorado Springs.

Not content to be an athletic trainer for the football players at Division One Florida State University, or an intern for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jeremy had his eye on the ultimate prize: to treat the top athletes in the world. He submitted a detailed application outlining his sports therapy credentials, and was selected from a national pool of PT hopefuls for two intense weeks at the USOC (United States Olympic Complex) training facility, where he arrived on Aug. 30. What made him shine among the many applicants? His breadth of experience working with seriously impressive athletes.

“I’ve had so much experience at all different levels of on-the-field coverage,” explains Crow. “If you work with professional athletes, then you know how to speak to them, how to handle them, how not be intimidated by them. I’ve had that experience, so I fit right in.”

“If you work with professional athletes, then you know how to speak to them, how to handle them, how not be intimidated by them.”

After only a few days into his assignment at the Colorado Springs Training Center, the gig had already surpassed his wildest dreams.

“I’ve learned so much,” Crow explains. “There are massage therapists, there are chiropractors, there are athlete trainers—there’s a whole interdisciplinary team, and I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from all of them. In terms of my growth as a professional, it has been huge.”

At the Olympic Training Facility, Crow is one of three physical therapists (two on-staff and him the lone volunteer) servicing some 100 athletes. His time is split between the training room—doing injury and post-surgery rehab—and the field, where he takes care of anything that comes up for the athletes. One day, for example, he was with the Men’s Greco-Roman Wrestling team. “When I was there, somebody cut his chin, so we cleaned it up. Someone else needed his ankle taped. Another athlete had cramps so we stretched him. When we’re at practice with them, we’re there whenever someone needs anything.”

When he’s not hard at work, life at the training camp is quiet.  He’s living communally with the athletes, sharing their dorms (his first roommate was an Orthopaedic surgeon from New Hampshire; his second, a doctor from North Carolina) bathrooms, and cafeteria. “The teams that live here—they eat, train and live together. They would be college kids, but this is their college.”

“The teams that live here—they eat, train and live together. They would be college kids, but this is their college.”

He has been impressed across the board with the character of the athletes he has worked with. These are the best athletes in the world, but there are no divas among them. Instead, Crow has found them to be approachable, humble and extremely appreciative of the job the therapists do.

Next Stop: Brazil

As amazing as this experience has been, Crow is looking ahead to the natural next step: being selected for the Summer Games in Brazil.

To make it there, Crow must be armed with a clinical skillset. For new techniques to enhance his offerings, Crow is inspired by Heather Linden, DPT, one of the USOC staff therapists. “From a bag of tricks, so to speak, Heather does everything I want to do, including different manual techniques that I want to add to my tool box.”

“You hear it all day,” Crow adds. “The athletes come in and say, ‘What are your manual skills? What do you do?’ Fortunately I have a lot of manual skills. But the athletes are very picky, they know their bodies and they know what they want. They say, ‘I want this’ or ‘I want that’.”

For the most part, Crow has what they want, and has received numerous compliments from the athletes in whom he has instilled great confidence in just a few short days.

As for Crow’s fellow SPEAR therapists, they are extremely proud of Crow being chosen for the volunteer PT assignment in Rio, as well as the work he does back home in Manhattan.

SPEAR co-founder and President Dan Rootenberg says, “We feel very fortunate to have Jeremy. He’s one of the country’s most decorated physical therapists, and plays an important role at SPEAR as he unifies our clinical approach. He ensures that SPEAR utilizes the most innovative, cutting-edge and research-based approaches towards patient healing and performance.”

Rootenberg continues. “This collaborative and unique approach was clearly recognized as Jeremy was selected to work with the most elite athletes in world at the US Olympic Training Facility.  We are very proud of all that Jeremy has accomplished and feel that the value-add to our patients going forward will be tremendous. Who doesn’t want to be treated like the world’s greatest athletes when they get injured and want the best way to bounce back to health?”

“Who doesn’t want to be treated like the world’s greatest athletes when they get injured and want the best way to bounce back to health?”

As for Crow, stay tuned to see if Brasil becomes a reality. One thing we know for sure: if he makes it there, his professionalism and commitment will make him an indispensable asset for those with dreams of achieving Gold.

Related: Click to read about NYC's Olympic fencer, Nicole Ross >

On one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer (with a heat index of over 100 degrees), thousands of athletes awoke hours before dawn to participate in the 15^th annual Panasonic NYC Triathlon. The race held this past Sunday began with a 1500M swim in the Hudson, and then athletes transitioned to a 40K bike along the Westside Highway, before completing a 10K run through Central Park.

This particular event holds special significance with the SPEAR team.

Our own Director of Operations, Ryan Kitzen, who participated this year, proposed to his wife at the finish line of his first NYC Triathlon in 2009. And with fifteen SPEAR patients also participating, the satisfaction of reaching that red carpet at the finish was all the more sweet. The SPEAR team was also present at the finish line, volunteering to aid athletes post-race with various injuries and needs.

“Participating in the NYC Triathlon allowed me to relate even better to my patients and it makes me a better clinician. Having gone through physical therapy last year, following back surgery in 2013, the opportunity to get in the water and on the road with patients we’ve treated mere months ago, knowing what they’re going through, running alongside them, and finishing with them, makes the experience even more rewarding than finishing it alone,” Kitzen says.

Completing this race has truly brought Kitzen’s professional and personal life full-circle, proving the necessity and success of physical therapy in the most real way.

As a Manhattan-based company serving New York City, we enjoy volunteering locally with the community who has supported us. Our team volunteered at the finish, offering water, assisting with heat stroke prevention, taping joints, and stretching athletes out after the grueling race. Staff Physical Therapist at SPEAR’s West 57^th location, Joe Martinez, with an assortment of Manhattan medical professionals, was with athletes as they completed the race, taping up ankles and knees, stretching out sore muscles, and ensuring athletes were well hydrated.

“As a physical therapist and a runner, I enjoyed volunteering at the event. Interacting with the athletes and being able to help, alongside the others in the medical tent was exciting, especially as each big wave of finishers came through. The whole operation went smoothly, even with the flurries of athletes. Each athlete was properly attended to for their specific needs,” Martinez says.

With a reputation as sports medicine specialists, at SPEAR we don’t take lightly the opportunity to help high-performance athletes train and perform better to accomplish their goals and excel. The most difficult aspect of training for and participating in a triathlon or any multi-discipline race is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. The task as a whole can seem overwhelming.

Coupled with physical health, taking one task at a time versus looking at it as a whole is the key. The mental is oftentimes more difficult than the physical. And it is important to us to support both. As physical therapists, athletes come to us with goals (which sometimes they believe are unachievable), and we are able to be a part of their journey to better physical health and strength, which ultimately allows them to achieve those goals.

“Watching patients complete the NYC Triathlon, knowing their struggles and the intense amount of work they put into training is so rewarding,” says Kitzen.

At SPEAR, we see all types of triathletes; athletes interested in beginning triathlon training who are working with existing injuries, those who realize injuries during training, and recovery after triathlons. The extensive training involved puts the body through so much physically and mentally. Part of the sport is getting yourself to the start line. And we aim to be a part of the journey through the finish line.

Below is a personal letter from SPEAR’s co-founder Dan Rootenberg, whose childhood friend, Alex Hanan, was recently struck with the shocking news that he has Stage 4 lung cancer. Dan and the team are stretching their physical comfort zone this summer to raise funds for Lung Cancer research in Alex’s honor.

I have known Alex Hanan since our college days.

We spent many summers in our 20’s playing basketball on the Manhattan Beach courts in Brooklyn. We always had a friendly yet extremely high(er than necessary or recommended) level of competition. We played those one on one half-court games by the beach as if it was overtime of game seven in the NBA finals.

I’m not sure why it mattered so much, but we both may have had something to prove, mostly to ourselves.

I wonder if 20 years later after hearing from my old buddy the news of his lung cancer diagnosis, if that inner strength, refusal to give in attitude is serving my dear friend well.

Alex is an inspiration to his friends and family. As rocked as I was hearing from Alex what he was facing, I am doubly blown away by his response. Alex’s courage, positivity and inner fortitude are nothing short of extraordinary.

I want to do whatever I can to help. This summer SPEAR Physical Therapy and I have dedicated the triathlon season, of which I am no natural, to raising money for finding new treatments for lung cancer. The money raised will go directly to the research of Alex’s doctor, Mark Kris at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Sometimes the games we play in our youth are practice for another greater challenge to come.  I look forward to another game of one on one on those sandy basketball courts with Alex, and I know that even today, neither of us will give an inch!

Keep fighting my friend!

Click the logo below or here to donate on behalf of Alex, Dan & SPEAR.