Grady Sizemore and 4 other Cleveland stars who deserve second chances

If given the opportunity to give five Cleveland athletes a clean bill of health, these would be the choices.

What if you could give an athlete a clean bill of health? How would the ramifications affect the future of your favorite squad?

It’s a question FanSided’s Michael Dunlap posted on Twitter, which got me thinking about Cleveland athletes lost o injury/illness.

With the recent news that Jim Thome got into the Hall of Fame, it’s important to remember that talent alone won’t lift a player to the top of their craft. Athletes must be able to answer the bell day in and day out.

Some of its training, some of it’s luck.

For example, Bo Jackson was the epitome of the male physical specimen when what looked like a routine tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals ended his career.

You just never know when it’s going to end, so with that in mind, if I could give five Cleveland athletes a clean bill of health, these would be my choices.

Grady Sizemore, OF, Indians

Grady Sizemore was THE next big thing in baseball.

By the age of 2x, Sizemore was a three-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove winner and had finished no lower than 12th in MVP voting from 2006-2008.

The Indians identified the Washington state native as a key part of their future and made their signature move of buying Sizemore’s early free agency years, giving the then 23-year-old a six year contract worth just north of $23 million.

The Indians looked like geniuses for the early part of that contract, but then the njuries started in 2009 with Sizemore hurting his groin during Spring Training. He seemed to shake the injury bug until September, when he underwent surgery for an elbow injury that had bothered him since Spring Training.

The beginning of the end came in 2010 though, when after 33 games, Sizemore had micro fracture surgery on his left knee. He wouldn’t play again until April 17, 2011. Two injuries to his right knee landed him on the DL twice that season, and then he needed sports hernia surgery.

The Indians declined his team option for 2012, but after Sizemore talked to some other teams, he returned to the Tribe, signing a one-year, $5 million contract.

Sizemore never played another game for the Indians and didn’t return to MLB until the 2014 season when he played for both the Red Sox and Phillies. He finished his career in 2015 with the Rays.

Brad Daugherty, C, Cavs

With the first pick in the 1986 NBA Draft, the Cavs selected University of North Carolina center Brad Daugherty. By also nabbing second-round pick Mark Price from the Mavericks, Cleveland had transformed its franchise from the disaster that was known as the early 1980s.

Daughtery delivered on being the No. 1 pick, garnering All-Rookie recognition during his first season. He made five All-Star teams during his first seven seasons was named All-NBA during the 1991-1992 campaign.

Back trouble did Daughtery in, limiting the big man to 50 games during the 1993-1994 season.

Had he stayed healthy, who knows what could’ve been.

He would’ve been one of the elite big men in the game at the time of Michael Jordan‘s retirement when center’s could still make a difference.

Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Shaq were the three centers who reached the NBA Finals when Jordan was off playing baseball. The Cavs were an aging team, but if healthy, Daugherty probably would’ve had enough prime left in his career.

During his All-NBA season during the 1991-1992 season, Daugherty averaged 21.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

He ended his career averaging 19.0 points, and 9.5 rebounds.

Herb Score, P, Indians

Herb Score was hit by a line drive off the bat of Yankee Gil Mcdougall on May 7, 1957. Score broke his facial bones and injured his eye.

Many suspect this injury as the cause of Score’s decline, but you didn’t hear that from him.

After he returned from injury, Score told author Terry Pluto that he was feeling better than ever on bump.

It was hard to argue against the man, especially since score tossed two complete game in April of 1957, while allowing just four total runs and fanning 20.

But then he tore a tendon w hime throwing against the Washington Senators on April 30. He’d make just seven more appearances the rest of the season, according to baseball-reference.

As a result of the tendon injury, Score changed his pitching motion, and that, not the eye, is what derailed his career.

"“The reason my motion changed”, Score told Pluto, “was because I hurt my elbow, and I overcompensated for it and ended up with some bad habits.”"

As long as Indians baseball is played, Tribe fans will be asking What if? in regards to Score, a player Mickey Mantle called the toughest left-hander he had ever faced (pre-injury).

Jim Chones, C, Cavs

If Jim Chones doesn’t break his foot during practice ahead of the 1976 Eastern Conference Finals, whose to say the Cavs don’t knock off the Celtics and then storm to the NBA title?

After all, this was “The Miracle at Richfield” squad, which had defeated the heavily favored Wes Unsled led Washington Bullets.

That Cavs squad, which also featured beloved starts such as Austin Carr, Bingo Smith, Dick Snyder and Nate Thurmond took the Celtics to six games without Chones, who was averaging 15 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 block per game according to Cleveland.com.

Boston beat the Phoenix Suns in The Finals.

Unlike the rest of the players on this list, Chones’ career continued following his injury. He even picked up a ring as a member of the Lakers in 1980.

But undoubtedly, fans who witnessed the Miracle at Richfield will forever wonder how Cleveland would’ve played Boston had Chones been able to get on the court–and that includes Chones.

"“Chones, however, has said he was more confident that the Cavs could beat Boston than he was that they could defeat Washington,” according to Cleveland.com."

Chones is fourth in Cavs history with 450 blocks, and seventh in rebounds (3,790).

A case could be made for Zydruans Illgausksas in this spot, or Kyrie Irving for that matter, since his injury during the 2015 finals significantly altered the outcome of that series.

But to see that Miracle team win the title? That would’ve been something, and with Chones on the court, it might’ve been more likely than you think.

Ernie Davis, RB, Browns

Ernie Davis was going to be the next Jim Brown.

The Syracuse product was coming off a Heisman Trophy victory in 1961 and he seemingly had his entire life in front of him until receiving a leukemia diagnosis in 1962.

Davis had worn No. 44 while at Syracuse, just like his predecessor, Brown, did before him.

Now they were going to be a part of the same backfield for a franchise that rose to NFL prominence during the 1950s.

Davis never appeared in a regular-season game for the Browns, succumbing to his leukemia diagnosis on May 13, 1963. He appeared at an exhibition game in August of 1962 where he walked across the field under a spotlight, according to the Toledo Blade.

His acquisition put the relationship of owner Art Modell and then coach Paul Brown in an awkward light, to say the least.

Brown was accustomed to doing as he pleased with the roster. But Modell, the brash new owner, later told author Terry Pluto how he shared with Brown his desire to be consulted on matters of such magnitude.

Modell got on board with the trade because the public seemed to like it, according to Pluto, but the owner, and not Paul Brown, handled the contract negotiations–a first for Brown.

In 2007, a film titled, The Express, introduced Davis to a new generation of football fans who might’ve been unfamiliar with his story.

Davis was posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979. He rushed for 2,386 yards in three years at Syracuse.

Davis never appeared in a regular-season game for the Browns, succumbing to his leukemia diagnosis on May 13, 1963. He appeared at an exhibition game in August of 1962 where he walked across the field under a spotlight, according to the Toledo Blade.