Randy Robinson, aka The RAM (The Wrestler), might take notes from Rocco Baldelli, the outfielder who just signed with the Boston Red Sox. Baldelli knows how to live with chronic illness and disabilities and keep working. And be successful.
Note to Ram: pick up the phone and call Rocco!
When Ram learns that he has life-threatening heart disease (which means that his career as a professional wrestler is life threatening), he tries to adjust. Which, in his mind, meant quitting wrestling and taking a full time job behind a deli counter.
Huh? Do you think working at a deli counter is a good job fit for a guy who has been a professional wrestler for 20 years? The guy clearly didn’t consult a career coach (lol). No surprise that he quit and went back to the only thing he knew, wrestling. The movie ended before he has a deadly heart attack.
Rocco Baldelli, a baseball player, spent several years not knowing what was wrong with him. He was unusually injury prone and didn’t recover as he should. “I’ve been tested for everything under the sun.” But they couldn’t figure it out. A first round pick in 2000 (meaning he was very, very good), he was only played 127 games a season for the Tampa Bay Rays.
He always said that he just want to keep on playing baseball as long as he can. According to Wikipedia, when he wasn’t offered a new contract with the Rays in April 2008, he had more medical consultations and took new medications and nutritional supplements that improved his condition.
There are different theories as to what he is living with. Some say mitochonrial syndrome. Others, CF. But the diagnosis isn’t the issue.
He didn’t let his disappointment and ego get in his way. He continued to work within the system by playing in the Rays minor league system. He was able to work his way back to playing for the Rays again and made an historic play during the World Series.
While his statistics improved, his medical condition prevented him from playing back to back games and he sometimes sat down to rest on the field during breaks in action! A major league baseball player showing that he has to make accommodations (work differently) but he can still contribute! Amazing, no?
He recently signed a one year deal with the Boston Red Sox which will allow him to play at a pace that he can manage. He’s not making the kind of money that he might have expected in 2000. Nor is he the star that he “might have been”. He wants to keep doing what he loves doing, playing ball, and getting paid for it. He’ can live with limitations.
Can you?
Diana says
Yes I can live with limitations and have for 15 years. When I was diagnosed with Lupus in 1993 I was on the fast track for becoming a senior administrator in the public library system where I worked and very active in ALA, our professional organization. After the diagnosis and recovery of many of my normal functions I had to realize that I would no longer be able to work at the pace at which I had previously excelled. Because of the unpredictability of my energy level and problems with memory, I chose to resign from committees rather than be seen as unreliable. I was left with only 50 – 75% of my former energy level (depending upon the day). I try not to dwell on the what ifs and am mostly content with what I have been able to accomplish.
Christina Gombar says
I think the important thing to stress in Rocco Baldelli’s case is that his employer co-operated with his health needs. This is a good public example — they were flexible with him, and he was able to deliver the desired results. Would that all employers would learn from that example!
Rosalind Joffe aka cicoach.com says
I have to disagree, Christina, about Rocco’s situation. The Red Sox were flexible in signing him only because he continued to keep his skills up as best he could — which made him desireable. And because he’s willing to be a team player and an asset in that way. He’s taken a salary cut and a positiion cut to do this. Yes, it shows foresight on the part of the Red Sox management but they’re doing it because it’s a good deal for them. We have to show that we can be a good deal for an employer and that means not over promising as well.
Christina Gombar says
Rosalind — As someone who worked in big, tough business environments for decades, I have to disagree. I proved my worth to my employer that I could deliver by telecommuting part-time many, many times over, out-producing and out-performing people who worked on-site in the office. I carried a heavy work load, never missed a deadline, won prizes and awards.
But executive privilege is just that. The whims of one manager can derail a the best chronic illness management/work strategy. One manager in my department took a very strong stand against telecommuting, because it was something every working mother wanted to do. Corporate politics are a huge factor.
I can only reiterate, as I have many times, that it takes a willingness on the part of management as well as super human effort on the part of the employee dealing with a chronic illness.
I was looking on the bright side in terms of Baldelli — he was only signed for one year, he is still no doubt facing the stigma of being a member of a team granted a less demanding schedule. But ten years ago, he would not have been granted these flexibilities. He simply would have been considered a failure, despite his talents and sporadic excellence, unable to sustain the stamina traditionally expected of a professional athlete.
It is important that both he and his employers are showing that people with unpredictable illnesses can be team players — even if their face time on the job is less than the norm.