With health at risk, Koskie calls it quits

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Even if it was for just a couple of weeks, baseball and the Cubs allowed Corey Koskie to escape from his "personal jail."

Happy at least to have that, Koskie called off his comeback Saturday morning.

During a half-hour conversation with writers who cover the Cubs, the 35-year-old third baseman said he came to the conclusion that the risk of coming back from post-concussion syndrome wasn't worth any reward.

"I wanted to get back out there," said Koskie, a former star with the Minnesota Twins who signed a minor-league contract with the Cubs three weeks ago. "I wanted to play. It might have been a little too soon. I might not have been prepared. Really, is it worth it? Is it worth the risk to go out there and play a couple more years versus having the rest of my life, living a normal life? That's one of the biggest questions with a concussion because you try to minimize your symptoms, and you always feel you can do it.

"I know I can go out there and do it. But there is a little more head risk. Is it from my neck? Is it from my head? Is it really worth the risk to go out there and find out?"

Koskie had not played baseball since the middle of the 2006 season, when he suffered a concussion while with the Milwaukee Brewers.

After signing with the Cubs on Feb. 28, this native of Manitoba joined Team Canada for the World Baseball Classic.

He rejoined the Cubs last week and went 1-for-5 in three games, including a booming double against the Dodgers in his first at-bat on St. Patrick's Day.

Koskie started at third base Thursday against the Mariners and fielded a couple of groundballs flawlessly and batted twice.

However, he took himself out of the game in the third inning after diving for another grounder.

"I'm fine," he said. "After that play, I just thought, 'What am I doing out here?' Whether I got the wind knocked out of me a little bit, I did feel a little funky after it. I don't think it was a concussive event. But I did feel a little funny, whether it was the heat, because it was hot out there. I know I didn't drink enough water. Whether it was a little dehydration, but one thing I do know is that after the play, in the clubhouse after, I was thinking, 'What am I doing?' "

As serious as Koskie was about baseball, he had even more weighty matters to deal with last week. Of all things, they centered around a concussion.

"Sunday night, I spent the night in the hospital with my second (child), Joshua," he said. "He got a concussion. He fell and hit his head. About 21/2 hours later, he started throwing up. So we rushed him to the hospital.

"I'm thinking I've got a 6-year-old kid, and I'm just a baseball player. He needs to get a CT scan. - He ended up getting the CT scan and everything came out fine. He had a Grade 2 concussion."

If Koskie doesn't make another comeback attempt, he finishes as a .275 career hitter in 989 games with Minnesota, Toronto and Milwaukee. He hit 124 homers, including 26 in 2001 and 25 in 2004.

After suffering the concussion, he said he wasn't himself for 21/2 years.

"I was in la-la land," he said. "I was in jail. Really, I was in a personal jail. I had trouble going out. I had trouble going to malls. I couldn't go to a movie theater. I couldn't watch TV. I couldn't play with my kids. Everything was very limited because I felt sick all the time."

He said he began feeling better in January after seeing some of the top specialists in the field. If there is anything he got from his short comeback, it's that he got to play baseball again. He also had high praise for the Cubs' medical staff and front office because he said they cared about him as a person.

"Is it really worth the rest of your life to go out and play a couple of years at the big-league level when you've got three young kids at home?" he said "You've got a wife. You've got a healthy family. You're able to spend the rest of your life with them.

"To leave with almost a good feeling, that's one of the things, to be able to turn the page ... to be a part of the Cubs for two weeks and just to feel good about being part of an organization."