Ann Killion: Giants lefthander Madison Bumgarner is contrite after his dirt-biking accident.
Madison Bumgarner, arm in a sling, looked at the mob waiting for him in the dugout.
The left-hander who isn’t afraid of anything took a deep breath, waded in and faced the music.
Speaking to the media for the first time since he injured his pitching shoulder in a dirt-bike accident Thursday, Bumgarner was contrite. He was, forgive the pun, bummed. He knows he screwed up.
“I realize that’s definitely not the most responsible decision I’ve made,” he said.
It wasn’t. Of all the dark and strange things that have befallen Bay Area sports teams in recent weeks, this one was the direct result of a decision. Injuries, illnesses and fastballs to the head are largely beyond control. But Bumgarner’s predicament
came because of a choice. A bad choice.
“He’s remorseful,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Our focus is on getting him back and putting it behind us.”
Bumgarner was nervous before he spoke. But for 15 minutes, he answered every question. He was forthright and honest, and that goes a long way toward forgiveness. Other athletes might — and many have — choose to lie about what happened.
“That’s just not who I am,” Bumgarner said. “If you’re going to do stuff like that, you’ve got to be honest about it.
“Obviously, that don’t make the fact of the matter any better. But that’s just not who I am. I didn’t see any reason to try to lie about it.”
On an off day, Bumgarner and two family members rented dirt bikes and headed about an hour outside of Denver to an area with trails. He said he wasn’t trying to blow off steam after the lousy start to the season. He wasn’t racing or even going particularly fast.
“I wish I had some kind of cool story for you, that it was some kind of crazy wreck,” he said. “But it really wasn’t anything spectacular. Just super unfortunate.”
The group was almost back to the truck after a couple of hours, when Bumgarner laid down the bike. He doesn’t know exactly what happened, but he knew from the pain in his shoulder and ribs that he was hurt.
“I had an idea something was wrong,” he said. “It certainly didn’t feel right.”
On the way back to the hotel, with a family member driving, he called Giants trainer Dave Groeschner. Together, they went to the hospital, where Bumgarner was treated.
He was scheduled for another MRI exam Monday night, which Groeschner said would give the team a better idea about how severe the injury is and how long Bumgarner will be out. For now, the valuable left arm is stabilized in a sling.
Bumgarner said he felt confident that there was no structural damage and didn’t think that he would need surgery. He believes he’ll be back this season.
“It’s hard to put a timetable on it, but I would certainly be disappointed if I wasn’t,” he said.
Bumgarner can’t remember ever having an injury — even in high school — so this is new territory for him. He has seemed indestructible, the man who can swing an ax, ride a horse, rope a bull and win a World Series almost single-handedly.
He also rides dirt bikes in the offseason. He knows his contract is full of restrictions about what activities he is allowed.
“I think there’s quite a bit of stuff in there,” he said, “but that’s probably not the first time I’ve made a stupid decision.”
He added that he didn’t think he previously had ridden during the season, given the limited opportunity.
Will there be a punishment? Besides having to talk to the media?
“He owned it,” Giants President and CEO Larry Baer said. “We have a lot of respect for how he’s handled everything over the years. I think as an organization, we move on.”
Bochy also sounded forgiving.
“This is a young guy — I get it,” Bochy said. “They still have to do some things they enjoy. There’s a fine line.”
The Giants have one of the best pitchers in the game, still under a relatively bargain contract. It’s unlikely they’ll punish the man who helped them to three World Series rings. Whether or not it impacts his nextcontract remains to be seen.
Bumgarner said his bosses have been supportive.
“They honestly couldn’t have been nicer to me or more caring than they were,” he said. “I was expecting the worst and rightfully so.”
Bumgarner spoke to his teammates over the weekend in Denver, owning his mistake.
“I think it’s pretty clear I don’t want to be in this situation,” he said. “I don’t want to put those guys in this situation.”
They still love him. In fact, being baseball players, they already can joke about it. On Monday, reliever Mark Melancon changed all the channels on the clubhouse televisions before Bumgarner came in.
What did he change them to?
Dirt biking, of course.