The St. Paul Saints have resigned the reigning American Association Player of the Year, Vinny DiFazio. DiFazio, who hasn’t had your typical route through professional baseball, spent the majority of his career in the Texas Rangers organization. Prior to being drafted, he encountered health problems that nearly derailed his career before it got started. In the midst of his first year at the University of Alabama, DiFazio was recovering from knee surgery. During that time he also encountered pain in his shoulder, a pain he told his dad, he’d never encountered before. A trip to the doctor would change his life forever.
Early on the medical staff suggested Lou Gehrig’s disease. They had an extremely difficult time determining what was causing the pain. Prior to his knee surgery, DiFazio received a tetanus shot that was never recorded in his medical records. An adverse reaction to the shot almost ended his career. It turned out to be Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, also known as brachial neuritis, which paralyzed him from the neck to the waist. The syndrome affects 1.64 out of 100,000 people.” Finally, after two years of rehab he returned to ‘Bama and was eventually drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 12th round of the 2009 MLB June Amateur Draft.
