Osteoarthritis Threatens Diehard Fan’s Baseball Dreams

“Oh my gosh, I’m really here,” thought Sal Riccobene as he stepped onto the emerald green field, a grin stretching from ear to ear. It was the first day of fantasy baseball camp for the lifelong fan from Baltimore. He could scarcely believe he was wearing an MLB uniform, sharing the field with former greats and playing the game.

“My daughter and I would go to games together,” Riccobene says. “There was always a fantasy camp ad that would come across the screen, and I had always wanted to go.”

The dream he’d harbored for decades was finally a reality, thanks to a special Christmas present from his daughter. “I cried for about five minutes,” he says. “I've never gotten a greater gift.”

A spry 62 during his first fantasy camp, Riccobene continued to live out his weeklong baseball dreams for the next five years. But after COVID kept him from the field, his family history of osteoarthritis began to take its toll.

Benched By Arthritis

“As I'm getting older, I have had a fear that I would never be able to play ball again,” Riccobene, says. “When I moved down to the Orlando area, I found that my hips were starting to give me a problem.”

His disease progressed, and he was barely able to move without the aid of a walker. Even normal day-to-day tasks became difficult, let alone any fantasy of fielding ground balls from former major leaguers.

“They weren't the usual aches and pains that you wake up with at my age,” Riccobene says. “We were at a situation where I would sit down at dinner, and I couldn't get up. It was time to see a doctor about it.”

He asked his primary care physician about orthopedic hospitals, and she recommended Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute, which accepts walk-ins. I said, "Thank you very much. That's where I'm headed."

‘Really Rough Shape’

Renowned for its care of athletes of all ages and ability levels, including many of the area’s top professional athletes and teams, the Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute is home to the top orthopedic surgeons in the region, including Dr. Randall Rust.

“Sal, he's a great guy,” says Dr. Rust. “When he came in with hip pain, he was in really rough shape.”

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition that can occur in any of the body’s joints. The loss of articular cartilage, the smooth area that facilitates the joint’s movement, can make every move painful and severely limit a patient’s range of motion and quality of life.

“In Sal's case, he had severe arthritis in both of his hips, so it was very difficult for him to even walk. He came in on a walker; it hurt him just to get out of a chair,” says Dr. Rust, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. “He could barely walk down the hall with a walker. So it was obvious he needed a joint replacement surgery.”

Hip replacement is nothing new, but determination to get back on the field was certainly a novelty. With successive surgeries to replace both ailing hips on the schedule, Riccobene was eager to push his recovery as quickly as possible to step back in the batter’s box.

“Seeing him barely able to walk, I really did not know if he was going to be able to play baseball again. But I was obviously willing to help him try,” says Dr. Rust.

The Comeback Begins

Riccobene knew he’d have the best team surrounding him on his path to victory. "I chose Orlando Health because of their experience taking care of professional athletes,” he says. “I knew they would be able to take care of me, too."

Robotic surgery played a key role.

“One of the things that’s advanced hip replacement surgery more than anything has been robotic surgery,” says Dr. Rust. “It's really helped with the precision of the procedure, and I see it in my patients who are able to get up and get moving just like Sal at a very early time point.”

They weren't the usual aches and pains that you wake up with at my age. We were at a situation where I would sit down at dinner, and I couldn't get up. – Sal Riccobene

Riccobene praises the care and communication he got before and after surgery.

“It was like having a baseball coach, but I wasn't playing ball. It was the coach who was there to assist me with any single need that I possibly needed,” he says. “I've never experienced that anywhere prior to Orlando Health.”

Not one to wait around, Sal couldn’t wait to step back up to the plate. He asked Dr. Rush what his restrictions were, explaining, “I have to go play ball again.”

“He said, ‘You only have one: you're not allowed to slide. Other than that, you do as your body thinks that you can do.’ So that's exactly what I did.”

His rehab behind him, Riccobene is looking forward to returning to fantasy camp, grateful to everyone for helping him get back to doing what he loves.

“Thanks to Orlando Health, I was able to get back to normal again,” Riccobene says. “I could not give more thanks to the people who took care of me -- the doctors, the nurses, everyone involved has been amazing. Being able to get back out and do the things that I love again, is just incredible.”