Reimold talks about his surgery

After playing at times with pain for parts of the last two seasons, O's outfielder Nolan Reimold can now look forward to the 2010 season. One where he expects to be healthy, pain-free and not in the trainers room nearly every day. Reimold, who batted .279-15-45 in 104 games this year, underwent successful surgery Wednesday to repair the Achilles tendon in his left foot. "They told me everything went as planned. They shaved down the bump on my heel, that will give me some more room in there and stop it from rubbing. Also, they removed the fraying in there," Reimold said by phone Thursday night from his home near Pittsburgh. "Also, I had a bursa sac and they took care of that and also they injected some plasma to promote healing and everything went as planned, I should make a full recovery. "I don't know the exact timetable. But the full recovery process should take three to four months. Without any setbacks, I should be good to go for spring training." Reimold, who hit 24 homers this year in 135 games between Norfolk and Baltimore, said the Achilles first became an issue during the 2008 season, when he was with the Double-A Bowie Baysox. "The first time I remember it, we had a doubleheader in July last year at Bowie. After the first game I told the trainer my Achilles was killing me. He tried to tape it up and I went out and had to run back in, the tape job wasn't working. Ever since then I've been getting treatment and playing on it. "I've tried everything treatment wise. I had heel lifts in my shoe. I've done all the treatments, I took anti-inflammatory pills. I got high tops. I tried everything and it never went away. The surgery had to be done." Despite the injury Reimold impressed people with his speed and hustle. He did not have an MRI to determine the extent of the injury until this season. "It didn't affect my swing at all, I didn't feel it then. Running it impacted me. I think I'll be a better defensive player now in the outfield, I can now be more athletic. It probably affected me more on defense. A lot of times I was running on the side of my foot. "Sometimes I was on first base and it would be killing me. I'd get the green light to steal and there was no way I could run right then." At the time Reimold was placed on the DL, he led American League rookies in homers, on base percentage, slugging, walks and total bases. He may not win the Rookie of the Year award. But this was a year he earned a lot of respect in his clubhouse and showed everyone he could play in the Majors. "The season went better than I could have planned. I just wanted to make a name for myself." Reimold is on crutches for now and expects to see his doctor for a follow up visit in about two weeks.