This RiverCat hopes he has nine lives

Dallas McPherson hopes his time with the RiverCats this season will prove he can stay healthy.

His ankle rolled, so Dallas McPherson went along for the ride. The Sacramento RiverCats third baseman avoided a sprain after stumbling in the dugout Tuesday afternoon by taking a fall.  

All McPherson needs is another injury, especially after having already missed six weeks this season with a torn hamstring.

McPherson uses a dugout rail to stretch his back.

Once he landed, McPherson pulled in his left leg and extended his right to make it appear as if he had taken a seat on the dugout floor to stretch. That is nothing unusual for the 29-year-old veteran.

His teammates are accustomed to watching McPherson twist and turn whenever he has a spare minute. McPherson will do whatever it takes to preserve his back. His baseball future  depends on it.

Back problems have defined McPherson’s major-league career thus far. He was considered a phenom in 2005 when he made his debut with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who thought so highly of McPherson that they let Troy Glaus get away as a free agent.

McPherson never reached his potential with the Angels, however. His troublesome back would not allow him to do so. He missed the 2007 season after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disc.

The Angels’ faith in McPherson had run out, so he became a free agent and signed with the Florida Marlins. He spent 2008 at Triple-A Albuquerque and led the minor leagues with 42 home runs.

All that power was not enough, however, for McPherson to earn a second season in the Marlins’ organization. He was released March 31, 2009, and signed 10 days with the San Francisco Giants.

McPherson hangs out with Matt Watson during Tuesday's game.

His back ended his time with the Giants before it even began. Another season was lost to another surgery.

The Oakland A’s signed McPherson to a minor-league contract last November. He hopes his time with the RiverCats will prove he can stay healthy and result in a long-awaited return to the major leagues.

If nothing else, McPherson is again getting paid to pursue his passion. That will have to be enough for now.

“(Being out) last year was easier because I already learned a lesson. In ’07, I learned how much I loved baseball,” McPherson said after Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to the Tacoma Rainiers at Raley Field.

Missing last season forced McPherson to start thinking about his life after baseball. He finished his degree in operational management at The Citadel, which he left after his junior year in 2001 when the Angels drafted him.

“I was planning for the next step of my life. I did a lot of planning for the future, but I always knew I wanted to play again,” he said. “But it did cross my mind that it might not work out for me.”

His career has not worked out as he had hoped, but McPherson refuses to play the game of “what ifs.”

“I haven’t been the player I thought I was going to be and people thought I was going to be,” he said. “There’s no guarantees in this game. I don’t take anything for granted now because it was taken away from me.”

His confidence has never vanished. McPherson is batting .291 with seven homers and 32 RBI in 30 games this season. He knows he has what it takes to play as long as his body cooperates.

“When I’ve been healthy, I’ve put up numbers. I want to prove I can stay on the field,” he said. “There have been questions about me, and I finally want to answer them.”