Hard blows to the head are no long considered harmless. Doctors have discovered that traumatic brain injury is much more prevalent than we thought. Athletes who suffer repetitive blows to the head, footballers, rugby, soccer, to soldiers in war, those with epilepsy and suffer repetitive falls, can experience traumatic brain injury leading to lasting and permanent brain damage. My guest today is Dr. Brandon Foreman, a neurogurgeon at the U.C. Gardner Neuroscience Institute. We're talking today about one population of victims of brain injury that we haven't heard a lot about: domestic violence victims. Those who suffer repeated blows to the head are at risk of tbi... and if not treated, can lead to lifelong medical problems, from headaches to dementia, to suicidal thoughts.
Today, what happens when the brain experiences a traumatic injury, what symptoms to look for and how you should talk to your doctor.
Then, as the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day approached, we spoke with the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum's Executive Director Rick Walls about their new "Long Ball" exhibit, and with Perry Thacker, who organizes and runs the Vintage Baseball Team, 1869 Cincinnati Redstockings.
Click: U.C. Gardner Neuroscience Institute
Click: Reds Hall of Fame & Museum
Click: 1869 Cincinnati Redstockings Vintage Base ball
Today, what happens when the brain experiences a traumatic injury, what symptoms to look for and how you should talk to your doctor.
Then, as the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day approached, we spoke with the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum's Executive Director Rick Walls about their new "Long Ball" exhibit, and with Perry Thacker, who organizes and runs the Vintage Baseball Team, 1869 Cincinnati Redstockings.
Click: U.C. Gardner Neuroscience Institute
Click: Reds Hall of Fame & Museum
Click: 1869 Cincinnati Redstockings Vintage Base ball
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
At least a week on iHeart Sense. A lot of times this is underdiagnosed
or underrecognized. TBI. Traumatic braininjury is much more prevalent than we've previously
thought. Research is showing that athleteswho suffer repetitive blows to the head like
footballers, rugby soccer, even soldiersin war, those with epilepsy, can
experience traumatic brain injury TBI, leadingto lasting and permanent brain damage. My
(00:26):
guest today is doctor Brandon Foreman.He's a neurosurgeon and TBI expert at the
UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. We're talkingtoday about one population of victims of brain
injury that we haven't heard a lotabout. It's underdiagnosed domestic violence victims.
Those who suffer repeated blows to thehead and are at risk of TBI and
(00:47):
if not treated, can lead tolifelong medical problems from headaches to dementia,
to suicidal thoughts and more. We'lltalk today about what happens when the brain
experience is a traumatic injury, what'ssymptoms to look for, and how you
should talk to your doctor and later. Red's opening day is this Thursday,
and Cincinnati continues the century old traditionwith the opening day parade. Among the
(01:07):
many participants, if you look closely, you'll find the Reds Hall of Fame's
vintage baseball team. They're called theeighteen sixty nine Cincinnati Red Stockings and they
play baseball by the rules written overone hundred and fifty years ago. And
there's one major piece of a baseballplayer's gear that's missing. Today. My
guests are from the Reds Hall ofFame and Museum, the executive director,
(01:29):
Rick Woods, and the Red Stockingsteam manager Percy Thatcher. We'll talk about
why the team exists, the differencesand the rules, and the new exhibit
now open at the Red's Hall ofFame and Museum, celebrating the long Ball.
Now on iHeart Sinsey with Sandy Collins. This is iHeart Cincy. It's
a public affairs show here for theTri State community to bring the resources needed
(01:52):
to solve many issues that we faceand share stories that in bolden and uplift
people right here in the Tri State. I'm Sandy Collins. Today my guest
is doctor Brandon Foreman, the AssociateProfessor of Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Rehabilitation
Medicine at the University of Cincinnati MedicalCenter and the Gardner Neuroscience Institute. He's
also the Associate director for Neurocritical CareResearch. Today, Doctor Foreman, I
(02:16):
want to bring up a story thatI recently read from Local twelve about traumatic
brain injury, which is now suspectedto be in millions of people coming from
domestic violence. Now. This storychronicles a woman who is considered one of
the first cases to link domestic violencewith CTE chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the condition
(02:40):
suffered by football players that led tomajor changes in the football rules and helmets
to reduce the likelihood of suffering aconcussion. So this California woman suffered decades
of violent abuse. Her daughter describedher mother's head being slammed into anything hard,
cars, doors, floors. Shesuffered from headaches, dizziness, nausea,
(03:04):
and eventually she even couldn't walk.Her adult daughter eventually took her from
the home after the victim had finallyhad enough, saying that she was afraid
he was going to kill her,but soon it was too late. She
was bedridden, unable to speak orrecognize her kids. They diagnosed her with
Alzheimer's and then after death, herdaughter continued to probe and they looked at
(03:28):
the woman's brain. The doctor toldher after examination he'd never seen this amount
of damage to a brain. Allof this to say, victims of any
head injuries suffer silent damage and someof it's too late. So we want
to talk about brain injury, chronictraumatic encephalopathy, and some of the signs
(03:50):
to watch for. Doctor Foreman,thanks for being on the show, and
welcome to iHeart Cinsey. Why istraumatic brain injury such a It's a big
topic right now because I think there'sincreasing recognition that the repetitiveness, the repetitiveness
of head injuries tends to be oneof the driving factors of this CTE or
(04:14):
chronic traumatic and civilopathy that occurs.And it's you know, it's been known
for years and years and years thatboxers, for instance, have something they
used to call dementia pugilistica, whichwas just this dementia that would occur in
boxers for similar reason. Right itwas just repetitive head injury over and over
again. And I think what's beingincreasingly recognized is that this gives you a
(04:38):
specific risk for the brain to sortof respond by to this injury by by
depositing these admirable proteins or these admirableproteins I should say, deposit as a
result of the repetitive injury, andthere's an accumulative effect wherein these proteins continue
to deposit. And when I sayproteins, I'm talking about some that are
(05:00):
are very similar to what patients withfor instance, Alzheimer's dementia have how proteins
in some cases amyloid proteins, Andthese are things the brain normally has running
around, but when they change inhow they act and they start to accumulate
or clump together, they can impairthe brain's ability to function. And so
(05:20):
repetitive head injuries, whether it's youknow, in the battlefield or on the
football field or in the boxing ring, those tend to add up in that
cumulative effect is what creates this chronicsymptomatology that we're starting to see more and
more in the press and in ourpatients. If someone is in an abusive
(05:40):
situation, what symptoms would you belooking for or possibly see in their behavior
that might lead to finding that theyhave some brain damage from the abuse that
they're getting. What would they looklike when it's happening. What you would
see is essentially what we kind ofassociate with concussion, and a lot of
times this is underdiagnosed or underrecognized.In fact, mild traumatic brain injury or
(06:04):
concussion really is something that often peopledon't get seen for. And the symptoms
that occur can include a brief periodwhere you've lost awareness, dizziness, headaches
that seem to be pretty persistent despitethe normal things you might do, difficulty
with your vision, concentrating, fogginess, and that's the stuff that should kind
(06:26):
of raise awareness that, oh,this is a concussion, this is a
brain injury. When those start addingup, what ends up happening over years
and over decades often is a bitmore subtle. It's a little bit more
difficult to pick up, and soyou sort of look back and say,
well, you know, it's beenmaybe twenty years since I was in this
situation, or maybe it's been somethingyou've been out of for several years,
(06:46):
and the symptoms are a little bitmore difficult to tease apart, but often
look like things such as difficulty withmemory, short term memory or other cognitive
impairments, difficulty with you know,complex stuff, but stuff you used to
be able to do. In addition, there's a behavioral component that seems to
go along with this, perhaps morethan other dementias, and that can look
(07:11):
like psychiatric disorders, but often itlooks a bit more like depression, difficult
to control, anxiety, and sortof an inability to cope with that.
It's different than I think our typicaldepressions. Is something that really seems to
go along with other signs of difficultydoing things cognitively in memory issues I just
mentioned. It's a symptom cluster thatoverlaps a lot with the things that often
(07:35):
people have, but really as aresult of those earlier concussive for repetitive head
injuries, women are often very reluctantto admit that they're being abused. What
would you say to people right nowthat feel that this is happening. Can
(07:55):
they just go to a regular doctor? Should they? Should they give the
doctor hey, I think that youknow this has been happening for a while
and this might be the cause.Or should they just let the doctors start
from scratch, because if the doctorsaren't looking for it, I would imagine
it would be easy to overlook.It would be it would be easy to
think of other diagnoses that are commonin the population that don't relate to head
(08:18):
injury but might be treated very differently. So someone might say, well,
you know, it sounds like you'vedeveloped depression. It sounds like you've maybe
developed some mild Alzheimer's dementia like symptoms, and maybe that's not the case at
all, right, So you know, I think what you what you might
say is the first thing is ifyou're in a situation in which these concussive
(08:39):
events or brain trauma is happening toyou, now, it's important to get
seen because it's it's not like havinga bruise, even though sometimes it's you
know, colloquially called a brain bruisewhen you have a concussion, but it's
not like a bruise. It's morelike a broken bone, and it really
requires someone to ceo and try toget a better sense for what that concussion
(09:01):
or mild TBI is doing too inthe short term. So that's one thing.
If you're experiencing this stuff, don'tbrush it off. Get seen,
and that may be an opening togetting the medical care you need early.
In the longer term, though,I think that history of repetitive injuries is
really important to kind of bring upinitially and say, look, you know,
this may be a number of things, but you should know I was
(09:24):
involved in eye contact sports, Iwas in the military, I've been in
a relationship and I'm out now.But there were repetitive head injuries and that
might be the clue that more isneeded, more work out, potentially different
therapies, and certainly support. That'sa good way to put it. I
know your time is short, soI don't want to hold you up any
longer. I appreciate you being onthe show today. Well, I appreciate
(09:46):
it. Thanks so much in THXfor the time and look forward to being
in touch. Revving up for theCincinnati Reds and Major League Baseball is opening
Day. It was that team thatmade baseball famous. It changed the game
forever. Coming up on iHeart Cincy. This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio
Station. We're back. This isIheartsinceia, a tri state public affairs program
(10:09):
produced right here in Cincinnati. I'myour host and producer, Sandy Collins.
My next guests are from the CincinnatiReds Hall of Fame and Museum, the
executive director Rick Walls, and thecoordinator for the Hall's vintage baseball team,
the eighteen sixty nine Red Sockings.Mister Perry Thacker, we're talking baseball eighteen
sixties style today and the new RedsHall of Fame exhibit, which will transport
(10:33):
fans to the biggest, most memorablehome runs in club history. So Rick
Walls and Perry Thacker, welcome toiHeart Cincy. We are coming up on
Opening Day this Thursday, March twentyeighth, when we see the Cincinnati Reds
take on the Washington Nationals after aspectacle unseen anywhere else. The Opening Day
(10:54):
parade held for over one hundred yearshere at the Home of baseball. Whether
it is looking good by the wayfor Opening Day, it's going to be
cool and dry, and that alwaysmakes for a great parade. So Rick,
let's start with you. The RedsHall of Fame in museum is chalk
full of incredible memorabilia and incredible displays. You've got a new one coming up
(11:15):
that we're going to talk about.But first I wanted to talk about the
eighteen sixty nine Red Stockings, theReds Hall of Fame's vintage baseball team.
Can you tell me more about it. This will be the one hundred and
fifty fifth anniversary of that team eighteensixty nine, the first all professional baseball
team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings,and the direct lineage, you know,
(11:37):
it doesn't go directly to this clubright now. There are a couple of
breaks, but the Reds really arethe Red Stockings, and really baseball in
Cincinnati is what we're celebrating. Wefelt it was really important to develop a
way to connect fans to what itwas like back in eighteen sixty nine.
And we have a wonderful museum,the best team Hall of Fame in all
of baseball that covers the entire timelineof Red history. But to activate the
(12:03):
eighteen sixty nine era, to getpeople to understand what baseball was like back
then and how the innovative leaders ofCincinnati came together and figured out the way
to do this was to have thisall professional team. And really it was
that team that made baseball famous.It changed the game forever. The professional
game that we know today has alot to do with that team, and
(12:24):
primarily a couple of people on thatteam, the Wright brothers as we call
them, Harry and George Wright.They were brothers and Aaron Champion and a
couple others that were on the businessside of the game. But think about
this team as an interactive group thatgoes out and talks about the history,
puts on exhibitions, relates with thefans, helps raise money for other worthy
(12:48):
entities, and it's just a greatrepresentative of the Hall of Fame and competes
too old school baseball, Vantage Baseballand Perry Thacker as our baseball team's coordinator,
and he's been managing his team foryears and has done a great job
of developing the volunteer base that travelsall over Red's country and even across the
country to help fulfill the mission ofthe Hall of Fame and Perry. This
(13:11):
game is not for the faint atheart. If you've never seen a vintage
ball game, the first thing isglaringly obvious is that these players don't have
gloves. Tell them why you're notplaying with gloves and why that's a big
deal with potential players. Well,you know, this young man came to
me, is telling me all abouthis baseball history and how you could be
(13:35):
an All American. We hear itoften, if I could have only hit
the curveball i'd be playing in themajor leagues or whatever. This young man
has telling me all these things andfound I just looked at him and said,
well, are you sure your manenough to play? And he looked
at me, he said, wellyes, And I said the reason why
I asked, because we don't usegloves. And the first thing he said,
oh, well, the ball's soft, And I said, well,
(13:56):
I just happened to have one,and I show it to you, and
I handed it to him. Hegoes, that's really hard. Well yes,
and so he immediately just like,I don't know that I can do
this. So this whole attitude sortof changed when he's started hearing me talk
about no using gloves and explaining therules, and and then I, you
(14:18):
know, I even shared with himhow they would go back into history and
if there was only one ball that'dbe used during a game, and you
know, the ball would sometimes comeapart and they'd have to stitch it right
back up during the game itself andthrow it back out there, and so
it would changed size a little bitduring a game the best they could.
And if a person plays this game, the rules are just different enough that
(14:39):
it changes things. Besides the factthat you're doing everything bare handed. It's
also a gentleman's game. It's allbased on if there's a close play,
we ask mister second basement, washe safe, mister runner? Are you
safer out? Make a decision,gentlemen, And sure enough that team say,
(15:00):
you know what, you're right,I was probably out, you know,
and they bow out. It istruly a gentleman's game. And I
can only imagine those guys in eighteensixty nine, the way they had to
travel. You know, I hadan opportunity to ride the original steam engine
that brought the team in to Sacramentoin eighteen sixty nine. They gave us
(15:24):
a little ride in one of theold cars and we were about a total
of six miles. And after thatsix miles, were all looking each other
and saying, how did they dothis? Because it was uncomfortable, all
so uncomfortable. I mean, youjust felt like you had been in a
bad fight and you got bruised upeverywhere. I just couldn't imagine going across
the country. Yeah, you playby which rules? And how are they?
(15:48):
Just give us a few examples ofhow they're a little different than baseball
rules today. Sure, we playeighteen sixty nine rules. I mean,
that's that's being the eighteen six ninered stockings. We don't venture out the
anything other than that. And oneof the rules we don't overrun first base
to get the first base. Youstop at first base. Then there's also
(16:11):
everybody called it, you know,I've heard everything from the California rule to
the bound rule, and personally Idon't really care for it, but we
will play it if we need toor have to, or team wants to.
That is, if there is aball that is hit in the air
and it is in foul territory andit bounces one time on the ground,
if you catch it on that firstbounce, then it's the same as catching
(16:32):
it on a fly. We don'tdo a lot of stealing. That was
really not something we really do today. I know there was some that was
done in eighteen say nine, butour team really does not play a lot
of games where we actually have stealing. And then we have the rule where
the first basement or second baseman,third baseman, they're only allowed to play
two steps off of the base.The only person who's allowed to move around
(16:57):
would have been the shortstop, andhe was able to move farther into the
outfield, closer end, or closerto second, closer to third, whatever
he felt like he needed to do. The pitcher does not pitch off of
a mound. He pitches from acircle, and the ball is thrown in
eighteen sixty nine, it is notpitched overhand. It is underhand. So
(17:18):
those are really some of the bigrules. Speaking of watching the games,
your schedule is set for this year. I know you're in the opening day
parade this year again for the cincinetyReds, and we're all excited about that.
Tell us about some of the placeswhere we can watch the team play
this year. We do a lotof exhibitionine games, as Rick mentioned before,
(17:41):
where we try to go to differentplaces and help them to fundraise and
bring awareness. And for us,you've got to remember that is the biggest
thing. We want to bring awarenessto our Hall of fame. As mentioned,
it's the best hall of fame,and I can't emphasize that enough.
It is the best team hall ofFame there is in a country on a
lot of local teams, but wedo it in a fundraising format so we
(18:03):
can go and we can play againstschools and coaches and we go down to
Shaker Village in Lexington. To gothere and have a chance to play in
front of literally thousands yea of peopleis amazing. It's a lot of fun.
The fans are so much been toit. We make sure that we
have rules available, you know,just a little handout sheet that we can
(18:23):
give to people so that they understandthat have a better chance of understanding some
of the terms that are being usedas you're thrown around eighteen hundreds slang too,
and different words for balls and strikesand outs and all that. Oh
yes, let's talk real quick,Rick about the Hall of Fame. You
have the new exhibit. Tell usabout the long ball. Well, the
(18:47):
long ball trace is kind of thehistory of the home run, one of
the most iconic and unforgettable plays inall of baseball. Maybe not as popular
back in the eighteen sixties with theeighteen sixty nine Red Stockings. Today we
think of the black the dinger ofthe tater. What we're going to do
is take a look at the greathome run hitters from the past, the
top home run hitters in Red's historyin terms of quantity, but also in
(19:11):
terms of clutch home runs, recordbreaking home runs, single season records first,
such as Eric Davis becoming the firstthirty thirty red, the first read
to hit thirty home runs and havethirty stolen bases, Todd Frazier's iconic home
run derby show he put on here. So the home run means a lot
of things to a lot of differentpeople. Can change your career, a
(19:33):
season or a game, you know, with one swing of the bat.
And we are bringing a lot ofexcitement into the main exhibit at the Hall
of Fame. Want to bring thatto life. Fans will feel like they're
right in the middle of the action. One hundred and forty artifacts, video
and audio calls of these momentous homeruns. And then we even use technology
from stat cast to show you exitvelocity on today's home runs, so you
(19:56):
can look at Elie Daily, Cruise'shome runs or Spencer Steers and really get
a feel for what that home run, how it traveled in the arc,
in the distance, and so forth. So it's a really involved exhibit and
has a chance to grow, meaningmore home runs that we have this year,
the more that exhibit might change,and we're hoping for many of them.
(20:18):
There is even an interactive component wherekids or adults can grab a glove
and toss the ball up against anoutfield fence for a photo op and try
to rob that home run. SoI think the operative words are fun,
energy, and inspirational. Yeah.One of the things that Rick did when
this was still I guess in thoughtprocess, was he sent a note out
(20:40):
asking us to talk about not justgreat home run hitters, but home runs.
You know, which ones would wechoose if you had to choose five
home runs that you have seen orten home runs, whatever it was.
And for somebody like me, thatwas very difficult because it's not just the
memory of Jay Bruce hitting a homerun for the or Johnny Bench, you
(21:00):
know, in seventy two hitting oldrun in Pittsburgh to win the Pennant.
It was the memory of going tomy first game and seeing a home run,
sitting there with my dad. Thathome run meant as much as anything
to me. Rick, is thereanything else that you want to talk about?
Any special exhibit that's twenty of yourfavorites. Let's think long ball just
(21:22):
for a second, and I'll giveyou a couple of cool items. They
are in the exhibit. Johnny Bench'sbat that he used on Johnny Bench nine
September of his final season and hithis three hundred and eighty ninth home run.
The franchise record. That bat isat the centerpiece of this exhibit.
The home plate from when Scooter Jeannettehit four home runs in one game,
(21:44):
so the home plate was dug upnot too long after that game so it
could be in this museum. It'sthe only player ever to hit four home
runs in the game. There artifactslike that scattered throughout this exhibit that when
you watch the video and you lookat the artifact, you're going to feel
really close to that moment. Soeven if you weren't at that home run,
you're going to feel like you werethere. That's part of our mission
is to just bring that history tolife. So throughout this year we're bringing
(22:08):
back alumni to be part of theexhibit. So many of the things that
we do are themed around the longball. This year, for example,
our Bibblehead Series, which is somethingwe promote heavily through membership and for admission
to the Hall of Fame. Onweekends during the summer, we'll have one
for George Foster, Barry Larkin,Jay Bruce, Todd Fraser, and Johnny
(22:30):
bench So alumni throughout the year alot of appearances at the museum. So
just think of the museum as aninteractive, changing place, and I think
fans can always find something here goingon, and I would encourage them to
visit Redsmuseum dot org to find outall about our activities and events and the
worthy things that we do, includingthe Red Stockings and their schedule. Thanks
(22:52):
to both of you, my guests, Rick Walls, the executive director of
the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame andMuseum and Vintage Baseball team coordinator for the
eighteen sixty nine Red Stockings, PerryThacker, thanks for both of you being
on the show. If you'd liketo know more about the eighteen sixty nine
Cincinnati Red Stockings or are interested inbeing on the team, contact Perry Thacker
(23:12):
through the Reds Hall of Fame website. I'm Sandy Collins. If you've got
a comment, suggest our idea forshow topic, email me at Iheartsincy at
iHeartMedia dot com. Always looking forinteresting people and opportunities here in the Tri
State. Plus, you can hearprevious episodes of iHeart Cincy and the many
special guests we've had on the iHeartRadioapp under podcasts. iHeart Cincy is a
(23:34):
production of iHeartMedia Cincinnati,
At least a week on iHeart Sense. A lot of times this is underdiagnosed
or underrecognized. TBI. Traumatic braininjury is much more prevalent than we've previously
thought. Research is showing that athleteswho suffer repetitive blows to the head like
footballers, rugby soccer, even soldiersin war, those with epilepsy, can
experience traumatic brain injury TBI, leadingto lasting and permanent brain damage. My
(00:26):
guest today is doctor Brandon Foreman.He's a neurosurgeon and TBI expert at the
UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute. We're talkingtoday about one population of victims of brain
injury that we haven't heard a lotabout. It's underdiagnosed domestic violence victims.
Those who suffer repeated blows to thehead and are at risk of TBI and
(00:47):
if not treated, can lead tolifelong medical problems from headaches to dementia,
to suicidal thoughts and more. We'lltalk today about what happens when the brain
experience is a traumatic injury, what'ssymptoms to look for, and how you
should talk to your doctor and later. Red's opening day is this Thursday,
and Cincinnati continues the century old traditionwith the opening day parade. Among the
(01:07):
many participants, if you look closely, you'll find the Reds Hall of Fame's
vintage baseball team. They're called theeighteen sixty nine Cincinnati Red Stockings and they
play baseball by the rules written overone hundred and fifty years ago. And
there's one major piece of a baseballplayer's gear that's missing. Today. My
guests are from the Reds Hall ofFame and Museum, the executive director,
(01:29):
Rick Woods, and the Red Stockingsteam manager Percy Thatcher. We'll talk about
why the team exists, the differencesand the rules, and the new exhibit
now open at the Red's Hall ofFame and Museum, celebrating the long Ball.
Now on iHeart Sinsey with Sandy Collins. This is iHeart Cincy. It's
a public affairs show here for theTri State community to bring the resources needed
(01:52):
to solve many issues that we faceand share stories that in bolden and uplift
people right here in the Tri State. I'm Sandy Collins. Today my guest
is doctor Brandon Foreman, the AssociateProfessor of Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Rehabilitation
Medicine at the University of Cincinnati MedicalCenter and the Gardner Neuroscience Institute. He's
also the Associate director for Neurocritical CareResearch. Today, Doctor Foreman, I
(02:16):
want to bring up a story thatI recently read from Local twelve about traumatic
brain injury, which is now suspectedto be in millions of people coming from
domestic violence. Now. This storychronicles a woman who is considered one of
the first cases to link domestic violencewith CTE chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the condition
(02:40):
suffered by football players that led tomajor changes in the football rules and helmets
to reduce the likelihood of suffering aconcussion. So this California woman suffered decades
of violent abuse. Her daughter describedher mother's head being slammed into anything hard,
cars, doors, floors. Shesuffered from headaches, dizziness, nausea,
(03:04):
and eventually she even couldn't walk.Her adult daughter eventually took her from
the home after the victim had finallyhad enough, saying that she was afraid
he was going to kill her,but soon it was too late. She
was bedridden, unable to speak orrecognize her kids. They diagnosed her with
Alzheimer's and then after death, herdaughter continued to probe and they looked at
(03:28):
the woman's brain. The doctor toldher after examination he'd never seen this amount
of damage to a brain. Allof this to say, victims of any
head injuries suffer silent damage and someof it's too late. So we want
to talk about brain injury, chronictraumatic encephalopathy, and some of the signs
(03:50):
to watch for. Doctor Foreman,thanks for being on the show, and
welcome to iHeart Cinsey. Why istraumatic brain injury such a It's a big
topic right now because I think there'sincreasing recognition that the repetitiveness, the repetitiveness
of head injuries tends to be oneof the driving factors of this CTE or
(04:14):
chronic traumatic and civilopathy that occurs.And it's you know, it's been known
for years and years and years thatboxers, for instance, have something they
used to call dementia pugilistica, whichwas just this dementia that would occur in
boxers for similar reason. Right itwas just repetitive head injury over and over
again. And I think what's beingincreasingly recognized is that this gives you a
(04:38):
specific risk for the brain to sortof respond by to this injury by by
depositing these admirable proteins or these admirableproteins I should say, deposit as a
result of the repetitive injury, andthere's an accumulative effect wherein these proteins continue
to deposit. And when I sayproteins, I'm talking about some that are
(05:00):
are very similar to what patients withfor instance, Alzheimer's dementia have how proteins
in some cases amyloid proteins, Andthese are things the brain normally has running
around, but when they change inhow they act and they start to accumulate
or clump together, they can impairthe brain's ability to function. And so
(05:20):
repetitive head injuries, whether it's youknow, in the battlefield or on the
football field or in the boxing ring, those tend to add up in that
cumulative effect is what creates this chronicsymptomatology that we're starting to see more and
more in the press and in ourpatients. If someone is in an abusive
(05:40):
situation, what symptoms would you belooking for or possibly see in their behavior
that might lead to finding that theyhave some brain damage from the abuse that
they're getting. What would they looklike when it's happening. What you would
see is essentially what we kind ofassociate with concussion, and a lot of
times this is underdiagnosed or underrecognized.In fact, mild traumatic brain injury or
(06:04):
concussion really is something that often peopledon't get seen for. And the symptoms
that occur can include a brief periodwhere you've lost awareness, dizziness, headaches
that seem to be pretty persistent despitethe normal things you might do, difficulty
with your vision, concentrating, fogginess, and that's the stuff that should kind
(06:26):
of raise awareness that, oh,this is a concussion, this is a
brain injury. When those start addingup, what ends up happening over years
and over decades often is a bitmore subtle. It's a little bit more
difficult to pick up, and soyou sort of look back and say,
well, you know, it's beenmaybe twenty years since I was in this
situation, or maybe it's been somethingyou've been out of for several years,
(06:46):
and the symptoms are a little bitmore difficult to tease apart, but often
look like things such as difficulty withmemory, short term memory or other cognitive
impairments, difficulty with you know,complex stuff, but stuff you used to
be able to do. In addition, there's a behavioral component that seems to
go along with this, perhaps morethan other dementias, and that can look
(07:11):
like psychiatric disorders, but often itlooks a bit more like depression, difficult
to control, anxiety, and sortof an inability to cope with that.
It's different than I think our typicaldepressions. Is something that really seems to
go along with other signs of difficultydoing things cognitively in memory issues I just
mentioned. It's a symptom cluster thatoverlaps a lot with the things that often
(07:35):
people have, but really as aresult of those earlier concussive for repetitive head
injuries, women are often very reluctantto admit that they're being abused. What
would you say to people right nowthat feel that this is happening. Can
(07:55):
they just go to a regular doctor? Should they? Should they give the
doctor hey, I think that youknow this has been happening for a while
and this might be the cause.Or should they just let the doctors start
from scratch, because if the doctorsaren't looking for it, I would imagine
it would be easy to overlook.It would be it would be easy to
think of other diagnoses that are commonin the population that don't relate to head
(08:18):
injury but might be treated very differently. So someone might say, well,
you know, it sounds like you'vedeveloped depression. It sounds like you've maybe
developed some mild Alzheimer's dementia like symptoms, and maybe that's not the case at
all, right, So you know, I think what you what you might
say is the first thing is ifyou're in a situation in which these concussive
(08:39):
events or brain trauma is happening toyou, now, it's important to get
seen because it's it's not like havinga bruise, even though sometimes it's you
know, colloquially called a brain bruisewhen you have a concussion, but it's
not like a bruise. It's morelike a broken bone, and it really
requires someone to ceo and try toget a better sense for what that concussion
(09:01):
or mild TBI is doing too inthe short term. So that's one thing.
If you're experiencing this stuff, don'tbrush it off. Get seen,
and that may be an opening togetting the medical care you need early.
In the longer term, though,I think that history of repetitive injuries is
really important to kind of bring upinitially and say, look, you know,
this may be a number of things, but you should know I was
(09:24):
involved in eye contact sports, Iwas in the military, I've been in
a relationship and I'm out now.But there were repetitive head injuries and that
might be the clue that more isneeded, more work out, potentially different
therapies, and certainly support. That'sa good way to put it. I
know your time is short, soI don't want to hold you up any
longer. I appreciate you being onthe show today. Well, I appreciate
(09:46):
it. Thanks so much in THXfor the time and look forward to being
in touch. Revving up for theCincinnati Reds and Major League Baseball is opening
Day. It was that team thatmade baseball famous. It changed the game
forever. Coming up on iHeart Cincy. This is fifty five KRC and iHeartRadio
Station. We're back. This isIheartsinceia, a tri state public affairs program
(10:09):
produced right here in Cincinnati. I'myour host and producer, Sandy Collins.
My next guests are from the CincinnatiReds Hall of Fame and Museum, the
executive director Rick Walls, and thecoordinator for the Hall's vintage baseball team,
the eighteen sixty nine Red Sockings.Mister Perry Thacker, we're talking baseball eighteen
sixties style today and the new RedsHall of Fame exhibit, which will transport
(10:33):
fans to the biggest, most memorablehome runs in club history. So Rick
Walls and Perry Thacker, welcome toiHeart Cincy. We are coming up on
Opening Day this Thursday, March twentyeighth, when we see the Cincinnati Reds
take on the Washington Nationals after aspectacle unseen anywhere else. The Opening Day
(10:54):
parade held for over one hundred yearshere at the Home of baseball. Whether
it is looking good by the wayfor Opening Day, it's going to be
cool and dry, and that alwaysmakes for a great parade. So Rick,
let's start with you. The RedsHall of Fame in museum is chalk
full of incredible memorabilia and incredible displays. You've got a new one coming up
(11:15):
that we're going to talk about.But first I wanted to talk about the
eighteen sixty nine Red Stockings, theReds Hall of Fame's vintage baseball team.
Can you tell me more about it. This will be the one hundred and
fifty fifth anniversary of that team eighteensixty nine, the first all professional baseball
team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings,and the direct lineage, you know,
(11:37):
it doesn't go directly to this clubright now. There are a couple of
breaks, but the Reds really arethe Red Stockings, and really baseball in
Cincinnati is what we're celebrating. Wefelt it was really important to develop a
way to connect fans to what itwas like back in eighteen sixty nine.
And we have a wonderful museum,the best team Hall of Fame in all
of baseball that covers the entire timelineof Red history. But to activate the
(12:03):
eighteen sixty nine era, to getpeople to understand what baseball was like back
then and how the innovative leaders ofCincinnati came together and figured out the way
to do this was to have thisall professional team. And really it was
that team that made baseball famous.It changed the game forever. The professional
game that we know today has alot to do with that team, and
(12:24):
primarily a couple of people on thatteam, the Wright brothers as we call
them, Harry and George Wright.They were brothers and Aaron Champion and a
couple others that were on the businessside of the game. But think about
this team as an interactive group thatgoes out and talks about the history,
puts on exhibitions, relates with thefans, helps raise money for other worthy
(12:48):
entities, and it's just a greatrepresentative of the Hall of Fame and competes
too old school baseball, Vantage Baseballand Perry Thacker as our baseball team's coordinator,
and he's been managing his team foryears and has done a great job
of developing the volunteer base that travelsall over Red's country and even across the
country to help fulfill the mission ofthe Hall of Fame and Perry. This
(13:11):
game is not for the faint atheart. If you've never seen a vintage
ball game, the first thing isglaringly obvious is that these players don't have
gloves. Tell them why you're notplaying with gloves and why that's a big
deal with potential players. Well,you know, this young man came to
me, is telling me all abouthis baseball history and how you could be
(13:35):
an All American. We hear itoften, if I could have only hit
the curveball i'd be playing in themajor leagues or whatever. This young man
has telling me all these things andfound I just looked at him and said,
well, are you sure your manenough to play? And he looked
at me, he said, wellyes, And I said the reason why
I asked, because we don't usegloves. And the first thing he said,
oh, well, the ball's soft, And I said, well,
(13:56):
I just happened to have one,and I show it to you, and
I handed it to him. Hegoes, that's really hard. Well yes,
and so he immediately just like,I don't know that I can do
this. So this whole attitude sortof changed when he's started hearing me talk
about no using gloves and explaining therules, and and then I, you
(14:18):
know, I even shared with himhow they would go back into history and
if there was only one ball that'dbe used during a game, and you
know, the ball would sometimes comeapart and they'd have to stitch it right
back up during the game itself andthrow it back out there, and so
it would changed size a little bitduring a game the best they could.
And if a person plays this game, the rules are just different enough that
(14:39):
it changes things. Besides the factthat you're doing everything bare handed. It's
also a gentleman's game. It's allbased on if there's a close play,
we ask mister second basement, washe safe, mister runner? Are you
safer out? Make a decision,gentlemen, And sure enough that team say,
(15:00):
you know what, you're right,I was probably out, you know,
and they bow out. It istruly a gentleman's game. And I
can only imagine those guys in eighteensixty nine, the way they had to
travel. You know, I hadan opportunity to ride the original steam engine
that brought the team in to Sacramentoin eighteen sixty nine. They gave us
(15:24):
a little ride in one of theold cars and we were about a total
of six miles. And after thatsix miles, were all looking each other
and saying, how did they dothis? Because it was uncomfortable, all
so uncomfortable. I mean, youjust felt like you had been in a
bad fight and you got bruised upeverywhere. I just couldn't imagine going across
the country. Yeah, you playby which rules? And how are they?
(15:48):
Just give us a few examples ofhow they're a little different than baseball
rules today. Sure, we playeighteen sixty nine rules. I mean,
that's that's being the eighteen six ninered stockings. We don't venture out the
anything other than that. And oneof the rules we don't overrun first base
to get the first base. Youstop at first base. Then there's also
(16:11):
everybody called it, you know,I've heard everything from the California rule to
the bound rule, and personally Idon't really care for it, but we
will play it if we need toor have to, or team wants to.
That is, if there is aball that is hit in the air
and it is in foul territory andit bounces one time on the ground,
if you catch it on that firstbounce, then it's the same as catching
(16:32):
it on a fly. We don'tdo a lot of stealing. That was
really not something we really do today. I know there was some that was
done in eighteen say nine, butour team really does not play a lot
of games where we actually have stealing. And then we have the rule where
the first basement or second baseman,third baseman, they're only allowed to play
two steps off of the base.The only person who's allowed to move around
(16:57):
would have been the shortstop, andhe was able to move farther into the
outfield, closer end, or closerto second, closer to third, whatever
he felt like he needed to do. The pitcher does not pitch off of
a mound. He pitches from acircle, and the ball is thrown in
eighteen sixty nine, it is notpitched overhand. It is underhand. So
(17:18):
those are really some of the bigrules. Speaking of watching the games,
your schedule is set for this year. I know you're in the opening day
parade this year again for the cincinetyReds, and we're all excited about that.
Tell us about some of the placeswhere we can watch the team play
this year. We do a lotof exhibitionine games, as Rick mentioned before,
(17:41):
where we try to go to differentplaces and help them to fundraise and
bring awareness. And for us,you've got to remember that is the biggest
thing. We want to bring awarenessto our Hall of fame. As mentioned,
it's the best hall of fame,and I can't emphasize that enough.
It is the best team hall ofFame there is in a country on a
lot of local teams, but wedo it in a fundraising format so we
(18:03):
can go and we can play againstschools and coaches and we go down to
Shaker Village in Lexington. To gothere and have a chance to play in
front of literally thousands yea of peopleis amazing. It's a lot of fun.
The fans are so much been toit. We make sure that we
have rules available, you know,just a little handout sheet that we can
(18:23):
give to people so that they understandthat have a better chance of understanding some
of the terms that are being usedas you're thrown around eighteen hundreds slang too,
and different words for balls and strikesand outs and all that. Oh
yes, let's talk real quick,Rick about the Hall of Fame. You
have the new exhibit. Tell usabout the long ball. Well, the
(18:47):
long ball trace is kind of thehistory of the home run, one of
the most iconic and unforgettable plays inall of baseball. Maybe not as popular
back in the eighteen sixties with theeighteen sixty nine Red Stockings. Today we
think of the black the dinger ofthe tater. What we're going to do
is take a look at the greathome run hitters from the past, the
top home run hitters in Red's historyin terms of quantity, but also in
(19:11):
terms of clutch home runs, recordbreaking home runs, single season records first,
such as Eric Davis becoming the firstthirty thirty red, the first read
to hit thirty home runs and havethirty stolen bases, Todd Frazier's iconic home
run derby show he put on here. So the home run means a lot
of things to a lot of differentpeople. Can change your career, a
(19:33):
season or a game, you know, with one swing of the bat.
And we are bringing a lot ofexcitement into the main exhibit at the Hall
of Fame. Want to bring thatto life. Fans will feel like they're
right in the middle of the action. One hundred and forty artifacts, video
and audio calls of these momentous homeruns. And then we even use technology
from stat cast to show you exitvelocity on today's home runs, so you
(19:56):
can look at Elie Daily, Cruise'shome runs or Spencer Steers and really get
a feel for what that home run, how it traveled in the arc,
in the distance, and so forth. So it's a really involved exhibit and
has a chance to grow, meaningmore home runs that we have this year,
the more that exhibit might change,and we're hoping for many of them.
(20:18):
There is even an interactive component wherekids or adults can grab a glove
and toss the ball up against anoutfield fence for a photo op and try
to rob that home run. SoI think the operative words are fun,
energy, and inspirational. Yeah.One of the things that Rick did when
this was still I guess in thoughtprocess, was he sent a note out
(20:40):
asking us to talk about not justgreat home run hitters, but home runs.
You know, which ones would wechoose if you had to choose five
home runs that you have seen orten home runs, whatever it was.
And for somebody like me, thatwas very difficult because it's not just the
memory of Jay Bruce hitting a homerun for the or Johnny Bench, you
(21:00):
know, in seventy two hitting oldrun in Pittsburgh to win the Pennant.
It was the memory of going tomy first game and seeing a home run,
sitting there with my dad. Thathome run meant as much as anything
to me. Rick, is thereanything else that you want to talk about?
Any special exhibit that's twenty of yourfavorites. Let's think long ball just
(21:22):
for a second, and I'll giveyou a couple of cool items. They
are in the exhibit. Johnny Bench'sbat that he used on Johnny Bench nine
September of his final season and hithis three hundred and eighty ninth home run.
The franchise record. That bat isat the centerpiece of this exhibit.
The home plate from when Scooter Jeannettehit four home runs in one game,
(21:44):
so the home plate was dug upnot too long after that game so it
could be in this museum. It'sthe only player ever to hit four home
runs in the game. There artifactslike that scattered throughout this exhibit that when
you watch the video and you lookat the artifact, you're going to feel
really close to that moment. Soeven if you weren't at that home run,
you're going to feel like you werethere. That's part of our mission
is to just bring that history tolife. So throughout this year we're bringing
(22:08):
back alumni to be part of theexhibit. So many of the things that
we do are themed around the longball. This year, for example,
our Bibblehead Series, which is somethingwe promote heavily through membership and for admission
to the Hall of Fame. Onweekends during the summer, we'll have one
for George Foster, Barry Larkin,Jay Bruce, Todd Fraser, and Johnny
(22:30):
bench So alumni throughout the year alot of appearances at the museum. So
just think of the museum as aninteractive, changing place, and I think
fans can always find something here goingon, and I would encourage them to
visit Redsmuseum dot org to find outall about our activities and events and the
worthy things that we do, includingthe Red Stockings and their schedule. Thanks
(22:52):
to both of you, my guests, Rick Walls, the executive director of
the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame andMuseum and Vintage Baseball team coordinator for the
eighteen sixty nine Red Stockings, PerryThacker, thanks for both of you being
on the show. If you'd liketo know more about the eighteen sixty nine
Cincinnati Red Stockings or are interested inbeing on the team, contact Perry Thacker
(23:12):
through the Reds Hall of Fame website. I'm Sandy Collins. If you've got
a comment, suggest our idea forshow topic, email me at Iheartsincy at
iHeartMedia dot com. Always looking forinteresting people and opportunities here in the Tri
State. Plus, you can hearprevious episodes of iHeart Cincy and the many
special guests we've had on the iHeartRadioapp under podcasts. iHeart Cincy is a
(23:34):
production of iHeartMedia Cincinnati,
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