Yankees’ David Cone post-All-Star status up in air due to hip surgery

The New York Yankees are hard-charging towards the All-Star break, taking care of business against the schedule that was laid out for them while also making noise against any contenders in their way.

Analyst David Cone has been there nearly every step of the way thus far, despite concerns he’d be pulled in one too many directions after being named to ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball team this offseason.

Maybe all that pulling in different directions finally caught up to Cone, though, as it was revealed by Newsday’s Anthony Rieber on Wednesday afternoon that the 59-year-old ex-Yankees star would be undergoing hip replacement surgery over the forthcoming break.

Will he miss any games during a strenuous second-half schedule and pennant race? Depends on who you ask (though you never know for sure how someone’s rehab will go until it’s completed).

Yes, this is the same hip injury that forced Cone out of MLB in 2003, ending his comeback stint with the New York Mets early. At that time, the right-hander vowed to avoid replacement surgery.

19 years is a great job of ducking the inevitable, but unfortunately, that nagging issue finally jumped up and got him.

Yankees’ David Cone laid up after hip surgery this summer

So, what will this mean for Cone’s coverage? According to Neil Best’s interpretation of Rieber’s breaking news, the ex-pitcher will need a “couple of weeks” on the shelf so he can be at his very best down the stretch.

Andrew Marchand’s follow-up, though, indicated that both ESPN and YES Network currently believe Cone won’t need to miss any games following the procedure.

Who knows? Maybe they rig things up like Paul O’Neill’s basement studio and have another field day?

Best wishes to Cone, one of the hardest-working ex-ballplayers in modern media, and someone who does a fantastic job of blending old-school experience with new-school concerns. The energetic and clever Cone has proven that an old dog can learn plenty of new statistical tricks, and will be bringing the same open-minded coverage to both regional and national telecasts as soon as he recovers.

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