When the 1965 season opened, Herman was still insisting that my problem was not my knee. It was all in my head, he said to everyone within shouting distance. I was moody, I was lazy, I sulked, I was faking. He hit all the bases. His words made me determined to take the field no matter how much pain I was in.

We went to Los Angeles to play a night game. Maury Wills was shocked by what he saw. "Orlando, you look so bad. Why are you playing?" I said, "Maury, I have to play. I have to!" I was 1 for 2, but after the 5th inning I went in the clubhouse to take a shower. I looked at my knee, and it had swelled so much that I couldn't put my pants on.

The next day I played. The doctor had to drain my knee. The following night in St. Louis I could barely walk. I was sitting in the dugout and Herman chewed my ass. I said "Herman, I just can't do it." He yelled, "Bullshit!" As usual, it was Hank Sauer who calmed me down. Later in the game, Herman put me in to hit for the pitcher. I had to walk up to the batter's box using my bat as a cane because my knee hurt so much.

I'd work out at Marine Memorial every day. Dr. Jefferson, the San Francisco specialist the team sent me to see, urged me to run. I couldn't. It just hurt too much. He, too, suggested that a good part of my problem was mental. That's when I decided to go to the Mayo Clinic. Twelve doctors saw me there. They put me through a series of tests and consultations. Their overall conclusion was that I shouldn't play ball again.

I wouldn't accept that. I couldn't. Baseball was my life. So I approached Horace Stoneham and told him I would find a new doctor, even if I had to pay for him on my own. I went back to Marine Memorial and asked my friend Bob, the trainer, if he knew a good doctor. "Orlando," he said, "I'm glad you asked me. The doctor you're seeing is too old. He doesn't know a lot of the new techniques."

He recommended a Russian doctor by the name of Gene Sollovief. He started me working with weights. The owner of the physical therapy clinic was a weightlifter and a wrestler. He started me on weights, and then he took me to a field in Golden Gate Park to start running slowly. That's just what I did, day after day, day in and day out, a little more each time. The leg was getting stronger. I knew it. I could feel it. Soon when we ran I was leaving everyone behind. It got to the point that I was in the best shape of my career.

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