Dizziness, blurred vision put Edmonds on bench

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome Wednesday, one day after leaving a game because of dizziness and blurred vision.

Edmonds underwent an MRI on Tuesday night that showed normal brain function, then had a battery of tests Wednesday to rule out other possibilities such as diabetes, nutrition deficiencies or an infection.

He was not in the starting lineup Wednesday night against Cincinnati, and the Cardinals said he was day to day.

Edmonds, 36 and winner of eight Gold Gloves, was batting .261 with 18 home runs and 65 RBIs, third-best on the team.

"So far I haven't heard it's anything disabling, so I'm optimistic," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "I heard there wasn't anything they found that makes them think he wouldn't be back playing at some point."

Edmonds sustained what was described as a slight concussion June 21 when he crashed into the wall in Chicago trying to rob White Sox third baseman Joe Crede of a home run. Edmonds said he's had intermittent bouts of dizziness and blurred vision along with nausea since then, feelings that have intensified after a couple of diving attempts in the last week or so.

"The last four or five days I've just really been clueless," Edmonds said. "I started to notice it the most when I tried to catch two fly balls on Saturday night and both of them almost came out of my glove."

But he said Tuesday was "terrible" and the "worst day."

Edmonds mentioned to assistant trainer Greg Hauck that he was having difficulty focusing and had blurred vision before taking the field for the fifth inning. He was removed before a pitch was thrown after the news was relayed to La Russa and trainer Barry Weinberg.

Until he woke up Wednesday, Edmonds had thought it was only the second inning when he came out.

"You don't really know what's what," Edmonds said. "I couldn't believe it was the fifth inning."

There were other shaky moments on Tuesday. During his second at-bat, which ended with an awkward swing for strike three on a pitch from Aaron Harang that was up and in, Edmonds said he was just trying to survive.

"I swung at a pitch and felt like I was going to, not literally, but fall over," Edmonds said. "I was like, 'Wow, how am I going to get through this?'"

Edmonds doesn't know if post-concussion syndrome is the correct diagnosis, although he said the symptoms he's been suffering from are similar to what occurred in June.