Life Threatening Injuries: Baseball’s hazardous side- MLB Feature Part 3
Pitching injuries are not uncommon but serious injuries while pitching are and have had telling effects on some careers. The issue can have repercussions that are generally not anticipated.
Tony Saunders was pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Texas Rangers when he broke a bone in his arm while throwing a pitch in May of 1999. The injury effectively ended his season. Tony did make a comeback next year but once again his arm broke. His
baseball career ended at the age of 26.
Motivational speaker Dave Dravecky was once a Major League pitcher. In the post-season of 1988, he learned about a cancer in his throwing arm and after its removal, worked hard to get back into playing shape for the San Francisco Giants.
The following season, he first broke his humerus bone while pitching and then had another broken bone in his arm during a celebration of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) win. After checkup it was revealed that his cancer had returned and his
playing days were over. Eventually his left arm was imputed to stop the cancer from spreading.
Tom Browning played in the Majors for 12 years and had some highs points in his career including a perfect game in 1988. During a game in 1994, he threw a pitch that was sent like any other but was way off target and Browning collapsed right away, staying
on the ground with his eyes closed for five minutes. He was eventually carried for the field.
While delivering the pitch, he had sustained a fracture in his humerus about three inches below the shoulder. It’s a rare injury but one that can take place. He had to stay in a clinic that night so that his pain could be managed.
The injury forced him out of the season and a return next season could not materialise, his career came to an end owing to the broken humerus bone.
Injuries while fielding can be quite dangerous as some of the members on our list experienced this first hand. It’s always a good idea not to chase a fly ball blindly and keeping an eye on the surroundings can be a good thing.
Fly balls are good for getting rid of batters but they can be hazardous when more than one fielder goes after them. This was experienced by the New York Mets Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltran collided during a game in 2005. The head first collusion saw Cameron
get the rougher end of the deal and had a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone.
In a similar instance in 1995, Jacob Brumfield and Dave Clark both of whom were playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates collided trying to catch a fly ball. Clark had a particularly bad hit as he also hit his face into the padded fence while colliding with Brumfield.
Jacob had cuts and bruises to show after the collusion while Dave broke his collar bone. He also had a broken tooth. The incident caused 23 minutes stoppage in the game.
Both players were treated on the field initially. The game was won by the opposing Atlanta Braves 3-1. Jim Leyland, the Pittsburgh manager, said after the match it was the worst thing he had seen on a baseball field and the results could have been much worse
than it eventually was.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Continued in Part 4....
Tags: