Life Threatening Injuries: Baseball’s hazardous side- MLB Feature Part 4
Running between the bases brings bases in baseball. However, it can be on occasions a cause of serious injuries that can, at times, alter the direction of one’s careers. Some such incidents are discussed below.
In 1999, Jason Kendall was headed to first base, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Milwaukee Brewers. His foot landed awkwardly on the side of the base, rather than on top of it and after a few strides, Jason fell to the ground.
It wasn’t a pretty sight and a number of his team mates rushed to aid him. His fibula was sticking out of his skin by several inches a number of them turned away unable to see. The Brewers were also shocked at what they saw on the field.
The manager of the Pirates, Gene Lamont, was in utter shock as well and said that he had never seen anything like that before.
"It was one of the worst things I've seen," manager Gene Lamont said. "You could tell it was bad. I've never seen anything like it, with the bone sticking out like that."
Jason Kendall made it back to the field the next season, posting a smashing .320/.412/.470 with the bat and his Major League career ended in 2010.
Moises Alou had a similar injury in 1993 playing for the Montreal Expos against the St. Louis Cardinals. A change in direction while running for the second base saw him break his fibula and his ankle was also dislocated. He had to be carried off the field.
He went on to have a strong career ending up with career numbers of .303/.369/.516 after 17 years in the Majors. He retired in 2008 and had six career All-Star appearances and was also a 1997 World Series Champion with the Florida Marlins. All these achievements were had after the incident in 1993.
Robin Ventura’s 1997 incident is a bit different as it took place during the spring training. He was expected to be out for the entire season but he did surprise everyone by making a return in later part of July. The full strength in his leg, however, never returned after the incident.
He slid into the home plate and unfortunately for him, the slide did not go to well. He dislocated and had a compound fracture on his ankle. Despite recovering from the injury and playing till 2004, Robin had trouble with his leg and felt pain which eventually prompted him to retire.
His Chicago White Sox team mate first baseman Frank Thomas said that the injury was a tough one and it was not fun to see someone in that kind of condition.
''Just to see him laying helpless like that, that's tough to take,'' Thomas said. ''These kinds of things happen all the time in sports, but when it happens so close to home, it's not fun to see.''
It is reported that a woman who saw the injury fainted and Ventura’s team mates made sure that his wife does not see him in the condition as a precaution.
He later had a surgery on his leg in 2005. Robin had started limping after retirement and needed a cane to support him in his walk. After his ankle allograft, his limp as gone away and he walks without a cane. Currently he is managing the Chicago White Sox.
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 5...
Tags: