There are many ways for baseball players to get hurt that don’t involve regulation games of baseball. And there are many ways for the Baltimore Orioles to be struck down by fate that don’t involve those games, either. O’s pitcher Brad Bergesen is living proof that you can combine the two.↵↵⇥Orioles right-handed starter Brad Bergesen will not be able to fully participate in spring training for at least 10 days after pitchers and catchers report Wednesday because of a strained right shoulder capsule that he injured during the filming of an Orioles TV commercial in early December.↵⇥↵⇥Bergesen said he is participating in a throwing program in Sarasota, Fla., but has not been able to throw off a mound since he hurt his shoulder in the promotional shoot.↵⇥
Orioles’ Brad Bergesen Finds New Way to Get Hurt: Filming a Commercial
↵↵A representative for the Orioles confirmed via email that the ad below is the spot in question.
↵
↵
↵
↵Someone getting hurt filming that commercial is the the sort of thing that makes you think, “Only the Orioles,” right? This is just an unfortunate setback for a star-crossed pitcher, right? Well, er, no. (Bolding mine.)↵↵⇥Bergesen, 24, who went 7-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 19 starts last season, was shut down after he took a liner off his shin during a start July 30. He didn’t pitch again for the Orioles after that and hadn’t thrown off a mound until he filmed the commercial, which was shot in an indoor batting cage at Camden Yards. It featured Bergesen throwing pitch after pitch off a mound to an unidentified catcher.↵↵↵I’m not sure who ultimately decided a pitcher’s first throws from a mound after an injury needed to happen in a commercial, but I’ll guess that person is not going to be in charge of ultimately deciding such things for the Orioles in the future. The spot does look realistic, whatever that’s worth.↵
↵↵But for the want of realism in an ad, a bit of a pitcher’s recovery was lost, and the O’s get to take a round of jokes from the madding crowd. It would seem that fate and the Baltimore Orioles are still not on speaking terms.↵
↵
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
