Does it seem as if there have been a lot more baseball injuries than usual this year? The Chicago Cubs alone have had five different players head to the 15-day Disabled List in the last 10 days (and transferred one from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL).
Guess The Baseball Injury!
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Thus, as a public service, we at Baseball Nation are going to help you distinguish real injuries from some we just made up. The NHL seemingly announces every injury as “an upper-body injury” or “a lower-body injury”, but MLB is often graphically specific when describing hurt baseball player body parts.
Below is a list of 10 baseball injuries. Can you tell which are real and which aren’t? The answers are below, hidden in white text. Just click and scroll, and see if your knowledge (or outright guesses) match up with the information. And for even more fun, match the specific player to his injury.
1) Broken hamate bone
2) Partial tear of labrum in right hip
3) Fractured testicle
4) Left elbow infection
5) Displaced right knee ligaments
6) Circulatory problems in right little finger
7) Inflammation of left ledesma majora
8) Infected eye
9) High right ankle sprain
10) Stress reaction in right scapula
You may think the white area below is blank, but through the magic of HTML, we have hidden the answers below. You have two clues -- the visible red text. (Hint: the photo attached to this post is not a clue.)
1) This was the injury suffered by the Giants' Pablo Sandoval; he hit the DL on April 30. The good news for Kung Fu Panda and the Giants is that he may be back in the lineup within the next two weeks.
2) Suffering an unusual injury for a pitcher, the unfortunate Rangers reliever Darren O'Day went on the DL in early April and was transferred to the 60-day DL on April 30, a sign that he's likely to miss the rest of the season.
3) You may think we made this one up. But former Cubs catcher Michael Barrett did indeed suffer a fractured testicle on September 2, 2006 and missed the rest of the season.
4) "Left elbow infection" -- you're thinking lefthanded pitcher, right? Nope, this one was suffered by Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake, who went on the DL on April 29 and missed more than a month.
5) Displaced right knee ligaments sounds like a common injury for a fast baserunner. Maybe someone will have this type of problem in 2011 -- but so far, no one has.
6) The proud owner of a circulatory problem in right little finger is Mets reliever Bobby Parnell, who went on the DL on April 20.
7) An inflamed ledesma would likely be pretty painful, if it were an actual body part. Instead, it's the last name of a backup infielder who played for the Mets, Devil Rays (back when there was such a thing), Orioles and Rockies from 1995-2000.
8) The Tigers' Ryan Perry suffered an infected eye and went on the DL on April 5. How did this happen? Do not ask, dear reader, do not ask. In any case, he returned to action with just the minimum 15 days out.
9) The high right ankle sprain was suffered by Humberto Quintero just this past weekend. You know, the days that seemed like open season on catchers.
10) The Athletics' Brandon McCarthy, who seemingly has spent more time on the DL over the last several seasons than any pitcher not named "Kerry Wood", had a stress reaction in his right scapula, the same area he's had injured in previous years, and has been on the DL since May 19.
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