Masahiro Tanaka apologizes to Yankees fans for injury

Masahiro Tanaka is set to miss at least six weeks due to a partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament. The Yankees’ ace knows that the timing is poor, given the team is trying to hold on in the both the American League East and the wild card races. While it’s not his fault that he’s injured -- unless we’re going to start to fault guys for playing baseball to begin with -- he took the time to apologize to fans anyway.

Devotees will remember that fellow Japanese star Hideki Matsui apologized when he injured his wrist and underwent surgery back in 2006 while with the Yankees. Daisuke Matsuzaka did the same for Red Sox fans after concealing an injury at the start of 2009. What have we learned? Japanese baseball players are a lot more polite than the kind of fans who would demand apologies from their favorite athletes.

Hey, maybe you don’t expect an apology when [team] ace goes down with an injury, but that’s because you’re classy enough to come to SB Nation for all of your #sports needs. We’re talking about people besides you. You know the ones.