Greatest Sports Injuries

Former Cardinals Kicker Bill Gramatica -
Injured not kicking a field goal.... but celebrating one

A week ago, the Yankees lost starting pitcher Chien Ming Wang, leaving Manager Joe Girardi with just 2 healthy pitchers from the 5 pitchers slated for the rotation and leaving GM Brian Cashman with the difficult job of finding replacement arms on a slow and barren pitching market. Wang, out for at least 3 months, was injured, not while on the mound or in the batter’s box, but running the bases. No, there’s nothing else to the story. No collision at the plate, no headfirst slide, and no unlucky fall. He was just running…and then he couldn’t.

The same professional athletes that perform seemingly superhuman feats on a daily basis, somehow always seem to have trouble with the stuff the rest of us do daily. Here’s a couple of my favorites…

Remember what happened the last time you sneezed? Probably not. Chances are, you sneezed, got a tissue, and continued on with the rest your life. But Sammy Sosa, a member of the exclusive, 6-person 600 home run club, can distinctly recall such time because he somehow managed to pull a muscle in his back, sneezing in the clubhouse before a game. Seriously? He made a career hitting 98mph fastballs, but it was a sneeze that took him out of the lineup?

Ever ironed a shirt and complained it took too long? Well you wouldn’t be alone. Braves Pitcher John Smoltz had the same complaint, and so he came up with a solution. First, he’d put the shirt on, and then he’d iron it while he was wearing it, so he didn’t have to worry about putting it on. Well, unfortunately, his iron (and mine and probably yours too) was hot and he burned his chest. Don’t believe me, I have proof.

And finally, my favorite sports injury of all…

A little while ago, I bought a DVD of the Godfather, but couldn’t open it by hand, so I got a knife to open it and enjoyed the greatest movie of all-time. Simple enough. But pitcher Adam Eaton, apparently a movie lover himself, he, too, had to open those tricky DVD wrappers and so he, too, went and got a knife. But not just any knife – he went and got the sharpest knife he could find and back he came with a paring knife (I’m pretty sure it looked something like this), ready to open this DVD once and for all. To make a long story short, an ambulance ride, a couple stitches across the chest, and an embarrassing story later, he still hasn’t seen that movie.

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