Giants Dominate List Of 10 Strangest Baseball Injuries Ever
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Giants pitcher Matt Cain hit the disabled list over the weekend after he cut his hand during a challenging sandwich assembly project. Was it the strangest injury in baseball history? Not even close. In fact, many former members of the Giants have even more far-fetched sounding stories. Here are some of those, sprinkled with other favorites from MLB.
Sliced Up Southpaw
Jeremy Affeldt has helped the giants escape quite a few tight spots during his time in the bullpen, but he couldn't help his home BBQ out of a real jam. Cain's teammate saw his 2011 season cut short when he sliced opened his hand and caused some nerve damage trying to pry apart hamburger patties. "I should have used hot water," Affeldt told The Associated Press at the time. Ya think? Perhaps the current Giants should just stay away from food preparation altogether.
Sleep Arachnophobia
Former Giant outfielder Glenallen Hill missed games during the 1990 season with Toronto when he cut up his foot and left his home in a bloody mess trying to escape an imagined spider attack while sleeping. He even invited skeptics to come check out the damage.
Blow-up Blow-Out
Former A's (and just about everybody else) outfielder Milton Bradly was known for being brash and a little hard to manage. During a 2007 blowup with an umpirehe was both. His manager, Bud Black, tried to restrain him and spun him to the ground. Bradley blew out his anterior cruciate ligament in the wrestling. He would miss the rest of the season for the wildcard-leading Pads.
Braves Barf Costs Glavine
Things were mostly turbulence-free for tom Glavine during his Hall of Fame pitching career, but in 1992 he allegedly had such a rough time with an in-flight meal that he broke a rib vomiting. He played through the pain though.
Coyote Bite Costs Ryan A Start
Nolan Ryan was one of the best and toughest pitchers in the game for decades. Part of that was his durability. So it had to take something out of the ordinary to make him miss a start. In 1985, a coyote bite on the hand cost him a game. He gave up only 6 hits in his next start to beat the Padres.
Burned Out Ballplayer
Orioles Outfielder Marty Cordova was advised to stay out of the sun in 2002 after he fell asleep in a tanning bed and fried his face. His manager noted that was going to be tough, with a 12:30 game in California.
Guitar Hero Becomes Playoff Goat
Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya missed the 2006 ALCS due to a wrist injury...suffered after playing too much Guitar Hero.
Hum Baby's Bizzare Snap
Very little is known about the 1990s injury to longtime Giants Manager Roger Craig -known for his "hum baby" catchphrase - but apparently he badly cut his hand on a bra strap. That's it. That's all we know but it was still good enough to make the list. He didn't miss any time and said he didn't feel like making up a different story.
Donut Does in Kevin Mitchell
The former Giants left fielder had a number of odd injuries over the years (how did he not hurt himself on that barehanded catch?) but the strangest ever was the 1990 tale of him chipping a tooth on a microwaved doughnut, requiring a root canal. He would show up late to spring training, and never fully recovered his MVP form from a year earlier.
Kent's Car Wash Fiasco
Speaking of former Giants MVP's, Jeff Kent's notorious "truck washing" incident of 2002 was the beginning of the end of his time in San Francisco. The 2000 MVP was, according to many witnesses, actually trying to pull stunts on his motorcycle, not the car-washing fail he told team management. He and the Giants went on to monster years, but ownership and the fans began to sour on the 2nd baseman at that point.
