Houston Astros fans held their breath last May when star shortstop Carlos Correa was scratched from the lineup with a broken rib. How did such a thing happen? Hit by pitch? Collision at second base? As it turned out, it wasn’t on a baseball diamond, but at Correa’s home, when he was having a massage. Fortunately for the ‘Stros, he wasn’t out long, but his experience was yet another in a long line of weird baseball injuries.
About the same time, Tampa Bay pitcher Blake Snell dropped a granite stand on his toe in his bathroom. Though he missed little time, he hasn’t pitched nearly as well this year as he did in his Cy Young award winning 2018 season.
The list of strange off-field mishaps includes the laughable, the ludicrous and the cringeworthy. Cleveland ace Trevor Bauer sliced his pinkie while repairing a drone and had to leave a game when the stitches opened. Oakland speedster Ricky Henderson suffered frostbite from injudiciously applying an ice pack. Yankee reliever Joba Chamberlain hurt his ankle bouncing with his kid on a trampoline. Pitcher Joel Zumaya was playing the Guitar Hero video game and strained a muscle. Marc Rzepczynski of the Cardinals was golfing when the ball ricocheted and hit him in the face. In one of history’s most bizarre on-field mishaps, the Cardinal’s Vince Coleman was run over by the machine that rolls out the tarp, and he missed a playoff series with an injured leg.
There’ve been several accidents involving water, though no body of water big enough for the player to consult a Houston maritime lawyer. Arizona’s Ian Kennedy cut his finger washing dishes. The Athletics’ Shawn Kelley sliced his thumb when he stuck it into a sinkful and grabbed hold of a knife. Atlanta Braves infielder Dan Uggla cut his hand when he reached into an ice bin for drink.
In one of baseball’s most famous and controversial off-season misadventures, Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg tore ligaments in his knee while skiing on Christmas Eve. He’d been a 20 game winner and had led the league in strikeouts in 1967, the previous season, but never again had a year that good. Since then, professional athletes have been contractually forbidden to participate in risky activities.
If you’re an injured maritime worker, your accident may not be as odd as these, but its impact on your life and your finances can be even more severe. Don’t wait on your employer or your insurance company to get what you have coming to you. Talk to a Houston maritime lawyer at Schechter McElwee Shaffer & Harris and put their team to work for you.
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