Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Last night at the Rockies’ game, injured pitcher Juan Nicasio received a standing ovation. It is 10 days or so since a line drive sent him to the hospital with a broken neck. Amazingly it appears that he suffered no injury to his spinal cord and will not be paralyzed. He is talking about pitching again.
There is something special about seeing someone who has been injured providing entertainment for others. We expect, but still appreciate, those who get hurt or die giving support to society. Soldiers, police officers, firefighters, and others have volunteered to put their lives on the line daily. The risk is part of the job. I do not mean to diminish the injuries and deaths of those contributors (and I have many friends who are police officers who I do worry about), but to see a young man, standing tall hugging his mother, with his neck brace on who literally evaded a death almost caused by playing a game made for an emotional reaction.
Games are supposed to be fun, not life threatening (I am not referring to the X Games). Obviously there is certain risk in all sports, but you don’t think there is a risk of death. Unfortunately fatalies happen, which makes us appreciate all the more what athletes are giving us. I have seen many people hurt at sporting events—players, officials, fans, but I don’t think I have ever seen anyone seriously injured, fortunately.
When something extremely serious does happen it is shocking. I was at Coors Field when Carlos Gonzalez slammed into the center field wall making an incredible catch. He lay on the ground until removed on a stretcher. A real, true pall fell over the ballpark when the cart came out and took him away. Even the players seemed affected. I am sure they generally avoid thinking about the risks associated with playing a game, but every so often images like Nicasio’s must give them pause.
Fortunately, past injuries have resulted in changes which will minimize future problems. Korey Stringer, a lineman for the Minnesota Vikings, died of heat stroke during training camp 10 years ago. Now football teams across America, down to the lowest level take steps to make sure that doesn’t happen again, although tragically it still does.
Ray Chapman died from a fastball to the head in 1921, but it took 30 years for players to routinely wear batting helmets. Baseball reacted much quicker to Tony Conigliaro’s beaning, ordering helmets to contain the now-familiar flap on the side of the face.
I don’t think Nicasio’s injury can be addressed by rule changes. It was just the unfortunate result of a man throwing a baseball really hard from a short distance to a man who sent it back even harder. Nothing much can be done. At the game Monday, Matt Belisle had a line drive whistle over his head into centerfield. I wonder if he thought of Nicasio. Whether he did not, he stood in there and finished the inning. I am pretty sure I could not have done so.
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