May 28, 2005

In the Batter's Box

with Eric LeBlanc

Injuries Abound

In Major League Baseball, one injury can destroy a team's hopes of being in contention. And this season, it seems that more players are injured than normal.

Could it be that steroids were rampant in the league and now that they are gone, players are not able to heal as fast, play as long or handle as much? Could the collapse of about half of the closers in the majors be explained by steroids?

Those questions may never get answers, but the fact that players are still found to be using steroids after they know that they are going to be tested speaks volumes about the perceived need for the drug.

Players who had successful seasons using steroids would suddenly doubt their abilities. Players who made it to the majors would risk being caught just to keep from getting sent down to the minors.

And a lot of it may be all in their heads. If a player actually has the talent to succeed in the majors but casually took steroids and was successful, then he may not think he can be successful without the drug. The mind can fool us into thinking a lot of things. And it works the same way the other way around. If a pitcher thinks he knows that guys were using steroids and he was not, this year he may think that he is going to blow it by hitters. He'll think that he has the upper hand and will become overconfident. And that can lead to failure in sports as a pitcher or as a hitter as well.

Anyway, there are no answers to those questions. We'll probably never know who took steroids and who didn't. We won't know if the decline of a player from this season on is because of steroids, aging or a natural decline of skills. We may never know if a player strained or tore a muscle because he was used to healing fast with steroids after workouts.

But we do know that there have been a lot of injuries to star players this year, more so than I can remember in recent years. I remember doing a column about injuries last year or the year before. In it I made an All-Injury All-Star Team. But I took a look at the disabled list from around the majors and this year I can make two teams, one team from each league. Now these are not all the players on the disabled list. These are players who are stars and who could easily be seen an a real All-Star game. So here it is, my May 2005 All-Injured Team:

National League

C - Eddie Perez (I had to stretch this one)
1B - Jeff Bagwell
2B - Mark Loretta, Aaron Miles or Jose Vidro
3B - Scott Rolen
SS - Jose Valentin
LF - Barry Bonds
CF - Marquis Grissom
RF - Wily Mo Pena
UT - Craig Wilson
SP - Mike Hampton
SP - Odalis Perez
SP - Ben Sheets
SP - Woody Williams
SP - Kerry Wood
RP - Antonio Alfonseca
RP - Brandon Lyon
RP - Guillermo Mota

American League

C - Javy Lopez
1B - Frank Thomas
2B - they can borrow one of the NL second basemen
3B - Corey Koskie
SS - Bobby Crosby
LF - Coco Crisp
CF - Rocco Baldelli
RF - Vladimir Guerrero or Magglio Ordonez
DH - Juan Gonzalez
SP - Eric Bedard
SP - Rich Harden
SP - Orlando Hernandez
SP - Kevin Millwood
SP - Curt Schilling
RP - Octavio Dotel
RP - Troy Percival
CL - Francisco Rodriguez

Now these two teams make make a good list, but it wouldn’t make a good event to watch. Just imagine...

Come watch Kerry Wood throw with his other non-injured arm to try to strike out Barry Bonds while the slugger is sitting in a chair! See Mark Loretta and Javy Lopez battle it out over who’s hand hurts more when Antonio Alfonseca (the six-fingered man) squeezes it! And see if Curt Schilling’s golden ankle can hold up in a “Hobble Around the Bases Spectacular” against Frank Thomas!

Wait a minute. Some people might pay to watch that. If professional dodgeball can find its way on TV, why not this? Now if I could just find Bud Selig’s phone number....

Eric LeBlanc nearly broke his ankle at a softball game a few years ago and he was playing the next week. Hitting wasn’t bad, but trying to hobble to first base before they threw him out from the outfield was the tough part. He can be verbally injured at (985) 758-2795 or by e-mail at EricL@heraldguide.com.