About a week ago, we felt inclined to update you on all the weird baseball injuries that have occurred this season, of which there have been an abundance. Throughout recent history, we’ve seen pitchers who manage to injure themselves swinging a bat and players who injure themselves while celebrating. The UCLA baseball team failed to learn a lesson from Kendry Morales — who hurt his ankle celebrating a walk-off homer — and ended up injuring one of their pitchers in a dog pile. Celebrating a big moment is something you kind of can’t help, but unless it’s a championship clincher teams should probably do their best to scale it back a bit.
When considering the possibility of an injury related to the pie-in-the-face celebration, I tend to think about people ending up with a scratched cornea or an eye injury. I can honestly say I’ve never given any thought to somebody tearing a meniscus. That’s exactly what happened to Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan after the Marlins walk-off win over the Braves on Sunday afternoon. Coghlan suffered a torn meniscus trying to smash a shaving-cream pie in Wes Helms‘ face after his walk-off single, and he could be out six to eight weeks if surgery is necessary.
It’s tough to control your emotions when you care about the team. It’s totally understandable, but I’d hate to see a pennant race affected by a casualty that’s suffered during a post-game celebration. Players really need to make a more conscious effort to celebrate safely, if that’s at all possible. I can’t think of anything more embarrassing than ending up on the shelf because you were trying to smash shaving cream in a teammate’s face. I’m sure Coghlan agrees.
Source:
Coghlan goes on DL after celebration injury [MLB.com]
