2008 Woodie Awards
World baseball injury crisis
Pilcher's Mound
Erich Pilcher
Issue date: 3/23/06 Section: Sports
"I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us."- Walt Whitman
Ahh, baseball. America's pastime. If you are like me you get that warm fuzzy feeling whenever spring training starts and your favorite team touches down in Arizona or Florida. Then in late March you get as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve.
Yes, baseball is upon us. This year teams are practicing but without many of their best players. Some players are off competing in the World Baseball Classic.
This is suppose to be the most important time of the year for baseball players. It is a time for managers to see where player's talent will be best utilized, for new pitchers to work with catchers on timing and for players to get in better condition. It is not a time for players to risk severe injury playing in this tournament.
Lets say hypothetically that David Ortiz, who is representing the Dominican Republic and is the Red Sox star designated hitter, swings and tears his quad muscle- there goes his season and the Red Sox hope for success.
The same could be said for numerous other players including Miguel Tejada (Baltimore Orioles), Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees) and IchiroSuzuki (Seattle Mariners). Major League Baseball is all for this grand tournament but if a player gets injured then that respective team may be forfeiting a winning season.
MLB supports this first-year tournament but has done nothing to relieve the owners of the worry that their players might be injured .The only action MLB has taken is implementing a rule that each game will not be allowed to go past 14 innings, Not allowing the tournament would be the best idea.
MLB should allow teams to have an insurance clause on star players participating, meaning that if a player is hurt and out for the rest of the season that team will receive their yearly salary back on their salary cap.
Ahh, baseball. America's pastime. If you are like me you get that warm fuzzy feeling whenever spring training starts and your favorite team touches down in Arizona or Florida. Then in late March you get as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve.
Yes, baseball is upon us. This year teams are practicing but without many of their best players. Some players are off competing in the World Baseball Classic.
This is suppose to be the most important time of the year for baseball players. It is a time for managers to see where player's talent will be best utilized, for new pitchers to work with catchers on timing and for players to get in better condition. It is not a time for players to risk severe injury playing in this tournament.
Lets say hypothetically that David Ortiz, who is representing the Dominican Republic and is the Red Sox star designated hitter, swings and tears his quad muscle- there goes his season and the Red Sox hope for success.
The same could be said for numerous other players including Miguel Tejada (Baltimore Orioles), Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees) and IchiroSuzuki (Seattle Mariners). Major League Baseball is all for this grand tournament but if a player gets injured then that respective team may be forfeiting a winning season.
MLB supports this first-year tournament but has done nothing to relieve the owners of the worry that their players might be injured .The only action MLB has taken is implementing a rule that each game will not be allowed to go past 14 innings, Not allowing the tournament would be the best idea.
MLB should allow teams to have an insurance clause on star players participating, meaning that if a player is hurt and out for the rest of the season that team will receive their yearly salary back on their salary cap.