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The Strangest Reasons Why MLB Players Have Missed Games

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On Monday night, Brandon Nimmo was scratched from the New York Mets lineup after fainting in his hotel bathroom. The outfielder thinks that a leg cramp was the cause of the sudden spike in blood pressure. Nimmo spent the day getting evaluated by medical staff and had a bandage on his forehead during the game.  Nimmo falling is strange, but does it crack the top ten list of strangest reasons players have missed games in MLB?

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Ten of the Strangest Reasons MLB Players Have Missed Games

Yoenis Céspedes Gets Boared

Yoenis Céspedes spent a large portion of his major league career on the injured list. Céspedes was on the mend, nursing surgery on both heels, when he suffered a “violent fall” at his ranch in Port St. Lucie, FL. At least this is how the Mets reported it in May of 2019. It was later reported in January 2020 that Cespedes fractured his foot while being attacked by a wild boar. According to The New York Post, Cespedes has multiple traps on his ranch for wild boar. One of the boars was released and “either charged toward Cespedes or startled him, causing Cespedes to step into a hole.”

Cespedes would go on to miss all of 2019 and only play eight games in 2020 before hanging up his spikes for good.

Marty Cordova vs. Tanning Bed

Marty Cordova is best known for his 1995 Rookie of the Year campaign with the Minnesota Twins. What he would rather NOT be known for is falling asleep in a tanning bed.  As the story goes, Cordova fell asleep in a tanning bed and received burns to his face and neck. This caused him to miss multiple day games as a Baltimore Oriole in 2002. Cordova stated in a 2022 interview with Ron Kantowski, however, that laser hair removal caused the burns. Cordova didn’t want to bad mouth the plastic surgeon, so he let the tanning bed story take off. Which we are all the better for, because falling asleep in a tanning bed is way more entertaining.

Trevor Bauer and His Toy

One of the more notable injuries came during the 2016 ALCS. Trevor Bauer was poised to make the Game Two start for the then-Cleveland Indians, but during “routine maintenance” of his drone, Bauer cut his finger. Even worse was that it was on his pitching hand. Bauer would come back to pitch Game Three but was lifted in the first inning due to the amount of blood coming from the cut. Bauer would also lose the two starts he made in the World Series in 2016. Surely near the top of the strangest reasons for an MLB player to miss a game, the incident was just another “what if” in Bauer’s complicated career.

Brian Roberts Loses a Fight…to Himself

In 2010, Brian Roberts was coming off a season where he led the American League in doubles and swiped 30 bags. The North Carolina native was a two-time All-Star for the Baltimore Orioles as their starting second baseman. On September 27th, 2010 Roberts struck out against Tampa Bay’s reliever, Joaquin Benoit. After striking out, Roberts hit himself in the head with his bat out of frustration. Despite having a helmet on, Roberts actually gave himself a season-ending concussion. This would actually begin a string of injuries for the former Tar Heel, never playing over 100 games in a season again.

When Celebrations Strike!

There are multiple accounts of professional athletes being injured during celebrations. Most recently, high-profile closer Edwin Díaz had a season-ending knee injury while celebrating in the World Baseball Classic.  One of the uglier celebration injuries came on a walk-off grand slam by Kendrys Morales. In 2010, Morales hit a game-winning walk-off grand slam, giving his Los Angeles Angels the victory over the Seattle Mariners.  After rounding the bases, Morales jumped onto home plate and prepared for the embrace from his teammates. Morales ended up breaking his leg after coming down on home plate awkwardly, prematurely ending his season in May.

Arachnophobia

In 1990 one of my favorite creature features was released; “Arachnophobia.” A small-town doctor must take on thousands of poisonous spiders to save his town and family. The irony is the doctor is deathly afraid of spiders. Another person who apparently suffers from arachnophobia is Glenallen Hill. In 1990, Hill was playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. During the season, Hill had a nightmare about spiders that was so real that he crashed through a glass table. This landed Hill on the injured list due to multiple bruises and cuts all over his body.

Unhappy Ending

In 2019, Carlos Correa was still a member of the notorious Houston Astros. Despite being in his prime, Correa ended up on the injured list without warning. The team did not initially release an explanation. Correa finally released a statement that he fractured a rib while getting a massage at home. He would end up missing a few months of the season due to the injury.

I Had the Lasagna

Coming off of his first Cy Young Award in 1991, Tom Glavine had big expectations for 1992. The ideas of back-to-back Cy Youngs or leading the league in wins for a second year in a row (which he did). Things not on this list most likely included breaking ribs due to violent vomiting (which he also did). Glavine contracted food poisoning after having bad airline food, landing himself on the injured list. The real question is, did he have the steak or the fish?

Team Building

Steve Sparks, best known for his knuckleball, was subjected to team-building nonsense during spring training in 1994. Sparks was fighting for a roster spot with the Milwaukee Brewers. Sal Bando and Phil Garner brought in a company that did amazing human tricks for the team. One of these tricks was ripping a phone book in half.  The next day Sparks wanted to try his hand at the Superman feat. Instead of separating the phone book, he separated his non-pitching shoulder. Sparks didn’t miss any time with the team. He was, however, promptly shipped off to the minors.

I’m a Lover, Not a Fighter

If you go down the interweb rabbit holes, you will find videos of baseball players getting injured in on-field brawls. From Robin Ventura to Tim Anderson, there have been some beatdowns over the years. In 2022 The Mariners and Angels got into one of the better scrums in the last few years. When attempting to aid his team, Angels pitcher Archie Bradley fell over the dugout railing and fractured his right elbow. Not only was Bradley ineffective in the fight, but he was also relieved of pitching duties for a few months on the injured list.

 

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Photo Credit: © John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

 

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