All Injuries, All the Time

To quote Slim Pickens in the classic comedy Blazing Saddles, "What in the wide, wide world of sports is a-going on here?" Baseball's weird, early season wave of injuries gobbled up more big names on Sunday. And it's not just the Yankees anymore -- although they lost two productive players -- DJ LeMahieu left their game against the Giants with a knee problem and Gio Urshela, who has done a heck of a Graig Nettles imitation lately as Miguel Andujar's fill in, was smacked on the hand by a pitch. Now, add on Robinson Cano of the Mets, also hit by a pitch; Padres rookie sensation Fernando Tatis Jr, with a hamstring; and reigning National League MVP Christian Yelich with a back issue. Oh, he's only hitting in the .350s with a league leading 14 homers.
One after another and another and another... Have training and fitness regimens gone to the extreme? Do we need to go back to Babe Ruth's routine of hot dogs and beer? Come to think of it, neither the Bambino nor his partner in slugging Lou Gehrig, spent much time on the I-L or D-L or whatever it was called almost a century ago. Have these finely tuned athletic machines been inadvertently turned into a fragile sports cars, less dependable than a working man's Toyota or Ford?
A sport sells itself with stars -- on the field, not on the shelf.

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