This Spring Training has only reinforced the idea that baseball players are typically the victims of the most bizarre injuries to ever afflict athletes. Just before the Reds opened camp, Ken Griffey, Jr. revealed he broke his left hand in December while wrestling his children on his family's yacht during a vacation in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, Kerry Wood missed a few days of Spring Training after slipping in his hot tub, causing him to bruise his ribs. But as these ailments are hardly the most peculiar injuries baseball has seen, here is a look at the 10 strangest ailments to afflict America's pastime over the past decade (with a couple recollections from a Yankee fan):
10. Matt Mantei cuts himself on a can of dog food: While recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery in February 2002, Mantei punctured his thumb while opening a can of dog food. The gash, which required four stitches, did not directly impact the Diamondback reliever's recovery, which kept him out of action until June 28 and limited him to 31 appearances that season.
9. Adam Eaton stabs himself trying to open a DVD: In 2001, while using a pocket knife his grandfather gave him to open a package containing the DVDs of "Backdraft" and "Happy Gilmore," Eaton, then pitching for the Padres, stabbed himself in the abdomen, forcing him to miss his next start. The eight-year veteran has apparently regained top form, as he signed a three-year, $24.5 million contract with the Phillies in the offseason.
8. John Vander Wal hurts his knee while shoveling snow: Two weeks after free agent outfielder John Vander Wal signed a one-year deal with Cincinnati in 2004, the journeyman pinch hitter tore his ACL after he fell while shoveling the snow near his Michigan home. Vander Wal, who the Reds were counting on to be a backup outfielder and a left-handed bat off the bench, was limited to 41 games, in which he hit a disappointing .182.
7. Kevin Brown punches a wall and breaks his non-pitching hand: Having already missed seven weeks of the 2004 season recovering from a strained lower back and an intestinal parasite, Brown compounded an oft-injured first season with the Yankees in an apparent fit of rage on Sept. 4. Exiting a game against the Orioles after a solid six-inning, three-run effort, the $15-million right-hander inexplicably punched a clubhouse wall, breaking his left hand and missing three weeks while New York was running neck-and-neck with Boston for the AL East title. Brown recovered in time to take the hill for Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox, in which he allowed five earned runs in just 1 1/3 innings as Boston took the game and the pennant.
6. Moises Alou falls off a treadmill: Then an outfielder for the Astros, Alou was coming off a 38-home-run 1998 season that saw him finish in third place - behind Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire - in the NL MVP voting. Alou was denied a chance to improve on his career year, however, when in February 1999, the 15-year veteran fell off his treadmill while working out in his native Dominican Republic, tearing his left ACL and forcing him to miss the entire season. Alou returned with a vengeance in 2000, posting a .355 average with 30 home runs and 114 RBI.
5. David Cone gets bitten by his mother's dog: The 1998 Yankees, winners of a franchise-best 114 games and their 24th-ever World Series championship, seemed to have luck on their side the entire season. In June, pitcher David Cone was scratched from a scheduled start after his mother's Jack Russell Terrier bit the ring finger of his pitching hand. But in a move that was emblematic of the fortune that followed the Yankees throughout 1998, the team called up Orlando Hernandez from Class AAA Columbus to pitch in Cone's place. In his Major League debut, "El Duque" yielded just one run on seven innings and went on to post a 12-4 mark with a 3.13 ERA in 1998.
4. Jeff Kent hurts his wrist washing his truck (or so he says): In March 2002, Kent, then the Giants' second baseman and clean-up hitter, took his white pickup truck to a Scottsdale self-serve car wash, where he slipped and broke a bone in his wrist trying to break his fall. The injury didn't just cost the 2000 National League MVP the remainder of spring training, but also a great deal of credibility. Published reports later claimed Kent actually hurt his wrist doing motorcycle tricks in a parking lot, which would have been a violation of his contract.
3. Sammy Sosa sneezes too hard: In May 2004, Sosa sneezed so violently before a game against the Padres that he induced back spasms, forcing him onto the 15-day disabled list with a strained ligament in his back. The 1998 NL MVP missed 31 games and finished the season with fewer than 100 RBI for the first time since 1994.
2. Marty Cordova gets sunburned at a tanning salon: Splitting time at outfield and designated hitter for the Orioles in 2002, Cordova fell asleep in a California tanning salon, causing his face to become severely sunburned. When doctors told him to stay out of direct sunlight, the 1995 Rookie of the Year was forced to miss nearly a week of action.
1. Clint Barmes slips while lugging deer meat: Enjoying a successful rookie year with the Rockies in 2005, in which he was posting a .329 average with eight home runs through June 5, Barmes received a congratulatory present from teammate Todd Helton - a package of deer meat. But the shortstop made a critical error when he opted to carry the frozen venison up the stairs to his fourth-floor apartment rather than wait for the elevator. Barmes slipped and fell on his shoulder, shattering his collarbone and forcing him to miss three months of the regular season.
-by Sapna Bansil
