On August 16th, 1954, In a throwing contest between Jim Piersall and Willie Mays before a Red Sox-Giants charity game in Boston, Piersall hurt his arm. He started the game but left midway. He woke up the following morning with a sore arm that stayed with him a year, and he would never throw quite as well again.

Injuries are part of the game of baseball. Unfortunately so are stupid injuries.

Here is a list of just a few of my favorite “Stupid Injuries”:

• In 2021, Cleveland’s Zach Plesac had a wardrobe malfunction to blame for causing a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb. According to manager Terry Francona, the pitcher injured the thumb while taking off his undershirt and getting it caught on the chair at his locker. “He was, I think, probably rather aggressively ripping off his shirt,” Francona said.
• In 2002, one time Twin Marty Cordova had an unfortunate run-in with a tanning bed. To be exact: The former Rookie of the Year fell asleep in one and sunburned his face. Doctors told Cordova he should stay out of the sun as much as possible while the burn healed, so he had to miss a few games. Day games only
• In 1969, Pat Dobson’s season ended a few weeks early when teammate Wayne Redmond “jumped up in the air when he saw a mouse and came down on my foot.” The critter spooked Redmond, who in turn spiked one of Dobson’s toes. It ended Dobson’s tenure with the Tigers, who traded him to the Padres that offseason. San Diego dealt him to Baltimore a year later, where in 1971, he was one of four 20-game winners for the AL champions
• On June 7, 1983, George Brett was at home in Kansas City doing laundry. In the other room, the Cubs’ game was on television. Brett heard the announcer saying Bill Buckner — his good friend — was coming to the plate, and he didn’t want to miss the at-bat. While running to the TV room, he smashed his foot on the door jamb and broke his pinkie toe. He had to go on the DL.
• Prior to Game 4 of the 1985 National League Championship Series between the Cardinals and Dodgers, Vince Coleman was run over by Busch Stadium’s automatic tarpaulin, injuring his leg. The tarp machine was rolling out as rain began to fall during batting practice. The 24-year-old speedster was a big reason St. Louis had reached the NLCS, having stolen 110 bases en route to winning that year’s NL Rookie of the Year Award. He would miss the remainder of the series, though the Cardinals would eventually win it to advance to the World Series, which they lost to the Royals in seven games.

And Finally, here is one of my favorites:

Glenallen Hill, Blue Jays
Glenallen Hill went on the disabled list in 1990 after falling through a glass table, resulting in cuts and bruises to his feet, knees and elbows. What caused the fall? Hill had just woken up from a nightmare about spiders chasing him — he was afraid of spiders — and in his confused state, he fell through the table.