PAINFUL PLAYS: DISHONORABLE MENTION

1. Bobby Ojeda slices his finger, September 21, 1988

Bobby Ojeda had bounced back from 1987 elbow surgery to post a 2.88 ERA in 1988, making him an important part of the Mets’ post-season plans. In the space of a seemingly mundane moment, in the slip of a hand, those plans went violently, gruesomely awry on September 21—while trimming the honeysuckle bushes at his Port Washington home, the control artist lost control of his electric hedge clipper and partially severed the upper part of his left middle finger. The arteries and tendons were slashed and the top joint was shattered; a small flap of skin held the finger together.

       It could have been worse—that small flap proved crucial as doctors at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital performed five hours of microsurgery that same day, not only saving the finger but re-attaching the tip just crookedly enough that Ojeda could throw his curveball.

       It’s impossible to know if Ojeda’s presence would have meant the difference between winning and losing the 1988 NLCS in Los Angeles but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt. Ojeda was able to come back and win 13 games in 1989, but in 1993 while with Cleveland he’d land in the midst of an even freakier and far more tragic accident in 1993 when a boat he was on crashed into a dock killing teammates Tim Olin and Steve Crews while scalping Ojeda.

2. Away from the ice Brian Leetch slips on the ice, March 19, 1993, Madison Square Garden

       The Rangers had such a painful history of late-season injuries to top stars in years the team was a serious contender it was enough to make rational people believe in jinxes: 1971, Brad Park tore up his knee; 1972, Jean Ratelle’s ankle was broken on a shot by teammate Dale Rolfe; 1973, Vic Hadfield broke his thumb; 1979, Ulf Nilsson broke his ankle; 1990, Brian Leetch broke his ankle. But 1993 topped them all: On March 19th,

Leetch who had won of the Norris Trophy for best defenseman the previous year but had just missed 34 games with a nerve injury in his shoulder, fractured his fibula on the ice.

But this wasn’t the ice at the Garden. This was the ice in front of his West End Avenue apartment. That’s right, one of the game’s best skaters slipped on the ice, getting out of a taxi. At least, that’s the story he told. WFAN was soon hearing from people who had seen Leetch and Mark Messier out and stories circulated that Leetch was drunk or that he and Messier were goofing around or that Leetch tripped while being chased down a flight of stairs. Any version was equally embarrassing and painful and the season ended with the Rangers failing to make the playoffs and their own fans taunting them with chants of “1940” and “Same Old Shit.” Fortunately, the next year would erase both of those jeers forever.

3. The Stork crashes, July 7, 1973, Shea Stadium

George Theodore dreamed about an outfield collision. Then he lived one. On July 7 1973, two weeks after his nightmare, Theodore was filling in for Cleon Jones in left field on the injury-plagued Mets. After misplaying one ball, Theodore swore he’d let nothing else get past him. So when Ralph Garr hit a fly to left-center, Theodore forgot all about centerfielder Don Hahn and just went hard for the ball.

He came to whilst being carried off on a stretcher with a dislocated hip; Hahn had bruised ribs but would be back in the lineup within days but Theodore would be out until September and would never fully regain his batting stroke or form.

PAINFUL PLAYS: A NEW YORK WELCOME

Hughie Jennings takes one in the ear, June 28, 1897, Polo Grounds

On June 28, 1897, the Giants administered a beating to the Baltimore Orioles. Forget the final score, this one was purely physical. Giant starter Amos Rusie threw so hard that some say the pitching distance had been moved to its present distance from 50 feet because of his heater. In the first inning he faced Baltimore great Hughie Jennings, who crowded the plate and specialized in getting hit by pitches—in 1896 he was hit 49 times, a record that lasted 75 years.

Rusie’s fastball smashed into Jennings’ skull behind the left ear. Although bleeding profusely Jennings took his base and scored a run. But then he was removed with a brain concussion and skull fracture. Jennings, who would be hit in the face by Giant Jouett Meekin the following year (staggering and falling so dramatically the players thought he was dead) and would later fracture his skull again diving into an empty pool, was not the only Oriole to go down that day. The Orioles also lost first baseman Jack Doyle when a bouncing ball struck him in the face. Both Jennings and Doyle would miss significant action.

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