PAINFUL PLAYS ON THE ROAD: DISHONORABLE MENTION

1. Earle Comb runs himself into early retirement, July 24th, 1934, Sportsman Park, St. Louis

       Ouch and double ouch. On July 24th, 1934, veteran Yankee centerfielder Earle Combs chased a fly ball into the wall at Sportsman Park, fracturing his skull. Combs slipped into a coma and required brain surgery. He returned in 1935 but after batting .300 or better for eight straight seasons, he hit just.282 in 89 games before retiring.

Meanwhile, back on the 24th, the Yankees called up George Selkirk from Newark to replace Combs…only to be told he’d broken his arm that very same day.

2. Billy Martin breaks his leg in his television debut, March 12, 1952, St. Petersburg, Florida

When Joe DiMaggio offered young Billy Martin $100 to demonstrate sliding technique on the spring training television show he was hosting, the young player jumped at the chance. It cost him badly. The part-timer was finally going to become the Yankees’ starting second baseman until he took on this moonlighting gig. On March 12, wearing brand new spikes, Martin caught his foot in the ground near second base and broke his ankle on the bag. He was out three months, losing thirty pounds during his recovery. By October, however, he was recovered enough to become a World Series hero.

3. Henry Cotto cleans his ear and lands on the DL, May 26th, 1985, Oakland Coliseum

       File this one under strange but true baseball stories.        The Yankees were losing 13-1 in Oakland on May 26th, 1985 so backup outfielder Henry Cotto decided it was a good time to clean his ears. Obviously his mother never told him that sticking a q-tip in your ear is a bad idea … especially in a baseball dugout.

Ken Griffey Sr. accidentally bumped Cotto’s arm and… boom… a punctured eardrum. Cotto was out of action until September. It was the most bizarre injury to a New York baseball player since Giant Freddie Fitzsimmons flattened his own fingers underneath the rocking chair he was sitting in back in 1927 although Cotto would be supplanted in 1988 when Met Bobby Ojeda clipped off his fingertip along with a hedge.

DISHONORABLE MENTION: CAUSED BY NEW YORKERS

1. Herb Score’s career is destroyed, May 7th, 1957, Municipal Stadium, Cleveland

Herb Score started off great and then got better. When the Cleveland rookie debuted in 1955 he won 16, finished fourth in the AL with a 2.85 ERA and led the league with 245 strikeouts for a rookie record (later broken by Dwight Gooden) and was named Rookie of the Year. In 1956, the fireballing southpaw won 20 games, was second in ERA at 2.53 and again led in strikeouts with 263.

But Score hurled the ball to the plate with a forceful motion that left him ill-prepared to field the ball and on May 7th, 1957 at Municipal Stadium, Yankee Gil McDougald hit the cruelest of all comebackers—his line drive crashed into Score’s eye, ending his season and nearly blinding him. Score tried coming back but won just 17 more games over five ineffective seasons, although he went on to find success and happiness in the Indian broadcast booth.

2. Dickie Thon takes one in the eye, April 8th, 1984, Houston Astrodome

Houston’s Dickie Thon was a superstar-in-the-making, a slick fielding shortstop with enough pop for 20 homers and 79 RBIs in 1983. On April 8, 1984, Thon’s career nearly ended. Thon was crowding the plate against Met Mike Torrez and looking for a pitch away. The fastball in tight froze the young hitter and smashed into his head breaking a bone near his left eye. (Torrez was effusively apologetic.)

Thon’s 20/20 vision went to 20/150 before improving to about 20/40 or 20/50… with blurriness and a loss of depth perception. He didn’t return until 1985 and struggled for years before finally hitting 15 homers for Philadelphia in 1989. But even that remarkable comeback just made everyone wonder about what might have been.

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