Off-Topic Forum

I am watching the Royals-D-backs game and watched the pitcher take a line drive with an exit velo of 112 mph. So it got me curious, without going into gory detail, what is the worst injury in professional sports have you witnessed. Either in person or on the tv (preferably in person because that is a different kinda crazy).

For me, I was at a portland trailblazers game. Greg Oden came down and never got up. I was a 6th grader there with my basketball coach and his youth group. I remember watching as the court cleared and then was full of medical personnel and he was taken off on a stretcher. There was close to a 25-minute delay in the game and he blew out his left knee. I remember it was a weird day because how can you be excited about the game when your player gets hurt in the first quarter. It was also crazy because we got a Greg Oden bobblehead for going to the game. The last thing I remember from the evening was we got caught in a snowstorm and were going 5 mph in a school bus and I didn't think we were going to make it home that night and were going to be stranded on the side of a highway. 

Oh my, brutal topic.  I hate to say it, but pitchers need to put a helmet on.  The exit velocities are crazy.   Long ago batters didn't wear helmets, then one died.  Now they all wear helmets without question and we'd all think it was crazy to see someone up there without one.  I hope we don't have to go through the same thing, a pitcher dying, before they put a helmet on.   If this happens, it is obviously tragic for the pitcher but the batter(and possibly some witnesses) also may end up traumatized.  

I remember a few years ago, there was this pitcher, Alex Torres, who wore a protective hat in the mound in case he was ever struck by a line drive. 

It was odd to look at, but I figured we'd all be thankful he was wearing it if he was ever hit.  I don't know know what became of those hats, since I haven't seen them since.

I saw the Joe Theismann injury on TV, which really freaked me out as a 9-year old.

Thankfully, I did not see the Clint Malarchuk injury live.  I saw a bit of it on a Youtube comp years later and could not continue to watch.  Makes me physically ill to even think about it.

I was 11 when I saw Theisman break his leg. I'll never forget the bone sticking out of his pants and the look of horror on LT's face.

I was watching an Expos game when Moises Alou's leg basically exploded as he turned the corner around first base following a hit.  He ended up coming back after a layoff and having an amazing career after it, but I didn't think the man would ever walk again when it first happened.

Luckily it was in the shin but still no fun, and probably broken bone

I also watched on TV when the Mets Mike Cameron collided with Carlos Beltran at Petco Park while they made a diving attempt to catch a ball back in 2005. It was horrible! 

I'm not going into specifics, but it is always horrible to see pitchers get hit in the face with a batted ball and football/basketball players with lower leg injuries (knee to ankle). Those are just gruesome and I've seen many. I haven't seen any of those while attending a game though, just on TV. I also watch a lot of extreme sports like the X Games. Seeing someone land on their head or neck is always horrific to see (even if they are completely fine afterwards), as is someone have something like a snowmobile or motorbike land on them when they land wrong.

Kevin Ware broke his leg while trying to block a shot against Duke.  Such a freak accident and so obvious the split second it happened.  I saw it live, and it always comes to mind when I hear "sports injury".  Here's the video if you need a gut check :-).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcAtF2_occs