I know that the NFL’s All-Star game equivalent, the Pro Bowl, is played at the end of a season, probably because football players don’t play more than one game a week and that sports injuries are more likely and more severe
So for MLB, NBA, and NHL All Star games, has there ever been an injury to a player whose team made the championships but lost, arguably due to that injury?
Coaches and sports writers always talk about not wanting to put a certain guy out there too much, fear of injuries in an exhibition game, and whatnot, but I’m wondering if they really have that much to worry about. The injuries I remember from watching the NBA All Star game weren’t numerous, and as far as I remember, weren’t on players that were on championship contending teams. Usually the guy’s back in a couple weeks, if that long, and the game is forgotten. But the caution seems to remain persistently.
The classic example would be Tigers catcher Ray Fosse getting his shoulder separated and fractured when Pete Rose ran into him in the 1970 MLB All-Star game. It’s hard to relate that directly to the team’s subsequent performance, but Fosse was never the same player afterward.
But I can’t think of any other examples - in the contact sports, it does seem that players ease up a bit in the desire not to get anybody hurt, and that makes football and hockey ASG’s crap to watch.
Yeah, I thought of Fosse, too, but his team (the Indians) finished at 76-86 that year, so no real case that they missed the playoffs because he wasn’t available.
Not exactly the same, but in 2006 Ottawa Senators goalie Dominik Hasek suffered an adductor pull at the Olympics, and never played another game that season. Ottawa was forced to go to rookie backup Ray Emery and went out in the second round of the 2006 playoffs.
Ted Williams broke his arm in the 1950 All-Star Game; the Red Sox finished third, 4 games behind the Yankees. Although his replacement, Billy Goodman, was able to accumulate enough plate apperances (mostly filling in for Williams) to win the batting title.