sports monkey-piles

Factual Questions
1

Is it just me or do these things look like injuries waiting to happen?

I’m talking about those celebrations at the end of the big game where two teammates tackle eachother to the ground and then the rest of the team comes running in and starts a big pile-on in celebration of their victory. You even see late arrivers run and the pile make flying leaps onto the top.

Do players suffer injuries from these things? I’d hate to be the guy at the bottom with players stacked 5 high on top of me. And what if someone’s on your leg and there’s another two guys on top of him?

Any instances of broken bones or guys passing out at the bottoms of these piles?

2

A few years back, after the Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland A’s in the AL Divisional series, Denny Hocking was spiked in the hand during the pile-up. The injury was serious enough that he missed the remainder of the playoffs. It was a real pisser for Hocking. He was a long time Twin who had suffered through many losing seasons during the team’s lean years.