Mattingly played in the 95 playoffs vs. the Mariners and had a good series.
Oo, another one:
Yao Ming: his broken foot/feet look to be career ending.
I’ll nominate a Thoroughbred who didn’t die tragically, but who had a more mundane injury. Devil’s Bag was the greatest two-year-old runner I have ever seen. Just unbelievably talented. He came back at three to expectations of a Triple Crown, but finished fourth in his second start back by Rexson’s Hope, a horse who shouldn’t have been able to finish within 10 lengths of “The Bag” - an indication something was wrong. He won his next two starts, but was retired with a knee injury a few days before the 1984 Kentucky Derby.
At two, he broke records set by Seattle Slew and Spectacular Bid. From what I saw, he was just as good as those two Hall Of Famers, if not better.
Lyman Bostock was murdered after just four years in MLB. He was a wonderful hitter, who finished in the top 10 in hitting three of the four years and was just enetering his prime when he was gunned down.
You are correct of course. What I should’ve written was
“Mattingly made only one postseason appearance, in a 1995 division series the Yankees lost to Seattle, while Puckett starred in both the Twins’ World Series victories.”
Ron Powlus was a Notre Dame star who…
Daunte Culpepper was 28 and had just set an NFL record for combined rushing and passing yardage in a season when he blew out all three knee ligaments. Okay, so he was never great, but he’s got to be at the top of the “very good” list.
In Ohio, before there was LeBron, there was Jay Burson.
Playing in the small village of New Concord, Jay became the state’s all-time leading scorer. His games were events that attracted attention from a much larger audience. Jay put points on the board an average of 1 per minute.
He decided to play for Ohio State and made a positive impact on the team. At barely 6 feet and 160 pounds in stature, he was a premier player in the Big Ten.
Then, in a game against Iowa, Jay got the ball on a fastbreak and took it to the hoop. He collided with the rim/backboard and broke a vertebra, a potentially crippling injury.
Although drafted by the Houston Rockets, Jay’s professional career never (pardon the pun) took off. He eventually played a short time for the Columbus Horizon of the CBL.
Len
Bias
(death)
Mark the bird Fidrych, blew his knee out shagging fly balls ending a super looking career.
sorry, when i saw this i LOL’ed
Lindros the most overrated hockey player ever. And to think Philly traded Forsberg a real champ and a crap ton more just for this overrated hockey player.
I would put Bobby Orr in this list. If he played a decade later his knee injuries coulda been fixed properly, sad but true about the medical advances with reconstructive knee surgeries.
Kid Nichols–won over 300 games before age 30; suddenly faded out.
Ed Delahanty–drunk, he took a walk on the railroad bridge over Niagara Falls and fell to his death.
Chief Louis Sockalexis–Discovered liquor and faded. Out of majors in 3 years; died in his 40s.
Nick Altrock–Flourished in 1906; arm went sore within a few years. Played last game in 1933, age 57.
Ray Chapman–Killed by a Carl Mays beanball–one and only fatality caused by play in major leagues.
Mickey Cochrane–Like Chapman, took pitched balll in the head. Never played again.
Lou Gehrig–contracted mysterious illness that destroyed his nervous system. Died at age 38.
Boo Ferris–ballyhooed as Red Sox pitching star; faded out after a few years.
George Sisler–Sinus problems kept him out of game in 1923. Never the same after that.
Jim Piersall (OK, his career wasn’t cut short, but he might have really flourished in the game had he not had the mental breakdown)
Claude Passeau–hit on the pitching hand in 1945 World Series.
Nelson Briles–hit on hand, like Passeau.
Freddie Fitzsimmons–took batted ball on knee and lost effectiveness.
Karl Spooner–Faded out of majors after shining in World Series.
Roy Campanella–Fractured spine in auto crash; legs paralyzed. Never caught for L. A. Dodgers.
Eddie Waitkus–Shot in belly by psychotic young woman (point-blank); out rest of 1949 season, never quite the same after that.
Monty Stratton–lost leg in hunting accident.
Any comments?
Maybe I missed the mentions someplace but ,
What would Joe Namath have been if he had knees? We saw how good he was with limited mobility. In his later years he had practically no mobility and it was all injury related.
I thought he had arm/shoulder problems from being used so carelessly in that magical rookie season. Anyway, if you hadn’t heard, he died recently when the truck he was working on at his farm fell on top of him. RIP, Bird; you were the second person I thought of for this thread.
The first is still my all-time sports hero: Bobby Orr.
Lebron reminded me of another one: Brad Daugherty (Brad Daugherty (basketball) - Wikipedia)
Set the Cavs’ points and rebounds records until broken by Lebron, retired at 28 because of back troubles, averaged 18 points, 10 boards over his entire career, and the best nobody in the original arcade version of NBA Jams.
One of my all time favorite hockey players.
Post
#25.
(and #94)
Can the definition of “injury” be stretched to accommodate strep throat?
In the event that it can, I’m gonna nominate George Gipp.
And let’s not forget Don Wilson, another great pitcher for the Astros. Career wasn’t really ended by injury; he committed suicide at age 30.