SAN FRANCISCO -- Freddy Garcia ran into a grounds crew cart while he was tracking a fly ball in the outfield during batting practice and suffered a bruised left shin.Seriously.
I'm not joking.
In the absolute strangest on-field injury I've ever seen in nine years of covering sports, Garcia was taken (ironically, by the same cart he crashed into) to the dugout, where he hopped down the stairs and limped into the clubhouse. GM Pat Gillick said Garcia isn't seriously injured, but the Phillies won't know until tomorrow if he'll be able to make his start at Arizona. That said, Gillick is wondering why a grounds-crew cart similar to the one pictured here was on the field during batting practice.Good question, Pat. So, we asked Jorge Costa, the Giants' VP of ballpark operations. According to Costa, it's "standard operating procedure" at AT&T Park, although it's highly unusual everywhere else. But at the Ballpark By The Bay, grounds crew members tend to the bullpen mounds while the opposing team takes BP. The bullpens are located down the left- and right-field lines, so the grounds crew preps one mound, drives the cart along the outfield warning track and preps the other.
Nobody ever gets hit.
Well, except Freddy Garcia, who must've had a curse or a hex or a jinx placed on him when he was traded to the Phillies. Garcia said after tonight's game that his shin was feeling better, but a flight to Arizona tonight may change that. Then again, the way Garcia's season is going, what else can possibly go wrong?
"We're suing!" a smiling Brett Myers hollered in the clubhouse.
Garcia shook his head. "Who gets hit by a cart?" he said.
Only you, Freddy. Only you.
4 comments:
Couple questions
1. Are the carts hard to see?
2. Why the hell is a pitcher fielding the outfield during batting practice?
Are you kidding me? This is reminiscent to Madsen breaking his hand while shagging fly balls in the OF during BP, but funnier.
Well, Garcia's been terrible. Segovia or Happ couldn't be worse.
Anonymous: Pitchers shag fly balls in the outfield during batting practice every day. It's part of their routine. So it wasn't unusual that Garcia was out there.
A maintenance cart being on the warning track is HIGHLY unusual at most ballparks. But, as you can read tomorrow (I'll post the link on the Blog, too), it's common practice at AT&T Park.
mind boggling. this team is in some serious trouble. especially if they do a bullpen day. with the injuries to the pen they can't do two strenous days in a row.
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