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August 11, 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Effect of Injuries As we head into the playoff stretch, injuries to key contributors could decide who will be playing -- and who will be home watching -- the post-season this fall. Just in the last two weeks, injuries have hit star performers like Stanhope's Mariano Rivera (14 days), Newark's Mike Piazza (27 days), Philly's Jon Lieber and Vancouver's Brett Myers (15 days). Every team has had at least one substantial injury so far this season, and every fan thinks his team has been beset by the most injuries. We took a look at the numbers to see which teams have been the hardest hit, and which ones have remained relatively healthy so far this season. We defined an injury as when a player is out for one or more days (players hurt "for this game only" weren't counted), regardless of whether or not the player went on the Disabled List. The primary measure of how much "lost time" a team has had to injury is measured in player-days. (If you lose one player for 10 days or two players for 5 days, both are 10 player-days.) We also looked at how many injuries of one or more days each team has had to deal with. There were a total of 140 injury occurrences this season, affecting 110 players (several players were hurt on multiple occasions). Finally, we looked at the players who lost the most time due to injuries, with several players out for 25 days or more.
How does a team go from the playoffs last year to tumbling into the cellar this year? Injuries help explain how the Tijuana Banditos fall apart so quickly and so completely. The Banditos lead the league in lost time due to injuries (218 player-days), most injury occurrences (16), most players injured (14) and most players injured for 10 or more games (9). In fact, the Banditos had three of the longest injuries, with Randy Wolf (30 days), Oscar Henriquez (29 days) and Justin Speier (26 days). They also had one of the most bizarre injuries of the year when Mike Sweeney was lost for 29 days in his first game with the Banditos after being acquired from the Rats. Austin Kearns (12 days, 8 days) and Edgar Renteria (5 days, 4 days) were the team's double-dippers. The Harrison Rats haven't had an inordinate number of injury occurrences, with 10 injuries hitting eight players. But the really surprising thing is how much time their players have missed: A whopping 192 player-days! The Rats' Steve Trachsel missed the most time of any player this season, with two separate injuries (30 days, 25 days) eating up about a third of his season. Gary Sheffield, the team's other two-timer (26 days, 15 days), leads the league in lost time by a position player, with 41. Robert Machado (29 days), Luis Rivas (27 days) and Mike Sweeney (24 days) also rank in the top 20 for longest injured stretches this season. And remember, Sweeney got injured for another 29 days after getting traded! The Newark Sugar Bears are tied for second-most injury occurrences (14) and the most players injured (10) and also have several of the longest injury stretches this season, racking up 176 player-days lost to injury. Manny Ramirez leads the team with longest stint (28 days) and, with another 9-day injury, total time missed (37 days). Mike Piazza (27 days), Andy Pettitte (25 days, 10 days) and Mark McLemore (24 days) also missed significant time; Ramirez, Pettitte, Alex Cora (12 days, 2 days) and Jose Hernandez (7 days, 4 days) were all hurt twice. (Orlando Hernandez, who was already on the Disabled List with a 25-day injury when the Sugar Bears acquired him, wasn't included in Newark's total.)
The Hoboken Cutters are just a little worse than the league average, losing 101 player-days to nine injury occurrences to seven players. Ben Davis (30 days) and Orlando Hernandez (25 days) lead the charge, but behind them, the longest injury was Marquis Grissom (13 days); only one other player (Jarrod Washburn, 10 days) was in double digits for lost time. Grissom (13, 1) and Joe Randa (7, 3) each missed time twice. The Columbia Rattlesnakes tied with the Sugar Bears for second place in injury occurrences (14) and players injured (10), but their lost time (90 player-days) totaled nearly half of Newark's thanks to the heroic efforts of Columbia's medical staff. Pedro Astacio missed the most time with two separate injuries (15 days, 5 days). Miguel Batista (5 days twice), Robert Fick (5 days, 3 days) and Ramon Vazquez (4 days, 3 days) all double-dipped on the trainer's table. Kevin Appier and Sidney Ponson joined Astacio in missing 15 days to tie for the team lead. The Phoenix Dragons have seen 11 injuries to 10 players for a manageable 83 lost player-days. Though both their All-Star catchers, Javy Lopez (19 days) and Jorge Posada (13 days) missed significant chunks of time, their injuries, fortunately for the Dragons, didn't overlap. Troy Percival (15 days) was the only other Dragon to miss a double-digit total of games, and only Luis Gonzalez (5 days, 1 day) was hurt twice. The Vancouver Iron Fist have lost 74 player-days to injuries, but that's overstating the case since most of it came from starting pitchers (Greg Maddux, 15 days; Brett Myers, 15 days; Rodrigo Lopez, 10 days and 5 days), who miss -- at most -- one start for every five days injured. Other than the starting pitchers, the most significant injury was to Sammy Sosa (11 days); no one else is in double digits, and Lopez was the only two-timer. Overall, the Fisters have had nine injuries to eight players.
The Carolina Mudcats have lost 56 player-days to nine injuries (six players), the worst to Rich Aurilia (14 days). Torii Hunter was out twice (5 days, 3 days) and Randy Winn was on the shelf three times (5 days, 3 days, 1 day) with minor injuries. The Honolulu Sharks have lost just 54 player-days due to injuries, with Mark Mulder's 15-day injury the longest so far this season. (Mulder also missed five days later in the season, padding his overall lead in most time missed to 20.) The Sharks have had nine injuries to seven players, with Jay Payton (11 days, 5 days) joining Mulder as a repeat offender. No one else was in double digits. The Brooklyn Bean Counters have had 10 injuries to six players, with Geoff Blum getting hurt three times (once for 22 days, two other times for one game each) to lead the team both in longest stint and in cumulative time lost to injuries. Darin Erstad (5 days, 3 days) and Jack Wilson (3 days, 1 day) were injured twice each. Altogether, the Beaners have lost 53 player-days to injuries. The Stanhope Mighty Men have by far the fewest injury occurrences (5) and are the only team without a "repeat offender" so far this season. Matt Clement leads the team with 15 missed days, followed by Mariano Rivera (14), Mike Lieberthal (12) and Kerry Wood (10). Mike Stanton missed just one game, for a total of 52 player-days lost to injury. The Arkansas Golden Falcons lost the least time of any team this season, which is something of a surprise seeing they have one of the oldest rosters in baseball (11 players age 35 or older, two players in their 40s!) and 10 players on their roster with a reputation of being injury prone. So far, the Falcons have lost just 44 player-days, with seven injury occurrences hitting six players (Juan Gonzalez was hurt twice, but missed just one game each time.) In fact, their longest injury this year was to Herbert Perry (14 days), who was released as soon as he came off the Disabled List. Cecil Fielder was the first selection in the DMBL's inaugural draft in 1991. Since then he's enjoyed a solid career as a member of seven DMBL teams. He is now retired and serves as the color man for the Columbia Rattlesnakes radio team. Click Here for past articles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Philadelphia Endzone Animals' Benito
Santiago holds the dubious honor of missing the
most time due to a single injury -- 34 days. The team
also has the only "three-timer" in the league who hit
double-digits on all three trips to the injured list
with Paul Byrd (15 days, 10 days, 10 days),
giving him a combined total one day longer than
Santiago. Other than that, it hasn't been that bad:
Jon Lieber missed 15 days, Scott
Williamson was out for 13 and Jose Vidro is
the only other repeat offender (2 days, 1 day). With
11 injuries to 8 players, the Animals have lost 108
player-days this season, nearly two-thirds of that to
Santiago and Byrd.
The Hillsborough Destroyers can either say the
glass is half-full because they've largely avoided the
injury bug, or say it's half-empty because more than
half of their lost time hit Carlos Delgado (18
days, 15 days). Overall, the D-Men have seen just six
injuries to five players, with only Delgado and
Jeff Weaver (15 days) in double digits, losing
58 player-days to injury.