{"id":78789,"date":"2024-07-04T07:00:44","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=78789"},"modified":"2024-07-03T22:09:05","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T02:09:05","slug":"ten-strangest-reasons-missed-games-mlb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/04\/ten-strangest-reasons-missed-games-mlb\/","title":{"rendered":"The Strangest Reasons Why MLB Players Have Missed Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On Monday night, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nimmobr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Nimmo<\/a> was scratched from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/28\/offense-mets-continues-hit\/\" target=\"_self\">New York Mets<\/a> lineup after fainting in his hotel bathroom. <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/09\/07\/which-version-of-brandon-nimmo-do-the-mets-need\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The outfielder<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> thinks that a leg cramp was the cause of the sudden spike in blood pressure. Nimmo spent the day getting evaluated by medical staff and had a bandage on his forehead during the game.\u00a0 Nimmo falling is strange, but does it crack the top ten list of strangest reasons players have missed games in MLB?<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Brandon Nimmo details his fall in the hotel bathroom this morning, he says he fainted and woke up on the floor with a cut on his head <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lbnh55zGI4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/lbnh55zGI4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nypostsports\/status\/1807895148853854405?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 1, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ten of the Strangest Reasons MLB Players Have Missed Games<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Yoenis C\u00e9spedes Gets Boared<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cespeyo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yoenis C\u00e9spedes<\/a> spent <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">a large portion<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> of his major league career on the injured list. C\u00e9spedes was on the mend, nursing surgery on both heels, when he suffered a &#8220;violent fall&#8221; at his ranch in Port St. Lucie, FL. At least this is how the Mets reported it in May of 2019. It was later reported in January 2020 that Cespedes fractured his foot while being attacked by a wild boar. <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/extra-mustard\/2020\/01\/04\/yoenis-cespedes-wild-boar-incident-cause-injury-mets\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">According to The New York Post<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, Cespedes has multiple traps on his ranch for wild boar. One of the boars was released and <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;either charged toward Cespedes or startled him, causing Cespedes to step into a hole.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cespedes would go on to miss all of 2019 and only play eight games in 2020 before hanging up his spikes for good.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Marty Cordova vs. Tanning Bed<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cordoma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marty Cordova<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/02\/17\/nevadas-best-baseball-player\/\" target=\"_self\">best known<\/a> for his 1995 Rookie of the Year campaign with the Minnesota Twins. What he would rather NOT be known for is falling asleep in a tanning bed.\u00a0 As the story goes, Cordova fell asleep in a tanning bed and received burns to his face and neck. This caused him to miss multiple day games as a Baltimore Oriole in 2002. Cordova stated in a <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reviewjournal.com\/sports\/sports-columns\/ron-kantowski\/marty-cordova-sets-record-straight-on-tanning-bed-incident-2608656\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">2022 interview with Ron Kantowski<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, however, that laser hair removal caused the burns. Cordova didn&#8217;t want to bad mouth the plastic surgeon, so he let the tanning bed story take off. Which we are all the better for, because falling asleep in a tanning bed is way more entertaining.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Trevor Bauer and His Toy<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">One of the more notable injuries came during the 2016 ALCS. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bauertr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trevor Bauer<\/a> was poised to make the Game Two start for the then-Cleveland Indians, but during &#8220;routine maintenance&#8221; of his drone, <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/mlb\/news\/mlb-playoffs-2016-trevor-bauers-drone-injury-couldve-been-a-turning-point-in-alcs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bauer cut his finger.<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Even worse was that it was on his pitching hand. Bauer would come back to pitch Game Three but was lifted in the first inning due to the amount of blood coming from the cut. Bauer would also lose the two starts he made in the World Series in 2016. Surely near the top of the strangest reasons for an MLB player to miss a game, the incident was j<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">ust<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> another &#8220;what if&#8221; in Bauer&#8217;s complicated career.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Brian Roberts Loses a Fight&#8230;to Himself<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 2010, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/roberbr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brian Roberts<\/a> was coming off a season where he led the American League in doubles and swiped 30 bags. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/01\/22\/best-north-carolina-baseball-players\/\" target=\"_self\">North Carolina native<\/a> was a two-time All-Star for the Baltimore Orioles as their starting second baseman. On September 27th, 2010 Roberts struck out against Tampa Bay&#8217;s reliever, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/benoijo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joaquin Benoit<\/a>. After striking out, Roberts hit himself in the head with his bat out of frustration. Despite having a helmet on, Roberts <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">actually<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> gave himself a season-ending concussion. This would <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">actually<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> begin a string of injuries for the former Tar Heel, never playing over 100 games in a season again.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When Celebrations Strike!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are multiple accounts of professional athletes being injured during celebrations. Most recently, high-profile closer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=diazed04,diazed03,diaz--005edw&amp;search=Edwin+D\u00edaz&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a> had a season-ending knee injury while celebrating in the World Baseball Classic.\u00a0 One of the uglier celebration injuries came on a walk-off grand slam by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moralke01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kendrys Morales<\/a>. In 2010, Morales hit a game-winning walk-off grand slam, giving his Los Angeles Angels the victory over the Seattle Mariners.\u00a0 After rounding the bases, Morales jumped onto home plate and prepared for the embrace from his teammates. Morales <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">ended up breaking<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> his leg after coming down on home plate awkwardly, prematurely ending his season in May.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CHU789PuCWg?si=QBZff5HnhrsZboX1\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Arachnophobia<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 1990 one of my favorite creature features was released; &#8220;Arachnophobia.&#8221; A small-town doctor must take on thousands of poisonous spiders to save his town and family. The irony is the doctor is deathly afraid of spiders. Another person who <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">apparently<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> suffers from arachnophobia is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hillgl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Glenallen Hill<\/a>. In 1990, Hill was playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. During the season, Hill had a nightmare about spiders that was so real that he crashed through a glass table. This landed Hill on the injured list due to multiple bruises and cuts all over his body.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Unhappy Ending<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 2019, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/correca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Correa<\/a> was still a member of the notorious Houston Astros. Despite being in his prime, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/01\/10\/correa-minnesota-twins\/\" target=\"_self\">Correa<\/a> <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">ended up<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> on the injured list without warning. The team did not initially release an explanation. Correa finally released a statement that he fractured a rib while getting a massage at home. He would <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">end up missing<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> a few months of the season due to the injury.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I Had the Lasagna<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Coming off <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">of<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> his first Cy Young Award in 1991, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/glavito02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tom Glavine<\/a> had big expectations for 1992. The ideas of back-to-back Cy Youngs or leading the league in wins for a second year in a row (which he did). Things not on this list most likely included breaking ribs due to violent vomiting (which he also did). <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/11\/04\/left-handed-pitchers-300-club\/\" target=\"_self\">Glavine<\/a> contracted food poisoning after having bad airline food, landing himself on the injured list. The real question is, did he have the steak or the fish?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Team Building<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=sparkst02,sparkst01&amp;search=Steve+Sparks&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Sparks<\/a>, best known for his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/30\/tim-wakefield-r-a-dickey-knuckleballers-mlb\/\" target=\"_self\">knuckleball<\/a>, was subjected to team-building nonsense during spring training in 1994. Sparks was fighting for a roster spot with the Milwaukee Brewers. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bandosa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sal Bando<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garneph01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Phil Garner<\/a> brought <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">in<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> a company that did amazing human tricks for the team. One of these tricks was ripping a phone book in half.\u00a0 The next day Sparks wanted to try his hand at the Superman feat. Instead of separating the phone book, he separated his non-pitching shoulder. Sparks didn&#8217;t miss any time with the team. He was, however, promptly shipped off to the minors.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I&#8217;m a Lover, Not a Fighter<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you go down the interweb rabbit holes, you will find videos of baseball players getting injured in on-field brawls. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/venturo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robin Ventura<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anderti01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tim Anderson<\/a>, there have been some beatdowns over the years. In 2022 The Mariners and Angels got into one of the better scrums in the last few years. When attempting to aid his team, Angels pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bradlar01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-03_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Archie Bradley<\/a> fell over the dugout railing and fractured his right elbow. Not only was Bradley ineffective in the fight, but he was also relieved of pitching duties for a few months on the injured list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Archie Bradley was placed on the 15-day IL with an elbow injury <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Angels?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Angels<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2sb1px0c3A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/2sb1px0c3A<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jared Tims (@Jared_Tims) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jared_Tims\/status\/1541905081141907456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 28, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 John Jones-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday night, Brandon Nimmo was scratched from the New York Mets lineup after fainting in his hotel bathroom. The outfielder thinks that a leg cramp was the cause of the sudden spike in blood pressure. Nimmo spent the day getting evaluated by medical staff and had a bandage on his forehead during the game.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5131,"featured_media":79013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,22],"tags":[1334,1515,9367,716,1931,233,6180,2269,483,532],"class_list":["post-78789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-mets","tag-archie-bradley","tag-brandon-nimmo","tag-brian-roberts","tag-carlos-correa","tag-edwin-diaz","tag-kendrys-morales","tag-marty-cordova","tag-tom-glavine","tag-trevor-bauer","tag-yoenis-cespedes"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}