How Video Games Put This Pro Baseball Player On The Injury List
Although professional video gaming carries some risk of injury, like in the case of "Call of Duty" pro Thomas Paparatto, casual play rarely sends gamers to the hospital. Still, video game injuries aren't unheard of. On the flip side of competitive play, professional athletes must be careful to keep their bodies in perfect working order. Unfortunately, video games and professional sports collided in an accident that put one player on the bench for a short recovery.
According to a report from ESPN, Oakland Athletics pitcher Jesus Luzardo recently broke his pinky finger while playing video games, although the incident doesn't seem to be related to games directly. During a gaming session, Luzardo accidentally bumped his hand on a table, which led to the fracture. Luzardo reported feeling fine afterward, and the Oakland Athletics decided to let him play last Saturday. After a less than stellar game for the Oakland As, Luzardo received an x-ray on his hand, only to discover his finger was indeed broken.
Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin told ESPN he wasn't sure how long Luzardo would be benched, and seemed sort of incredulous about the bizarre injury. "He came in, was a little bit sore, training staff checked him out. We threw him in the cage before he went out there, watched him warm up," Melvin explained. "He was comfortable pitching, the training staff was comfortable with him pitching. After the game, we got an X-ray and there was a hairline in the pinkie finger."
Fan response to Luzardo's injury
No reports seem to have indicated which game Luzardo was enjoying when the accident happened, but it may have been sports-related after all. Luzardo recently retweeted "MLB The Show," acknowledging his appearance in the game.
Fans responded sympathetically online. One gamer reacted to the situation by saying Luzardo "got mad and slammed his fist on the desk. Been there, haven't fractured a finger doing it but I understand it." Another gamer said the incident sounded like a "rage quit wall punch."
Still, some have lightly criticized Luzardo's injury. One user summed up the situation as "Getting paid $600,000 a year to use your hand to throw a ball and still being so competitively committed to killing that twelve year old sonuvabitch on 'COD' that you break your pinky." In all fairness to Luzardo, sometimes professional gamers get mad and rage quit, too.
The Oakland Athletics don't know when Luzardo will be back in pitching state, but the team feels confident he will make a full recovery.