Play for Pain

Tough, tough blow for the Giants losing closer Robb Nen for the entire year. Even though the Giants have done well without him so far, the G-Unit will surely miss him later in the year when they need to finish off close games. That's the damndest thing about baseball: everyday players stay relatively healthy compared to guys in other sports, but pitchers just get these devastating arm injuries. You see a guy like Nen or A.J. Burnett, who'll be out 18 months after Tommy John surgery, and you have to wonder: are pitchers the most vulnerable athletes in all of sports?

The occasional basketball player tears an ACL, but most never lose their shooting touch and are able to return to the game with relative success. Tennis players and golfers usually recover from their injuries pretty quickly. Quarterbacks surely take their share of hits and concussions over a career and running backs probably have the most wear-and-tear on their bodies which is why they tend to have short careers (e.g. Terrell Davis, Jamaal Anderson). In fact pretty much all football players, hockey players and boxers suffer tremendous reprecussions after their careers are over as their skeletons are basically out-of-whack for the rest of their lives. But violence is so ingrained in those sports that you kind of have to accept that injuries will be a natural part of them.

But I don't think there are any athletes more succeptible to career-threatening injury than pitchers. How many times have we seen a guy have a season-ending arm injury and then never return to his old form? You blow out an arm and it might never be the same. So you can't really begrudge these guys when they demand big contracts- every pitch could be your last.