hey nats, how about crawford and/or ethier for strasburg? hell, we'll even throw in turner and butera... Bryce Harper has torn thumb ligament; out until at least early July By Keith Law | ESPN.com -- 1 minute ago Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper will undergo surgery Tuesday to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and is expected to be out until at least early July, according to multiple sources.AP Photo/Nick WassHarper, 21, injured his hand with a head-first slide into third base to cap a bases-clearing triple in Friday night's victory over San Diego. He stayed in the game for an inning before he was replaced. The extended loss of Harper is a significant blow to a Nationals roster already riddled with injuries to key players, among them catcher Wilson Ramos, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (both with hand injuries) and starting pitcher Doug Fister (back). Harper missed 44 games last season, his second in the majors, with a left knee injury. He was hurt in mid-May when he slammed into the right-field wall at Dodger Stadium. Harper is not the first star player to suffer the injury recently. Los Angeles Angels slugger Josh Hamilton is out with the same injury, while Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia played through it all of last season before having offseason surgery in November. All three players suffered the injury while sliding into a base. __
Now look for MLB to institute the 'no hand injury slide rule', where in a player sliding headfirst into a base no longer has to touch the base to be called safe. In much the same manner as the Buster Pussy 'don't block the plate' rule, baseball will deem any player attempting to slide into a base headfirst to be safe, in order to avoid injury provoking contact. /sarcasm. Ignant players. Don't you understand what fucking cleats are for? If Tyrus Cobb was around, he'd let you know.
