Most f'd up injury ever?
 

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Article Text:

Former USF star Bozied caps slam in bizarre way


Former USF star Tagg Bozied of the Triple-A Portland Beavers was approaching home plate and a mob of jubilant teammates after hitting a walk- off grand slam when his knee cap fell off Monday night.

"It was one of those freak things," Bozied said Tuesday.

It doesn't get any freakier. Earlier Monday, Bozied had been named Pacific Coast League batter of the week after hitting .600 with four walks and nine RBIs in four games. That night, with his team trailing first-place Edmonton by a run and the bases loaded, he uncorked a tape-measure home run over the left-center-field wall.

The Beavers had won their sixth in a row and had moved within two games of first place, and Bozied, 24 years old with a .315 average, 16 homers and 58 RBIs in only 57 games and riding the hottest run of his career, was looking very much like a player who could get called up to the big leagues.

"I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it," Bozied said. "Right before I rounded third base, I remember seeing the guys from our bullpen coming in to greet me at home. I was thinking, I'll remember this forever."

Bozied gathered himself to leap on home plate and felt a pop. He blacked out for a few seconds. When he awoke he was lying face down on home plate. His teammates, thinking he was kidding around, playfully kicked him and patted him on the back. Then one teammate saw his leg, and the ghastly sight silenced everyone.

"My kneecap was up on my quadriceps (thigh), and the top of my lower leg was sticking through my pants," Bozied said. "All I remember is taking off to jump, and the next thing I remember I was lying on the ground. I went into shock; I didn't feel one bit of pain. I thought my career was over."

Without being touched, Bozied had ruptured his patellar tendon when he tried to jump, leaving his lower leg untethered. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was told his career was not over, and that he might return next spring.

"So after hearing that I was actually feeling pretty good," he said.

No one could explain how it happened, although a tendon problem in his other leg that had sidelined him for 37 games earlier in the season might have been a clue.

"They think maybe my legs are just too powerful for my tendons," Bozied said.

Bozied's career had changed dramatically in a matter of moments. He said he was "definitely" hitting the ball better than at any time of his career when he hit the game-winner. Seconds later, he thought his career was over after sustaining an inexplicable and grotesque injury. An hour later, he was relieved to hear he'll return next spring, pending the results of surgery to be performed in San Diego on Thursday.

Just touch home plate like you've been there before kid.

On a more serious note, DAMN! A dialtone away from the bigs, hitting like a monster and suddenly you're *hoping* you can recover for next season, very cruel turn of events.

I still think Sid Vicious's injury from one of WCW"s PPV's was the sickest injury ever. Oh my god. Talk about a snap crackle and pop to a leg!

Thanks, I had pretty much put that out of memory, until well, the visualizing again of it now. Just had to bring that up didn't you ;)

Hey.. it could be worse.. I could post the video clip (if I can find it), and let EVERYONE see how bad it was ;)

I think I still have that on my old machine for grossing people out periodically.

Napolen McCallum in the game where Jerry Rice broke the receiving TD record (Monday Night) is still the worst injury I've seen on TV.

My best friend and linemate (playing LG to my LT) in high school breaking his leg while leading on a sweep was the worst I've seen/heard in person. The sound was worse than the sight, IMHO.

He needs to get off the juice

My stomach hurts.

Joe Theismann.

Ickey Woods.

Most f'd up ever?

While not serious, I'd say Terry Harper dislocating his shoulder while waving a runner home would qualify in the "that's just weird" category.

My thoughts exactly. I've seen one injury like that before where the muscles outgrew the tendons and it was a guy that bragged about using the juice.

Yeah, I am sure that this one is not, but after sitting on this one for a few minutes, unable to come up with an appropriately witty title, that's what came out :)

Buffalo Sabres goalie (Malachuk?) had his jugular severed in a game many years back. That was freaky, even moreso because the game kept going while he falls to his knees and the blood puddle starts growing.

Theismann's was epic on MNF, replayed over and over. OUCH

Then there was that poor pitcher on the Padres who broke his arm while throwing a pitch. I think he eventually lost the arm to amputation, and then subsequently died of cancer.

Worst I ever saw was in a soccer game - teammate broke his wrist.

We were building possession, pressuring around the box, but turned the ball over. Teammate went to win back the ball, slipped and fell, and all of a sudden I hear this screaming, and his wrist bone sticking out of his arm.

When he fell, he'd tried to (naturally) break the fall, but his wrist gave out and, uhh, broke.

Was that Dave Dravecky? ...I thought he was with the Giants when the break occurred.

It might not be the most gruesome, but it's certainly one of the oddest injuries I've ever heard of. I didn't even know this could happen. Sure, those other guys' injuries were awful, but breaking a leg and blowing out your knee happen pretty often. Reading in a story that someone's knee cap fell off is certainly crazy.

Now that USF (as in South Florida) has a Div-I football team, can we get USF (as in San Francisco) to refer to itself differently?

-- University of South Florida, class of 1992

I never really considered that it came off

Besides Dravecky, Tom Browning, Tony Saunders, and John Smiley have all broken their arms while pitching (Smiley while warming up). Interestingly, they're all lefties.

Yes, and you're right about it being the Giants. Is Dravecky still alive?

I'm pretty sure he's still alive. He actually broke his arm twice - once pitching, the other time while celebrating the Giants' pennant-clinching victory.

Didn't one of the Bear's receivers tear both of his patellar tendons when leaping for a catch a number of years ago? It's no an unhear of injury...

That was 100% the Veteran Stadium turf that caused it though.

Wendall Davis

Tim Krumrie

The strangest injury I've ever seen in person was one that I accidentally caused. In a soccer game when I was about 16, I was running to get into a play when a guy from the other team tripped while in a dead sprint and hit my knee with his face. Blood went everywhere and he was rolling around the ground in pain. The game stopped and the other team wanted a piece of me. Damn near started a brawl. Ahhh...good times...

Paramedics took the guy away and I heard later that he had a gash over his eye and possibly a broken nose. Not too serious, but you would have thought that I had tried to kill the guy the way the other team's players and parents reacted.