Bizarre baseball injuries happen every season, whether it is Tom Glavine purging his airline food and injuring his ribs, Jeff Kent falling off of his motorcycle, Garrett Jones choking on a piece of meat, or Jeff Baker burning his ass after trying to light a fart on fire in the Cubs’ clubhouse.

They are part of the game just as much as the game itself.

After the Baltimore Orioles season finale on Sunday, Brian Roberts finally addressed the media as to why he hadn’t played since September 27^th.  His explanation? That he hit himself in the helmet with his own bat and had been experiencing concussion-like symptoms since.

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Fantasy sports provide average fans a way to feel connected with their favorite pastimes in an above average way.  Previously relegated to rooting on our home teams and beloved players in voiceless anonymity, we now have the pleasure of “owning” our own teams and “managing” them the way we see fit.  While fans in some cities (Houston, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, etc.) may seem doomed by poor front office management to remain perpetually pessimistic about their World Series chances, this frustration may be at least partially alleviated by one’s own participation in the fantasy baseball world.  No longer do fans sit back passively and observe the games as they are played, they are now active participants making decisions that determine whether their team wins or loses.  Obviously, such a scenario is bound to be obsessed over and today’s fixation on the supposedly pretend fantasy game now blurs the boundaries of reality.

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