Ex-Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith shares his weird injury story
Apr 2, 2018, 4:13 PM
Ryan Rowland-Smith suffered an unlikely injury while with the Mariners in 2009. (AP)
(AP)
For all of the various bumps, bruises, strains and breaks the Mariners have dealt with over the last few seasons, none is as random as Nelson Cruz’s ankle sprain he suffered Saturday from slipping on the steps behind the Mariners’ dugout moments after he hit a home run.
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Baseball players have suffered many strange injuries over the years, from Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson falling asleep with an ice pack on his foot and ending up with frostbite (in August) to former Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes breaking his collarbone as a result of falling while carrying deer meat in 2005.
Former Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith, who you can hear as an analyst on the Mariners pregame and postgame show on 710 EPN Seattle, was not immune to weird injuries during his playing career, and he shared the story of his own bizarre injury while on with Danny, Dave and Moore Monday.
“My elbow was kinda stiff and there was something wrong with it, something going on in there,” Rowland-Smith said of an injury he suffered while playing for Seattle in 2009. “I threw one game, I threw a bullpen right after it, we’re flying back (from a road trip), I got in my car, I turned the steering wheel really hard … and boom, my elbow – no joke, guys – swelled up. I couldn’t believe it.
“I was like, ‘How do I explain this?’ Yanking that steering wheel and something happened? I couldn’t even bend my arm. I was like, ‘Should I get on the phone right now to (former Mariners trainer) Rick Griffin? What do I say here?’ It was really strange.”
Because of the odd nature of the injury, Rowland-Smith wasn’t sure how to explain what happened. So he went another route to get it checked out.
“I did make something up. As a matter of fact, and I can’t believe I’m admitting this, I went and played catch the next day – I threw two pitches and I’m like, ‘Oh, I just tweaked something.’”
Well played, Hyphen.
Rowland-Smith talked about much more than his injury history with Danny, Dave and Moore, covering all kinds of Mariners topics including the season debuts of Felix Hernandez and James Paxton. You can listen to the full interview embedded above or download it here.
