Nick Nelson's excellent look at Byron Buxton and his injuries made me think about who would be a counterpart to him and his career so far and Pete Reiser immediately came to mind. Called Pistol Pete long before Pete Marinovich, he was a sensation.

Read this paragraph from his Wikipedia Page - "In 1941, his first season as a regular starter, Reiser helped the Dodgers win the pennant for the first time since 1920. He was a sensation that year, winning the National League batting title while leading the league in doubles, triples, runs scored and slugging percentage. He was also named a starter to the All-Star team and placed second in MVP balloting. On July 19 of the following year, Reiser crashed face-first into the outfield wall in St. Louis, trying to catch what turned out to be a game-winning inside-the-park home run by Enos Slaughter of the rival Cardinals in the bottom of the 11th inning. The loss cut the Dodgers' lead over the Cardinals to six games."

Reiser missed only 4 games with his concussion - we are better at recognizing the effect today - and he only batted 244 for the rest of the season dropping his average to 310.

Now to continue the comparison - here is another excerpt from Wiki -- "Reiser gave great effort on every play in the field, and was therefore very injury-prone. He fractured his skull running into an outfield wall on one occasion (but still made the throw back to the infield), was temporarily paralyzed on another, and was taken off the field on a stretcher a record 11 times."

Eleven times! Can you imagine. Today Nick gave us Buxton's injuries from the last two years.

April 18, 2018: Placed on DL due to migraines

May 20, 2018: Placed on DL due to fracture in left toe (suffered on foul ball during rehab stint)

July 14, 2018: Placed on DL at AAA due to left wrist strain (suffered swinging the bat)

August 1, 2018: Placed on DL at AAA due to lingering issues with left wrist

June 18, 2019: Placed on IL due to right wrist contusion (suffered on HBP)

July 16, 2019: Placed on IL due to concussion-like symptoms (suffered on impact with ground on diving catch)

August 3, 2019: Placed on IL due to left shoulder subluxation (suffered in collision with OF wall)

Pete could not change and neither can Byron. They have to play their own style. Even if destruction. Reiser went into the military in WWII and injured his should while playing army ball. He had to give up batting switch handed and he had to learn to throw with his opposite arm, but he came back!

SABR describes this - "Once he was chasing a fly ball and burrowed right through the thick hedge that formed the outfield wall—and down a ten-foot drainage ditch on the opposite side. He separated his shoulder and couldn’t throw. So he simply switched to a right-handed glove and threw with his left arm, as he had in Elmira in 1939."

He later said: "It wasn't as serious as the head injuries, but it did more to end my career. The shoulder kept popping out of place, more bone chips developed, and there was constant pain in the arm and shoulder."

How good was he? SABR says "At fifteen, Reiser sneaked into a St. Louis Cardinals tryout, where he out-threw and outran more than 800 other boys. He was disappointed when he returned home without a contract, but later a Cardinals scout, Charlie Barrett, visited the Reiser home and explained why they hadn't made a big deal about Pete at Sportsman’s Park. The Cardinals didn't want word leaking out to the Browns, with whom they shared the ballpark, or anyone else. The scout also admitted they’d had their eye on him since grade school. The Cardinals knew Pete wasn’t old enough to sign to a contract, so they got permission from George Reiser to hire the boy as a “chauffeur.”"

Now we hear a lot about Byron and how he should slow down, let balls go, but perhaps the ending of the SABR article should be heard. "by the early 1950s most teams had either installed warning tracks or at least planned to, and some stadiums were also starting to pad their walls. The first padded wall at Ebbets Field was made of cork. Given how hard Reiser hit that wall, it is doubtful anything other than modern foam cushioning would have saved him.

"Alas, in the heat of the moment, Pete Reiser just never could pull up and play it off the wall. Every fly ball was his to catch, and catch them all he would—or kill himself trying."

Byron is not Byron if he fails to chase the ball and make a full effort. We just have to hope the Twins find more padding and luck goes his way.

Here are some more big leaguers who suffered from injury filled careers - some very good players.

1. Bob Grim - injures took his career after a rookie 20 win season with the Yankees
   
2. BO Jackson - played in NFL and MLB and was a real treat till a hip injury in NFL
   
3. Herb Score was a star pitcher until Gil McDougal hit a line drive to Score's head.
   
4. Mauer and Morneau taught us about concussion.
   
5. Sandy Koufax had arthritis and elbow injuries and played with pain as long as he could
   
6. Alan Trammel missed a seasons worth of games to injuries during his 20 year career.
   
7. J R Richards was striking out batters when Ks were not common and was cut down by a stroke.
   
8. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior - just think what the cubs would have been if injuries had not ruined their careers.
   
9. Mark Fydrich had only one year to make his significant mark on baseball
   

You can not legislate injuries. No rules can eliminate the dangers for men who are taught to always play hard.

We just have to hope Byron is lucky and that he keeps impressing us with his speed and determination.