Dee Gordon Injury, we discussed the possibility in Spring Training

It was nice to see the Dodgers hold on and defeat the Reds 4-1 tonight.  First place alone once again.  At least for another day.  The Dee Gordon injury tempers my enthusiasm unfortunately.

Dee Gordon knew it immediately.  After stealing his league leading 30th base on the season, he immediately walks leaves the diamond to receive medical attention.  A dislocated right thumb is the initial diagnosis. (AP photo)

Back during Spring Training I expressed my concern with Dee Gordon being injury prone.  I specifically addressed his slender frame and his propensity to often use the head first slide when stealing bases.  Those fears appear to have become reality today.  (For those interested, I'll post links to those two  posts at the bottom of this article).  There was quite a bit of debate over the head first vs. feet first slide and which slide made him most prone to injury.  I always have felt that the hands, hingers, wrists, head and shoulders are much more prone to injury with the head first slide.  In my softball league years ago, I even saw a guy slide in head first and get hit in the face with a throw, resulting in the poor fellow losing his eye.

Ron Cervenka from Think Blue LA pointed out that guys like Tommy Davis, Jim Lefebvre and Bill Buckner suffered severe career debilitating injuries, all on feet first slides.  The jury is out on what is most risky.

Gordon went in feet first against the Angels.

Word out of the Dodger locker room tonight is that Gordon dislocated his thumb, which most surely will result in some loss of playing time.  Kenny Lofton said on the post game show that there will be ligament damage, claiming that he knows this injury from experience.  An MRI is scheduled for tomorrow.  Hopefully the severity of Dee's injury isn't as serious as we think.  It is amazing how many injuries this Dodger club is having to endure.

Links from the March posts on the subject are below.  You'll note my extreme optimism with regard to Dee Gordon this pre-season.  I never imagined his struggles to be so severe.  Remember, he was coming off a rookie season where hit hit over .300 and his defense was steadily improving.  For what it's worth, I still believe that Gordon will one day be an All Star and the Dodger shortstop for years to come.

LINK to FIRST Spring Training Post on Gordon

Link to SECOND Spring Training Post on Gordon

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Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA has a post on this very subject and a possible solution that could have prevented Gordon's injury.