Disabled Lists Weren't Always This Crowded

Wall Street Journal—September 15, 2010

So you want to hang around with big-league ballplayers, but don't want to pay for tickets?

Go to medical school.

Major-league players have combined for 448 disabled-list trips so far this season, good for an average of nearly 15 per team. While this figure falls in line with the past couple seasons, the number of injury stints has been on the rise for the past quarter century.

While the primary theory for the injury spike is better testing and diagnostics, players might have been better off when the winter workout consisted of lifting six packs and hot dogs. New York Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek of Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan believes today's player may be too committed to his craft. "The modern player, in trying to constantly improve, may not be getting the necessary rest and recovery time," Dr. Altchek says. "This year, we decided that the Mets would reduce time spent in off-field workouts by two-thirds. The result thus far in 2010, knock on wood, is that DL days have been cut in half."

 Read the full story at wsj.com.