Baseball catchers can face irreversible hand damage

Filed in archive News on July 11, 2005

An interesting study came out suggesting that constant pounding that a baseball catcher takes can result in repetitive hand damage:

In a typical pro baseball game, a minor or major league catcher stops about 150 pitches, many slamming into his glove at speeds well over 90 mph. Add in pre-game practice throws, and the total number of catches climbs as high as 300 a day, experts say.

Now, a new study finds that despite recent improvements in glove design, that kind of repetitive pounding is causing long-term, irreversible damage to many catchers' hands -- especially their index fingers.

Many are willing to make the sacrifice:

Most pro players take these types of chronic injuries in stride, he said, seeing it as the price they pay for doing what they love. "The cost-benefit of this compared to what they want to do with their lives is pretty reasonable."

(Mundell, "Baseball Catchers Face Irreversible Hand Trauma", Forbes, Jul.1)