The New York Mets aren’t taking any chances with the health of Jason Bay, who sustained a concussion — without knowing it — after running into an outfield wall trying to make a catch. It looks like Bay is going to wind up on the disabled list, the New York Post reported Thursday.
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/metsblog/mets_bay_rests_again_with_concussion_OAqLV4OOypHUe2ihokZk2O
Update: Bay was in fact put on the DL Friday, for 15 days.
http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2010/07/mets_outfielder_jason_bay_land.html
The left fielder’s case is a good example of why thorough testing and examinations — such as are available now — should be performed to determine the severity of a head injury. That’s a lesson all should have learned from the death last year of actress Natasha Richardson.
Bay ran into the wall last Friday night while playing in Los Angeles, catching a fly ball and holding onto it. But he didn’t start getting any of the symptoms of a concussion, namely a dull headache, until Sunday night, when he was flying home from the road trip to the City of Angels, according to The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/sports/baseball/28citifield.html?_r=1&ref=sports
Bay apparently mentioned his headaches to his trainers on the plane, but that bit of important news didn’t make its way to Mets manager Jerry Manuel until Tuesday. That was after Bay had gone to a doctor, right before the Mets were ready to play the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field.
Manuel pulled Bay out of Tuesday’s lineup, and the $66 million-contract player had not been feeling much better the past few days.
Bay said that this was his first concussion, and that his doctor suggested he might actually have “more of a whiplash,” according to The Times.
“He said the doctor told him it was uncommon for someone to have delayed symptoms with a concussion,” The Times wrote.
This is yet another case that doctors need to do a careful evaluation of those who suffer brain injury, particualry those involving symptoms such as amnesia and neurobehaviorial changes.
