title: Injury risk due to collisions in Major League Baseball.
abstract: Purpose is to determine if Major League Baseball plays at risk for collisions have higher injury rates than typical base running plays. 2002-2011 Major League Baseball play data was obtained: non-force putouts by catcher at home plate (Catcher Tag Out), groundball force outs at 2(nd) base with less than 2 outs (Double Play Attempt), and the control play, outfield assisted non-force putouts of runners attempting to advance to 2(nd) or 3(rd) base (Outfield Assist 2(nd)/3(rd)). This list was cross-referenced with 2002-2011 disabled lists to see if an involved player went on the disabled list the day of or day after the play. An on-line search for each match determined if the injury was attributable to that play. Rate calculated per 1 000 plays, severity in days on disabled list. Injury rate and severity for Catcher Tag Out was 6.98 and 45.6 respectively, Double Play Attempt 0.42 and 41.3, Outfield Assist 2(nd/)3(rd) 1.56 and 47.0. Injury rate for Catcher Tag Out was higher (P = 0.03) than the control while Double Play Attempt trended lower (P = 0.05). There was no difference in severity. Catcher Tag Outs carry greater injury risk than typical base running plays. Major League Baseball should consider prohibiting base path collisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, USA.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D001484:Baseball / Q000293:injuries; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D012420:Running / Q000293:injuries*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology