Professional Baseball Player Research Articles

독립야구단 선수들의 적응과정에 관한 현상학적 연구

This study used a phenomenological method to explore the adaptation process of players in an independent baseball team. A snowball sampling method was used to select a total of 12 players who had been playing in an independent baseball team for at least one year, and the data collected was categorized using Giorgi's phenomenological research method. In total, five essential themes emerged. First, the conflict between practical difficulties and individualistic tendencies within independent baseball organizations. Second, the process of entering an independent baseball organization as a possibility and a final challenge. Third, the journey to become a professional baseball player was overcoming adversity while experiencing improvement through continuous efforts. Fourth, they experienced a separation between identity as a baseball player and social identity as a worker. Fifth, the players adapted to the independent baseball organization, reflected on themselves, and prepared for life after retirement. By studying the various life adaptation processes that independent baseball players go through, this study can serve as a cornerstone for the future development of independent baseball organizations.

영화 <야구 소녀>가 야구하는 여성을 재현하는 방식과 그 의미

This study examined the reality of women playing baseball in Korea by analyzing the way the movie <Baseball Girl> represents female players and sought to find out the meaning of <Baseball Girl>. The representation of women playing baseball in the movie <Baseball Girl> is organized into the following three categories. First, conflict: hostile sexism or benevolent sexism. In the movie <Baseball Girl>, there is no competitor competing with the main character Su-in. However, the situation of not being able to become a professional baseball player and the prejudice and discrimination of those around him act as conflict factors. Several male characters in the film reaffirm the traditionally defined view of baseball as a male-only sport that women should not invade, and engage in discrimination, including prejudice. The same goes for schools that promote the school by allowing students to enroll, but are indifferent to the subsequent situation. The act of a professional team offering an employee position to a prisoner who applied to be a player is a benign sexist attitude. Second, growth: from a fastball to a breaking ball In the movie, a fastball represents a ‘man’ in that it comes from a good physique and strength. The point where Soo-in, who previously tried to win with a fastball, chooses a change-up ball called a knuckleball, is also the point where he changes his method and grows while trying to respond in the same male way in a male- dominated field. The position of the helper in the prisoner's response and growth process is different from previous sports movies. There are no rivals who are depicted as relatively evil people, and there is no leader whom the protagonist absolutely relies on. Suin's growth is depicted through solidarity with those around her. Third, new beginnings: as a professional second team player. Suin achieves satisfactory results in the tryout while passively but clearly showing solidarity between women and receiving applause from the male players who had ridiculed her. The ending of Suin joining the second-tier league seems like a happy ending, but it is also unsettling. However, Suin’s small achievement is expected to bring about a new beginning for ‘Korean women’s baseball.’ Next, the meaning of <Baseball Girl>, a movie that differentiates itself from existing domestic sports movies, is organized into the following three points. First, a woman is the main character. Second, it is free from nationalism and statist ideology. Third, there are no fixed characters that fit the patriarchal system. In this way, the movie <Baseball Girl> is special in that it shows how to overcome the distorted conservative gender consciousness that sports movies have been producing.

Tommy John Ligament Repair with Ulnar Collateral Ligament Internal Brace

Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injuries commonly occur in overhead athletes as a result of excess valgus stress on the elbow and can be functionally debilitating, requiring surgical intervention. Since the advent of the first initial UCL reconstruction technique pioneered by Dr. Frank Jobe performed on professional baseball player Tommy John, UCL, or Tommy John Ligament reconstruction has successfully returned athletes to sport following injury and shown enhanced clinical outcomes with minimal complication rates. Tommy John surgery continues to evolve with the development of various techniques over recent years. This technical note describes a UCL repair with an internal brace using knotless suture anchors and aims to contribute to the current literature a technique that is efficacious and reproducible and offers satisfactory stability, functionality, and return to play.

Refracture of a Regenerated Hook of Hamate in a Professional Baseball Player: A Case Report

Hook of hamate fracture occurs in baseball players during bat swing. These fractures are usually treated by excision of the fracture fragment and the players can return to the game without delay. We report a professional baseball player who presented with a hook of hamate fracture. He gave history of undergoing excision of the hook 4 years earlier for a fracture of the hook. He underwent re-excision of the regenerated hook and was asymptomatic at his final follow-up. Level of Evidence: Level V (Therapeutic).

소셜미디어 빅데이터를 활용한 프로스포츠 의미연결망 및 토픽모델링 분석

Purpose: This study aims to identify the main issues of professional soccer by using social media Big Data. In other words, through text mining, we analyze core keywords, emotions, and the topic.<BR> Method: This study collected the comments and responses of professional sports’fans who participated in social media from July 2020 to July 2021 for professional soccer and from July 2020 to June 2021 for professional baseball and basketball. This study targeted social media such as Naver Blog, Twitter, and Community(DC Inside), and the data collection method was web crawling using Python.<BR> Result: The results are as follows. First, the core keywords indicating professional sports were different. In other words, the core keywords in soccer were season, game, victory, score, points, record, away, situation, etc. The core keywords in baseball were activity, heroes, homer un, permit, Hanwha, professional baseball, pro, and playoffs. The core keywords in basketball were season appearance, record, performance, success, situation, rebounding, and scoring. The keyword network was as cale-free network that followed the power law. In other words, there was a phenomenon where a small number of core keywords have a connection relationship with a large number of keywords. The positive scores of professional sports fans were generally low. Second, the topics of professional soccer were different. In other words, the proportion of soccer topics was high in the order of overseas professional soccer, professional soccer matches, etc. Professional soccer toto topics were on the rise, and professional soccer spectators, league results, and matches were on the decline. The rest of the topics were neutral with no particular features. The proportion of baseball topics was high in the order of professional baseball games, professional baseball first pitches, professional baseball player contracts, etc. Baseball topics repeated the increase and decrease without any particular trend. The proportion of basketball topics was high in the order of professional basketball game, professional basketball team, etc. Professional basketball clubs, player recruitment, season results, and broadcasts were on the rise, while professional basketball rankings, record analysis, satisfaction, games, and topic topics were on the decline.<BR> Conclusion: Professional sports officials will need to provide services that meet the needs of professional sports fans, taking into account the characteristics of keywords, the weight of topics, and topic trends to promote professional sports.

Professional Baseball Player Type and Geographic Region of Origin Impacts Shoulder External and Internal Rotation Strength.

BackgroundShoulder strength deficits are implicated in arm injuries and performance deficits in baseball players.PurposeTo characterize shoulder external (ER) and internal (IR) rotation strength in professional baseball players, and compare strength across player type (pitchers, position players) and geographic origin (North America, Latin America).Study DesignCross-sectional.MethodsMinor league professional baseball players from North America and Latin America (n=242; age=22.4±2.3 years; n=135 pitchers and n=107 position players; n=162 North American and n=80 Latin American players) volunteered at spring training. Bilateral shoulder IR and ER isometric strength was measured in sitting with the arm at the side using a handheld dynamometer stabilized on a wall via a specialized jig. Strength was normalized to body weight, and compared using t-tests between player type and geographic area of origin (p < 0.05).ResultsPosition players had greater strength in ER, IR and ER:IR (ER:0.7-2.7N/kg; IR:1.3-3.8N/kg; ER:IR ratio 0.36-1.22) compared to pitchers (ER:0.5-2.5N/kg; IR:0.6- 4.2N/kg; ER:IR ratio 0.44-1.16) on the throwing arm. North American pitchers had lower ER [MD= -0.4 (95%CI:-0.7,-0.2);p=0.002] and IR [MD= -0.2 (95%CI:-0.4,-0.1);p=0.006] than Latin American pitchers on the throwing arm. There were no differences between geographic groups for position players.Discussion/ConclusionsPlayer position and geographic origin influence shoulder rotational strength values in professional baseball players. Position players have 14 – 20% higher ER and IR isometric strength than pitchers. Moreover, Latin American pitchers exhibited 11.8% greater ER strength and 16.7% greater IR strength as compared to North American pitchers. Normative values can be used to determine player deficits, declines in performance, and targets for return to play after injury.Level of EvidenceLevel II

Exercise and genes linked to ALS

Human Genomics Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative motor neuron disease with a genetic and environmental interaction. Lou Gehrig was a renowned professional American baseball player whose career was cut short by ALS, which has now also become known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Using Mendelian randomization (MR), which can help to identify genetic factors linked to phenotype, Julian et al. looked for genetic differences between individuals within the UK Biobank correlated with their activity level, including strenuous activity. From this, they identified genetic variants associated with ALS risk in individuals who regularly performed strenuous exercise. Of the validated ALS risk genes, 52% showed differential gene expression during exercise in individuals with such variants. Strenuous exercise is a highly heterogenous environmental factor, and more study is needed to determine how it becomes a risk factor for ALS. EBioMedicine 68 , 103397 (2021).

Offseason Workout Recommendations for Baseball Players.

Offseason training programs are crucial for the baseball athlete. Preparation for the competitive season should be carefully planned to allow long-term athletic success. The two goals of the offseason training program are to optimize performance and reduce injury risk. These goals can only be accomplished with an understanding of the unique physical demands of the sport, and how these demands relate to performance and injury. The purpose of this article is to review the unique demands of baseball training along with current strength and conditioning principles to optimize offseason training for the baseball athlete. Traditional strength and conditioning programs used in other sports may not maximize the qualities necessary for optimal baseball performance. Traditional strength and conditioning exercises, such as squat and deadlift, primarily train sagittal plane movement while frontal and transverse plane movements are likely equally as important for baseball players. Biomechanical studies have shown that trunk rotation power has the largest influence on throwing velocity in pitchers. Programs should also be designed to reduce injury risk for common injuries. The most common injuries in baseball include hamstring strains, throwing arm injuries, paralumbar muscle strains, hip adductor strains, and oblique muscle strains. This review describes the typical periodization phases of the offseason and provides a sample program outlining an offseason program for a professional baseball player from September through February.

Ichiro the Public Diplomat: Professional Sport as Cultural Intermediary in Configuring US-Japan Relations

Summary This study examines the confluence of sport and soft power within public diplomacy. It analyses professional baseball player Ichiro Suzuki’s role in the United States as a sporting ambassador from Japan — potentially catalysing goodwill, cultural interest, perceptions of national personality traits and even views of policy issues such as international trade and country relations. In doing so, this research draws from non-state public diplomacy, which considers the transnational impacts of non-traditional communication vehicles such as cultural and sporting exchanges. It measures US public sentiment towards Japan through quantitative analysis of survey responses collected by Pew Research Center in conjunction with the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. The success of Japan’s cultural and sporting exports highlights their potential and realised role in binding national ties. Furthermore, Tokyo’s hosting of the Summer Olympiad emphasises the role of sport not only as a vehicle for competition and entertainment but also its utility in global engagement.

No change in performance metrics in major league baseball players sustaining wrist fractures after being struck by an errant pitch

ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine the effect of wrist fractures on performance metrics in Major League Baseball Players after they were hit by an errant pitch. MethodsPlayers who sustained wrist fractures after being struck by a pitch were identified and changes in performance metrics were calculated. ResultsIn both the short- and medium-term analysis, there were no significant differences in all pre- and post-injury offensive statistics following return to play. ConclusionWrist fractures sustained after being struck by an errant pitch do not significantly impact professional baseball player performance if the player is able to return to sport.

Sueños de Béisbol: Hopes, Experiences, and Expectations of Professional Baseball Players in the Dominican Republic

More than 1,400 Latin American professional baseball players, age 16-21, are employed by 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) academies in the Dominican Republic. The popular press has highlighted scandals related to professional youth baseball player recruitment, selection, and exploitation in the academies, but little attention has been given to the academy experiences of youth baseball players from the perspective of the players themselves. For this research, 11 professional baseball players residing at an MLB Academy in the Dominican Republic participated in semi-structured interviews. Players described their transitions into the baseball academy system, their experiences in the academy, and their perceptions and expectations upon leaving or being released from the academy. Themes that emerged from the data included athletes’ hopes and dreams, stress, faith, and career transitions. Clinical implications of these findings for sport psychology practitioners are discussed.

Ankle and Lower Leg Injuries in Professional Baseball Players

Background: Ankle and lower leg injuries are very common in sports, and numerous studies have discussed their diagnosis and management. Our study differs in that we report lower leg injuries in professional baseball players spanning the 2011-2016 seasons by utilizing a comprehensive injury surveillance system developed by Major League Baseball (MLB). Purpose: To determine the injury characteristics of ankle and lower leg injuries in professional baseball players during the 2011-2016 seasons by utilizing the MLB injury surveillance system. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Our study is a descriptive epidemiological evaluation through a retrospective review of injury data from the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System (HITS) since its implementation in 2010. We included any professional baseball player (MLB and Minor League Baseball [MiLB]) who was identified as having an ankle or lower leg injury between January 1, 2011, and February 28, 2017. Results: Over the study period, there were a total of 4756 injuries, of which 763 (16%) occurred in MLB players and 3993 (84%) occurred in MiLB players. The mean number of days missed for all players was 27.8 ± 141.4 days, with a median of 3 days. From 2011 through 2016, it was estimated that there were 414,912 athlete exposures (AEs) in MLB and 1,796,607 AEs in MiLB. Of the 4756 injuries recorded, 550 (12%) took place during the MLB regular season, and 3320 (70%) took place during the MiLB regular season. Injuries in MLB players, however, were 1.7 times more likely to require surgery (P < .001). Additionally, rates of injury to the lower leg were stratified by position, with infield players experiencing injuries at a 1.6 times greater rate than any other position (P < .001). Conclusion: In conclusion, this is the only epidemiological study to focus primarily on ankle and lower leg injuries in professional baseball players, utilizing an injury surveillance system developed by MLB.

Ankle and Lower Leg Injuries in Professional Baseball Players

Category:Ankle, Sports, TraumaIntroduction/Purpose:The purpose of this study was to determine the injury characteristics of ankle and lower leg injuries in professional baseball players during the 2011-2016 seasons by utilizing the Major League Baseball (MLB) injury surveillance system.Methods:Our study is a descriptive epidemiological evaluation through a retrospective review from the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System (HITS) since its implementation in 2011. We included any professional baseball player (Major League and Minor League) who was identified as having an ankle or lower leg injury from January 1, 2011 through February 28th, 2017.Over the study period there were a total of 4,756 injuries of which 763 (16.0%) occurred in the Major League and 3,993 (84.0%) occurred in the Minor League.Results:The average number of days missed for all players was 27.8 days (+/-141.4 days) with a median of 3 days. From 2011 through 2016 it was estimated that there were 414,912 athlete exposures (AEs) in Major League Baseball and 1,796,607 AEs in the Minor Leagues. Of the 4,756 injuries recorded, 550 (11.6%) took place during the Major League regular season and 3,320 (69.8%) took place during the Minor League regular season. Major League injuries, however, were 1.7 times more likely to require surgery (p < .001). Additionally, rates of injury to the lower leg were stratified by position with infield players experiencing injuries at a 1.6 times greater rate than any other position (p < .001).Conclusion:In conclusion, the data from this study represents the only epidemiological study to focus primarily on lower leg injuries in professional baseball players utilizing an injury surveillance system developed by MLB.

“That’s Just So-and-So Being So-and-So”

When it comes to explaining someone’s puzzling, objectionable, or otherwise problematic behavior, one type of explanation occasionally employed in the service of doing so is as follows: “That’s just so-and-so being so-and-so.” But what, exactly, do explanations of the type “That’s just so-and-so being so-and-so” mean? More specifically, in what way, if any, is it meaningful or informative to say such things? And what is the precise function of such explanations of someone’s behavior? Is it merely to present what one takes to be the underlying causes of the behavior, or something beyond that? In what follows, I lay out a few possibilities—basic possibilities, to be precise, given philosophy’s keen interest in fundamentals—with respect to the various meanings, functions, and moral implications of explanations of the type “That’s just so-and-so being so-and-so.” While doing so, I apply these basic possibilities to three tokens of this kind of explanation: “That’s just Manny being Manny” (in reference to Manny Ramirez, the former professional baseball player), “That’s just Charlie being Charlie” (in reference to Charlie Rose, the former television host), and “That’s just Trump being Trump” (in reference to Donald Trump, the current President of the United States).

Nutrition support system for professional baseball player

The present paper deals with the everyday meal and nutrition are to maintain DeNA BayStars. And they also tell us how to communicate with players and sports trainer. I am sure to introduce nutrition education to the fresh men. The key word of this paper is enjoying and pumping for players.

짧지만 강렬했던, 그라운드의 이방인 장명부

The purpose of this study is to examine the life story on JanMg yeong-Boo who left a big mark on Korean professional baseball as the ‘Zainichi’ pitcher in the early Kroean baseball history. The findings of the study, using books, interview data, magazines, papers, documentaries and etc. as main data, were as follows: First, he started baseball for the first time in the fourth year of elementary school. After graduating from high school, he joined Yomiuri Giants, a prestigious baseball club, in 1968 asa non-designated player, and began his career as a professional baseball player. Second, after transferring from the Yomiuri to the Nankai Hawks by the 1973 trade, he showed his potential as a starting pitcher from 1973 to 1976 with a good record of 33 wins, 32 losses, and 3.15 ERA. He transferred again to Hiroshima Toyo-Carp in 1977. After that, in 1978 and 1980, he made 15 wins respectively and became the best pitcher in Japan. Thdir, in 1983, after receiving the salary cut notice from the Hiroshima club, Jang declared his retirement from thea ctive base of professional baseball in Japan and made a contract with Korean professional baseball Sammi Superstars with a total amount of 180 million won. He left the unprecedented records in the history of Korean professional baseball in only one season, the most games pitched as a starting pitcher (44 games), the most ocmplete games (36 games), the most pitching innings (427.1 innings), the most wins (30 wins), the most complete winning games (26 wins). In 1986, he was forced to leave the team due to a steady record decline frmo 1984 to 1986. Fourth, as a ‘Zainichi’, Jang, had been discriminated and despised in Japan, suffered discrimniation in Korea as well. Even though Jang’s personal reputations were not good, these should not distort hs iaccomplishments and influence as a Korean professional baseball player. Therefore, if you remove bias an dmisunderstanding from him, you will find tha the made a great contribution to the rapid development of Korean professional baseball in the early days.

Successful Endoscopic Surgery for L5 Radiculopathy Caused by Far-Lateral Disc Herniation at L5-S1 and L5 Isthmic Grade 2 Spondylolisthesis in a Professional Baseball Player

We report the case of a professional baseball player who had severe leg pain due to lumbar lateral disc herniation at L4-5 and isthmic spondylolisthesis at L5 (double crash syndrome). For early recovery to competitive level, we performed minimally invasive endoscopic decompression surgery without fusion. There are few reports to discuss the usefulness of minimally invasive treatment for top athletes. A 29-year-old professional baseball player who played catcher was referred to us with a complaint of right leg pain. The previous doctor diagnosed far-lateral disc herniation and Grade 2 isthmic spondylolisthesis and recommended arthrodesis at L5-S1 as treatment for both pathologies. Radiological imaging showed that the right L5 nerve root was impinged by the 2 lumbar disorders, namely, far-lateral disc herniation and a ragged edge around a pars defect. We had taken into account the patient's occupation and his wish to avoid a lengthy sick leave, and we had performed endoscopic decompression surgery during the offseason. The far-lateral disc herniation at L5-S1 was removed under local anesthesia by percutaneous endoscopic discectomy, after which the ragged edge at the pars defect was removed under general anesthesia using a microendoscopic discectomy system. Given that the patient did not have any low back pain, arthrodesis was not considered. The leg pain resolved after surgery. The following year (2015), the patient resumed playing baseball from the beginning of the season and played in 41 games. In the 2016 season, he played in 71 games without any symptoms. No further slippage was observed at radiological follow up 1 year after the surgery. Minimally invasive endoscopic surgery is an option for radiculopathy in very active patients who need an early return to their previous level of physical activity.

The Golden Havana Night: A Sherlock Homie Mystery by Manuel Ramos (review)

Reviewed by: The Golden Havana Night: A Sherlock Homie Mystery by Manuel Ramos Marcus Embry Manuel Ramos. The Golden Havana Night: A Sherlock Homie Mystery. Arte Público, 2018. 239p. From Michael Nava to Lucha Corpi, the detective/mystery novel has provided Chicana/os a literary vehicle with which to revisit not only a history well-remembered but especially the unfulfilled promises of that historical past. Much of Latinidad is built around the backward glance of Benjamin’s Angel of History, and digging around in the present to find the ruins of el Movimiento are what Chicana/o detectives do particularly well. Many of the novels, like Rudolfo Anaya’s Alburquerque, function as local color to bring Southwestern cities and peoples to mainstream attention without pandering to the general public’s problematic need to read Latinidad through folkloric nostalgia or magical realism. Manuel Ramos not only writes mystery novels. The now retired Denver lawyer also taught Chicana/o literature at Metropolitan State University in Denver, and his literary acumen is evident in his novels. His first works featuring Luis Móntez explored different aspects of how the dreams and promises of el Movimiento remain unfulfilled; the characters are middle-aged activists still committed to the cause, but trapped in a late capitalism that commodifies their accomplishments as testament to the liberal goodness of a system that continues to oppress them. These novels also present a Latinx Denver missing in most media representations, a multicultural Denver last seen in John Fante’s 1938 Wait Until Spring, Bandini. Perhaps Ramos’s two most “literary” works are Blues for the Buffalo (1997), in which the mystery facing Móntez is to unravel the legacy of Oscar Zeta Acosta, the 1970’s Chicano novelist who disappeared into Mexico, and King of the Chicanos (2010), that portrays Rudolfo “Corky” González. After Buffalo, Ramos retired Móntez and wrote Noir novels exploring the urbanization of Denver, a process that continues to destroy the city’s rich cultural heritage. His novels treat the most contemporary issues of Latinidad, making them very useful not only for teaching about an elided Latinidad in Denver, but also for tracking the changes in Latinx literature. The Golden Havana Night, A Sherlock Homie Mystery continues the story arc of a new investigator, Gus Corral, from Desperado: A [End Page 335] Mile High Noir (2013). Corral’s Denver is very different than Móntez’s Denver. Urbanization has destroyed the traditional neighborhoods where Móntez lived and worked. Where the earlier novels feature Luis Móntez, an aging lawyer with street credentials from el Movimiento, Gus is much younger, illustrating the change in generations in the twenty-first century. What he knows of el Movimiento is marginal, his street credentials consisting of an older sister who is a committed Chicana activist and his own status as an ex-con learning to redeploy his skillset. In previous novels, Ramos considered connections between Colorado, California, Mexico, and other regions in the southwest. Though the novels never make the claim, they now move within the boundaries of an expanded Aztlán, the “homeland” of the Chicana/o people. In the last decade or so, the boundaries of Latinx literature have not only expanded geographically, but many books, like Achy Obejas’s Ruins (2009), focus on the forgotten but constant presence of Latinidad in all things United Statesian. The Golden Havana Night enters this complicated twenty-first century of a globalized Latinidad when Corral is whisked off to Cuba to represent a Cuban professional baseball player and his family’s interests. In the world of Chicana/o mystery novels, Ramos’s expansion to Cuba is much like Eric Garcia’s third volume in his dinosaur detective series, Hot and Sweaty Rex (2006). Garcia’s detective arrives in Miami and is immediately told he doesn’t belong there because he is different, if yet the same. The novel, in other words, explores the boundaries within Latinidad, the boundaries among a vast number of sometimes very different people who are all, nevertheless, Latinx. Because The Golden Havana Night is about a Colorado Rockies baseball player, Ramos sums up the Denver sporting scene and its various manias eloquently, masterfully...

Science is in the (baseball) cards and comic books

A little inside baseball Paul DeJong is a professional baseball player, so it’s not at all unusual that he has a baseball trading card. The unusual part is what’s on the back. Flip over his 2018 Topps Series 2 Future Stars card, and you won’t find the St. Louis Cardinals player’s career batting average (.277 as of July 18) or how many home runs he hit during his rookie season last year (25, the most by a shortstop in the National League). What you will see instead is that he is a science “nut” who teamed up with renowned chemist Lawrence Rocks to study the effects of temperature on baseballs. We’re aware this may raise some questions, but don’t worry. The Newscripts gang is going to try to cover all the bases. The connections between the two men are Burton Rocks, who is Lawrence’s son and DeJong’s agent, and a

Rib Injury in a Professional Baseball Player

A 24 year old previously healthy left handed male professional baseball pitcher was warming up on the mound before a game when he suddenly felt a vague pain in his lower left anterior-lateral rib cage region but denied hearing a pop. Pain was a localized deep ache on the lower anterior rib cage. Although he felt discomfort the player was able to complete his warm up regimen and start the game. During the game he was only able to throw four pitches prior to unbearable pain during the acceleration phase of pitching causing him to be pulled from the game and seek medical attention. PHYSICAL EXAM: Normal appearance of the chest wall. Point tenderness to palpation and a 1x1cm soft tissue mass on the lower left anterior chest wall on palpation. Any active and passive motion of the torso exacerbated the pain and the mass was exquisitely tender to palpation. Bilateral shoulder exams were within normal limits and pain was not affected by inhalation or exhalation. On exam, he was neurologically and vascularly intact. There was no winging of the scapula or crepitus along the rib cage. DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: 1. Oblique muscle strain 2. Rib stress fracture 3. Costochondral junction avulsion fracture 4. Serratus anterior avulsion fracture 5. Intercostal muscle strain TEST AND RESULTS: Thoracic MRI findings suggested either a fracture or stress injury of the costochondral cartilage along the left anterior-inferior aspect of the ribcage. There was extensive edema present along the region that measured 8x10 cm but there was no evidence of rib fractures. Chest CT without contrast revealed edema around the costochondral junction of ribs 7 and 8 on the left with anterior prominence of the cartilage but no focal displacement or rib fractures. FINAL WORKING DIAGNOSIS: Based on Imaging, injury most likely to be costochondral junction avulsion fracture of ribs 7 and 8. TREATMENT AND OUTCOMES: The player was initially treated with 6 weeks of activity restriction and rest. Surgery was not warranted due to lack of significant separation of the fragment. Repeat radiographs were obtained at 6 weeks which revealed proper healing. After 6 weeks he began a graduated pitching regimen. Pain improved throughout his rehabilitation with rest and NSAIDS once he began physical activity. He returned to full activity at 8 weeks.