Josh Q. Public:  When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone.  When you’re sure you’ve had enough of this life, well hang on.  Don’t let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes.  -REM

Public Service Announcement:  OK, here we go!  A long one today.  It started as five for Friday.  Then went to four.  Still too long.  Cut it down to three.  Hope you have some time today.  Three for Friday.  Let’s give this a try day.  Easy as pumpkin pie day.  Never say die day.  Oh, what could have been.  So my Red Sox signed JD Drew.  Nancy Drew.  DL Drew.  In his rookie year, as a Cardinal, he was drawing comparisons to Stan the Man and the Mick.  Then the injuries began.  It got me to thinking.  Yes, I do think sometimes.  I got to thinking who else never realized their full glory due to injuries.  Not career ending injuries.  Not Cam Neeley injuries.  Not Robert Edwards injuries.  Not Dennis Byrd injuries.  Darryl Stingley injuries.  Not them.  Nagging injuries.  Always hurt injuries.  Injuries that hampered what could have been the greatest of them all injuries.  All right.  Lets get started. These guys fell aparted.  If it was war, they would have been purple hearted.  Three injury riddled careers.  (In no particular order.)

1.  Ken Griffey Junior:  Selected with the first overall pick by the Seattle Mariners.  Just tearing it up his rookie year.  Rookie of the Yearing it up.  Then it happened.  Then the first of many.  Griff slipped in the shower and broke a bone in his right hand.  He got knocked down.  But he got up again.  Chumbawumba style.  Throughout the nineties he was beast.  The high priest.  The best from west to east.  Junior was arguably the best player of the decade.  He produced runs.  He hit for average.  He hit over .300 in seven years of the ‘90.  He hit for power.  The man of the hour, tower of power, he’ll devour.  He’s gonna tie you up and let you understand that he’s not your average man when he’s got a baseball bat in his hand.  DAAAAAM!!!!!   He smashed 422 bombs during the decade.  He was the best center fielder in the bigs.  Gold Gloves from 1990 to 1999.  Great range.  Sick range.  Diving plays.  Spectacular plays.  Say Hey Kid plays.  Wheaties boxes.  He was the man.  He won games with his legs.  You remember.  You remember Game Five versus the Bombers.  Series even at two apiece.  Bottom of the 11th.  Junior on first.  Edgar with the hit.  There goes Griff.  He…could…go…all…the…way.  He does!  He does!  He scores from first base!  Mariners win!  Mariners win!  Then he moved to Cincinnati.  Then the injury bug hit.  The injury bug hit hard.  From 2001 through 2004, Junior was plagued by an endless string of injuries.  Season-ending injuries.  The injuries lowered his bat speed, lessened his power and curbed his home run production.  He slugged only .426 before going down in 2002.  His lowest output in seven years.  He’s never been the same.  A candle without a flame.  The glory gone out of his game.  Griff will still go down as one of the all-time greats, but, oh, what could have been.

2.  Eric Lindros:  The Big E, Easy E, EL88, The “E Train”, The Next One.  Another first overall pick.  Picked first by the Quebec Nordiques.  Pulled an Eli Manning.  Refused to play for Quebec.  Demanded a trade.  Done.  Traded to Philly.  Herschel Walker style.  The E Train was big.  The E Train was strong.  The E Train could make plays.  The E Train could rack up the points.  For much of his first five seasons in the NHL, Lindros hovered around 4th all-time in points per game.  Showing no shame.  Say my name!  He led the Legion of Doom line.  He led the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals in 1997.  Philly fans were in heaven.  Got their engines revin’.  He scored over 40 goals in each of first two seasons.  He won the Hart Trophy.  Man Child.  Running wild.  Leaving foes beguiled.  But his tough style took its toll.   Eric spent many a game on the injured reserve.  Eric suffered a series of concussions.  During a game against the Nashville Predators, he suffered what was diagnosed as a rib injury.  Later that night, teammate Keith Jones discovered Lindros lying in a tub, pale and cold.  Not a rib injury at all.  A collapsed lung.  A collapsed lung caused by internal bleeding of his chest wall.  He’d bled out more than half his body’s total blood volume.  Egads!   More concussions.  His toughness now in question.  The C ripped off his jersey.   Lindros still leads his team to the Eastern Conference Finals.  Then The Hit.  The Scott Stevens hit.  Another concussion.  The beginning of the end.  He played for the Rangers for the next three seasons.  In 2004 he sustained his eighth concussion.  Two doctors advised him to retire.  Things were getting dire.  But he still had that desire.  The Toronto Maple Leafs.  Torn ligament in his left wrist.  Out for 27 games.  Just not the same.  He re-injured the same wrist while taking a slap shot in a game against the Ottawa Senators.  Season over.  He’s on the Stars now.  You wouldn’t know it.  A shell of the man he once was.  Oh, what could have been.

3.  Bill Walton:  Made his mark at Pauley Pavillion.  Made his mark playing for Wizard Wooden.  Made his mark winning the National Title game in 1973 over Memphis State.   Made his mark nailing 21 of 22 field goal attempts and scoring 44 points.  The greatest ever offensive performance in college basketball ever.  He didn’t stop there.  No siree, Billy.  Yet another number one overall pick to make this list.  You getting the gist?  The injuries came fast and furious.  It was curious.  How could one guy be so injurious?  In his  first two seasons, he broke his nose.  He broke his foot.  He broke his wrist.  He broke his leg.  Goodness.  He didn’t get hurt his third year.  He made that loud and clear.  Portland fans could stand and cheer.  Big Bill led the NBA in boards.  Big Bill led the NBA in blocks.  Big Bill made the All-Star team.  Big Bill made the NBA’s First-All Defensive Team.  Big Bill made the All-NBA Second Team.  That was just the regular season.  In the post-season, he led Portland to a 4-0 sweep of the Lakers in the conference finals.  In the post-season, he led Portland  to the NBA title in over the heavily favored Seventy-Sixers.  In the post-season, he was named the Finals MVP.  The next year he took over where he left off.  The Blazers won 50 of their first 60 games.  Then the broken foot.  The first in a long string of foot and ankle injuries that would plague his career.  Year after year.  One giant punch in the ear.  He still was named league MVP.  He still got to play in the All-Star Game.  He still was named to both the NBA’s First-All Defensive Team and the All-NBA First Team.  He still was able to return for the playoffs.  Not for long.  Not so strong.  Things went wrong.  Bill was re-injured in the second game against the Seattle Supersonics.  Without Walton, Portland lost the series in six games.  Big Bill would never play for the Trail Blazers again.  He was in and out of action with Clippers for about five years.  But he was resurrectd by Red.  Lazurus style.  His last hurrah.  His last hurrah with the Boston Celtics.  World Champion Boston Celtics.  Resurrected and winning a ring.  Resurrected and earning Sixth Man of the Year.  Resurrected and playing on the best basketball team I ever saw.  The 1986 Boston Celtics.  But that was it.  His ankles couldn’t hold out and he was forced to retire.  Retire a champion.  Oh, what could have been. 

Others of Note:  Grant Hill, Teemu Selanne, KiJana Carter, Barbaro, Freddy Lynn, Bernard King, Nomah, Correll Buckhalter, Mantle, Ted Johnson, Kenyon Martin and Kerry Wood who just fell getting out of the hot tub and is hurt gain.

Peace out homies.  Six Two and Even!